As part of the series of product updates on AgilePoint NX v9.0 release, the next one I would like to share is a first look at Scoped Variables activities
Before we jump into it, kindly note that scopes, and mainly the use cases for using the new scope variable activity are typically related with more complex type processes.
The following diagram explains various scopes within AgilePoint.
At the bottom we have work item, which is an instance of an activity, which is part of a process.
Each of these components, has a unique id, such as the WorkItemID, ActivityInstanceID, ProcessInstanceID etc., which uniquely identify them and is used as the identifier for their scope.
We can also see, WorkObjectID – which is used to identify a chain, or a hierarchy of processes, so by default, all of processes in a chain, will use the same WorkObjectID, and will share their variables. For e.g. the parent process, and the 2 Sub-Processes, use the same WorkObjectID and share attributes.
Also, important to note, that by default, any variable you create, such as a form field or a process variable, will be stored in the WorkObjectID scope.
As of AgilePoint NX V8, process or form variables could only be created at a WorkObjectID (process hierarchy) scope. However, there would be use cases where you might want to create a scoped variable at a lower level such as a child process instance or activity instance.
With AgilePoint NX V9 – 2 activities have been added
- Set Scoped variables
- Get Scoped variables
These activities will allow you to have more fine-grained control and isolate variables into different scope as and when needed, as well as create your own custom scopes.
Following is the recipe we’ll follow for this demo and overview
- We’ll start with review of activity configuration
- We’ll follow this with running a simple scenario demo
- And lastly, we’ll see it in action using a simplified high-level Incident Management app
Note: Please note that this video is recorded while this feature is in beta version. Some of the labels and icons might change by the time it goes GA but the general concept of configuring these activities would remain the same.