How can I dynamically change the users assigned to user tasks?

asked on February 12, 2014 • Show version history

Let’s say there is a forms process wherein a form travels from Manager A to Manager B to Manager C. They all add content to the form as it moves from one to the next. If Manager B was replaced, is it possible or will forms then allow the forms that are already in process to be completed by the new Manager B? I will outline a couple of instances below:

1. Form is still with Manager A, the switch has taken place and process updated. Will it move onward to the new Manager B once Manager A completes his task?

2. Form is currently assigned to the old Manager B. The process is updated, will the form update be in the new Manager B’s queue or still with the old Manager B?

3. Is there an easy way to transition if something like this happens with forms that are in process, or must the process be started over? In workflow, you can update the workflows in process with a new published workflow, is there something like that for Forms?

I am asking as the client has requested that I contact you for an officially approved best practice or method for handling this.

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replied on February 12, 2014

You can do this two ways, either in Forms or in Workflow. With Forms, to update the form to route to the new manager B, all you have to do is change the task participant in the user task in the Forms designer. This will not update existing processes however. To anticipate this change, you could add an Intermediate Timer Event to the process. If you attach an Intermediate Timer Event to your user task, you can specify that if a certain amount of time passes, send the approval to another user, say the original user’s supervisor. Again, this would not update existing processes with manager B, but at least ensures old processes will not be forgotten.

Instead of using Forms, you could also let Workflow take care of the routing process. In this case, have Forms deposit the form into your repository, and then let Workflow pick it up from there. Like you said, with Workflow you can update existing workflows when re-publishing. This way, any processes that have not yet been routed to the previous manager B, will be routed to the new manager B. To simplify the process of changing users from the old manager to the new one, I would suggest using either the Find User, or Business Process Step activities. These activities can be placed at the beginning of the workflow, and create tokens for a specific user. Since all subsequent activities can point to these tokens instead of the actual user, if you have to change users, you only have to make changes to one activity.

Hopefully that is enough information to get you started!

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replied on March 3, 2014

Would it not be possible to use the Intermediate Timer Event in a different way? Say, that if the timer triggers, that it sends out a webhook that is designed to give back a token with the assigned user for the task.

Once you have that back, you can assign the task to that manager that should be assigned to the task.

In this way, you would be creating more URL's to user tasks even when the user is the same, but you can use the web service to make sure if a manager changes, that it gets redirected shortly after the change is made.

The thing about more URL's being created is not a huge concern to most, at least on a users end because if they forgot about the task and are unable to save an incomplete version, then that means they likely won't care if they need to use a new URL to get to the task.

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replied on June 2, 2014

Could you also build this into your process? For instance, add a "Re-route To:" field at the bottom of your form. If the field is empty, it goes down the regular path. If the field is not empty, it's re-routed to the user in that field? I haven't tried it, but it seems like it would work and the overhead would be minimal. Of course, you'd have to put a condition in at every location that might be affected. ... Just a thought.

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How can I dynamically change the users assigned to user tasks?

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