Process User Tasks should be like Tasks

[MatLudlam]

Hi I have just started to use the BPM modules (which I have found to be very, very powerful).

One thing that would help improve their utility is the ability to see the "Process User Tasks" associated to their entity. This means that when looking at an opportunity I could see all the pending Process User Tasks in one place. My thought is that they should be another item within Layout Manager / Side Panels, just like Tasks, Activity, History etc.

Thanks

[yuri]

Hi Mat,

You can utilize Report Panels to show Process User Tasks panel on the detail view for a specific entity type.

[MatLudlam]

Hi yurikuzn thanks, I will investigate. I do think that this should be a simple item to add like "Tasks" though. In truth I don't know why there is a separate entity type for them (they should just have been Tasks), but that decision was made ages ago so we have what we have.

Thanks.

[yuri]

You can use Task either. Just stop execution of a process and wait until task status is changed.

Having separate entity type provided the ability to have different statues, different types of resolving.

[MatLudlam]

Can you give me an example of how that would be done? The documentation around events is hard to follow.

Thanks

[yuri]

Documentation can't cover everything, since there are millions combinations how flowchart can be used.

1. Create Task record (with Task Activity on the flowchart, name 'Task' coincides here), apply assignment rule, etc.
2. Add Event Based Gateway (this will stop a flow).
3. Add 2 Conditionals events after the gateway.

[MatLudlam]

Ok, so I create a BPM Workflow on Opportunity. Things happen and I then create a Task for work to be done associated with that Opportunity. In the above configuration when I try to use the above setup I can only place conditions that relate to the Opportunity, not the Task that was created (which I don't know the ID for).

Have I got this wrong? Again I have this on a test cloud instance that I am happy to share.

Thanks.

[yuri]

In the dropdown (in conditions) there must be fields related to Created Task. Named like: 'Created: Task ...'.

https://github.com/espocrm/documenta....md#conditions

You also can use formula: https://github.com/espocrm/documenta...ntityattribute

[MatLudlam]

I had an issue in my definition; I corrected it and the created task is now available for manipulation. Thanks.

Also the pictures of Workflows that are in that documentation are great to look at but I cannot see how they actually work. Is is possible to get access to a system with them on so that I can see?

[yuri]

Those examples don't exist anymore.

[MatLudlam]

Are there any working examples that use signals and escalations? These are rather complex concepts, and the documentation is rather thin on the subjects. Worked examples would be amazing.

Thanks.

[yuri]

Documentation covers this subject quite well. I recommend just google it, there is a lot if into on internet.

[MatLudlam]

I have tried Google but don't seem to get anything that is specific. What I am looking for is an example that shows how a signal can be used, and exactly what the formulas / signal names are that are used so that I can understand how it works.

Where are the examples?

[yuri]

I described how signal works in another topic. This info should be enough to understand.

> Where are the examples?

If here where more examples than in documentation I would have provided you. Why you are asking?

[MatLudlam]

Because it is very hard to understand how this works without examples. As someone trying to get this to work it is very frustrating to have to create tickets for help (although you do a great job). My preference would be to take something that works from an example then modify it to do what I need.

I have the escalation working, but have no idea how to get the signals working. I did find the description of them, but it is nowhere as clear as a working example.

In an idea world there would be a handful of real examples the show the different tasks, events etc. working that we could look at; not just the pictured but the actual definitions of each item.

And as background historically I was a Java / C / Assembler programmer so reasonably proficient and this sort of thing.

ESPO is a great product; the BPM is really, really powerful, but the documentation and examples let it down. It is very hard to work out how things work.

Could I suggest that you find a way to allow people to actually see the examples in action; several ideas spring to mind:

• When someone registers for a trial and requests sample data, they should also get sample BPMs
• There could be a separate MySQL backup that we could restore with everything in it
• You have a system that we can log into in a read-only mode to see what is there

Thanks.