Hi, We are on Appian Cloud 7.6. I have following requirement:

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
aksharc — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 12:53:55 GMT
Aleksi,

Actually, whenever anyone accepts the task, we send an API call to our database and save the necessary information like Task ID, Task start time, task acceptance time, task name, who accepted the task, etc. This information is necessary to send our database during the task acceptance.

To answer your question, user wouldn't know that there is an API call when they accept the task. Currently we have set that up in the hidden variable under the portal form. But, in case of portal, the form will only refresh when either user accepts the task and user submits the form. So that hidden variable logic worked there.

But now as we are moving everything to Tempo, the form will refresh every time user will move from component to component. So, I can't use the function that calls the API under with(), and I can't use that function in load as well, because that will be called once the form is loaded, not after user accepts the task.

That's why I am looking for some functionality/logic which I can apply such that whenever user accepts the task, the function that calls the API will get executed!

I hope this helps!

Thanks!

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
Aleksi White — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 20:26:41 GMT
I would advise against this. The potential performance impact of having many of these processes constantly looping for months on end could become noticeable to end-users. For this API call, is it something that directly impacts what the user is doing? Or is it something that has no real bearing on what the user is working on with these forms?

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
aksharc — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:20:42 GMT
Thanks Aleksi!

What I did was, I added Complex Gateway, and had a condition there that if =gettaskacceptedtimestamp(pv!TaskIDFromRule3) is true, then go and call the API. If that condition is not true, I am sending it to an empty script task (No input, output expressions defined). And again, from the same script task I am flowing to that complex gateway (In a way creating a repeating loop). Also, I have checked the "Delete previously completed/cancelled instances" from the Other tab in the script task.

This kind of served my purpose. But now concern is, how it will be impacted performance-wise? (We have instances of tasks which are not accepted for as long as 6-7 months.)

Thanks!

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
Aleksi White — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 23:17:30 GMT
In that case the function would evaluate to true the next time it executes, which might be in a few seconds or a few minutes. But if that is too long of a delay then you can try what I mentioned earlier, adding a similar delay to the execution of the rule node the same as you have for the task node

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
aksharc — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 19:07:30 GMT
Right, but in case of the repeated script task, the interval has to be minimum 5 minutes, right? So, I can't have the "on-demand" kind of functionality here, right? For example what happens when user accepts the time in the time-window of 5 mins?

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
Aleksi White — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 18:38:47 GMT
The rule node will only evaluate once, it won't continuously reevaluate.

It might be the case that the user won't even accept the task after that 2 minute window, so I don't know if that is the best solution. What I would recommend is using a script task for the rule evaluation, and configure it to repeat until that expression evaluates to true. Please refer to the attached screenshot.

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
aksharc — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 18:17:34 GMT
My use case is the original which I mentioned at first. I want to fire an API call as soon as user accepts the task. (We already have a function set up, so I just have to call it when user accepts the task.)

I was just trying to follow what you suggested, use of gettaskacceptedtimestamp(). Now, I thought I would be able to achieve that using Rule node. And to recreate the scenario in test model, I used two minutes delay. As there is no way to know when user will accept any particular task. I was under impression that the rule will flow as soon as the expression evaluates true (Any time). But, it seems I was wrong.

So, what shall I do now, in order to achieve my use case. Can you give me any pointers? Or how I should use the gettaskacceptedtimestamp()?

Thanks again!

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
Aleksi White — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 18:08:17 GMT
Could you explain the use case for having the task wait 2 minutes to start? What is the reasoning behind that?
What's likely happening is that the rule node is going ahead and evaluating. Since there is not active task yet, it's evaluating to false, and not continuing the flow. Once the task starts and you restart the rule node, it evaluates to true and the flow continues.
I would recommend one of two things:

1) If the 2 minute delay isn't necessary, then remove it so the rule node can execute properly and continue the flow

2) If you do need to the 2 minute timer, then I would add another similar timer in front of the rule node. This way the rule node will only execute (and be able to continue the flow) once the task node has started and been assigned

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
aksharc — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:07:48 GMT
Hi Aleksi,

Sorry, I might not be understanding it correctly. Following is what I have set up in the process model to test.

I have two flows flowing from the Start Event. One is going to the User Task Form, and the other is going to the Rule node. Now,
(1) I have scheduled the Task Form such that it will start only after 2 minutes.
(2) And the Rule node has the expression count(getactivetaskidsforprocess(pp!id)) > 0; means, as soon as there is an Active (Assigned and/or Accepted) task, the flow will continue.

So, when I start the process for debugging, the flow will be at Rule node and User Task Form. It won't flow ahead, because there won't be any active task available.

Now, after two minutes, when the User Task is initiated (activated/assigned), the Rule's expression should evaluate to true, right? In this case, what happens is, the flow from the Rule node is not flowing ahead. It won't flow ahead until and unless I restart that node. So, my question is, is this an actual expected behavior? And if so, how can I set up a way so that the flow would continue as soon as the expression is true.

Thanks again Aleksi for being patient.

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
Aleksi White — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 19:57:06 GMT
When testing using gettaskacceptedtimestamp() I got a lot of empty results for a task that was automatically assigned to me. You might need to use gettaskassignedtimestamp() instead if these are tasks that are automatically assigned to users, rather than ones that they have to accept

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
aksharc — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 20:38:51 GMT
Aleksi, I tried that but it didn't flow ahead. But what I noticed that, after accepting task, when I restarted the rule node, it did flow ahead.

From documentation, what I understood was in case of conditions, the rule node will reevaluate every time process variable's value is changed. I am not sure what happens in case of expressions. Do we have to restart the node to reevaluate the rule node in case of expressions?

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
Aleksi White — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 20:16:43 GMT
getactivetaskidsforprocess() will return an integer array, but gettaskacceptedtimestamp() accepts a single integer. This might be the issue. Try using the index() function to get the first index from getactivetaskidsforprocess(pp!id), and then pass that into gettaskacceptedtimestamp()

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
aksharc — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 18:17:28 GMT
Thanks all for the response.

Aleksi,
What I tried in the process model that, I have added a rule node which will flow if, not(isnull(gettaskacceptedtimestamp(pv!TaskIDFromRule3))) is true. Where pv!TaskIDFromRule3 = getactivetaskidsforprocess(pp!id). But, somehow the flow is not moving ahead even after I accept a task. (Note: The flow the task resides on, and the rule's flow is different, but they are in the same process model.

Do I need to put the timestamp value in the process variable in order to use the not(isnull()) duo?

Or am I implementing it in a wrong way?

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
Mike Cichy — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 21:29:30 GMT
This looks like a use case for a writer function plugin: forum.appian.com/.../Custom_Function_Plug-ins.html

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
Aleksi White — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 19:17:57 GMT
Take a look at the Task Smart Services Plug-in:
forum.appian.com/.../summary

You might be able to use the getTaskAcceptedTimestamp() function in a separate flow. If it is null, then you know the task has not been accepted. If it has a value, then you can make the API call.

RE: Hi,
We are on Appian Cloud 7.6.

I have following requirement:
aksharc — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 18:25:49 GMT
... functionality (API call during Task Acceptance)?

Let me know if there is any question!

Thanks!