Human Interaction Event Service

How the Human Interaction Event Service Works

Use the Human Interaction Event service to save business process data requiring human interaction in the Sterling B2B Integrator database. The following sections describe a business scenario and a sample solution for using the Human Interaction Event service.

Business Scenario

Your company receives a purchase order in XML format from a trading partner. The purchase order needs to be approved prior to further processing.

The Human Interaction Event service is also configured to invoke the WebSuiteEmailNotif business process for sending an email notification to the approver. The email notification includes the URL used to display the purchase order requiring approval in the Web browser.

This business solution example focuses only on the Human Interaction Event service functionality.

GPM Example

The following example shows a solution to the business scenario using the GPM. The purchase order is input to the business process and becomes the primary document.

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The Assign statement is used to assign the purchase order number from the primary document to process data. The Human Interaction Event service uses the purchase order number in process data to set its ReferenceId parameter.

After the Human Interaction Event service completes, a row is added to the Sterling B2B Integrator WEBX_MINED_DATA database table containing the reference data about the purchase order and a reference to the actual purchase order document. In addition, an email notification is sent to the approver that includes the URL for displaying the actual purchase order. For example:

The approver specifies the URL in the Web browser to display the purchase order requiring approval. The approver could alternatively log into the Sterling B2B Integrator Web Suite application to view (in their inbox) a list of documents requiring approval.

Business Process Modeling Language (BPML) Example

The following example shows the corresponding business process solution using BPML:

<process name="ExamplePurchaseOrderHIEventWithMail"> 
<sequence name="Start HI Event Service"> 
<assign name="Assign" to="poNumber" from="DocToDOM(PrimaryDocument)/
     @Id" append="true"/> 
<operation name="Human Interaction Event"> 
<participant name="HumanInteractionEvent"/> 
<output message="HumanInteractionEventTypeInputMessage"> 
	<assign to="DocumentType">Purchase Order</assign> 
	<assign to="FromAccount">SenderSterlingIntegratorUserAccount</assign> 
	<assign to="NotificationBPName">WebSuiteEmailNotif</assign> 
	<assign to="Operation">ADD</assign> 
	<assign  to="ReferenceId" from="number(/ProcessData/poNumber/@Id)"/> 
	<assign to="Status">Awaiting Approval</assign> 
	<assign to="StorageArea">Inbox</assign> 
	<assign to="SuspendAsWaiting">NO</assign> 
	<assign to="SystemAccount">ReceiverSterlingIntegratorUserAccount</assign> 
	<assign to="TemplateName">ExamplePurchaseOrderFromHTTPRequest</assign> 
	<assign to="." from="*"/> 
</output> 
<input message="inmsg"> 
	<assign to="." from="*"/> 
</input> 
</operation> 
</sequence> 
</process> 

See Usage Examples for additional examples using the Human Interaction Event service.

Implementing the Human Interaction Event Service

Human Interaction Event Service Business Process Usage

The following screen shows the graphical view of the GPM parameters for the Human Interaction Event service. There are no fields to be configured on the Message From Service tab.

The following example shows the corresponding BPML parameters for the Human Interaction Event service GPM parameters.

<process name="ExampleHIEventGPMParams"> 
<sequence name="Start HI Event Service"> 
<operation name="Human Interaction Event"> 
<participant name="HumanInteractionEvent"/> 
<output message="HumanInteractionEventTypeInputMessage"> 
	<assign to="ArchiveFlag">1</assign> 
	<assign to="ArchiveHours">24</assign> 
	<assign to="DocumentType">Purchase Order</assign> 
	<assign to="FromAccount">SendingTradingPartnerSystemAccountID</assign> 
	<assign to="GroupName">SendingTradingPartnerSecurityPermissionGroup</assign> 
	<assign to="IdentityName">SendingTradingPartnerName</assign> 
	<assign to="MergeDataOnResume">NO</assign> 
	<assign to="MergeDataOnUpdate">NO</assign> 
	<assign to="NotificationBPName">UserDefinedBPForSendingEmailNotifications</assign> 
	<assign to="Operation">ADD</assign> 
	<assign to="ParentAccount">ManagerOfTheDocumentSender</assign> 
	<assign to="ReferenceId" from="number(/ProcessData/poNumber/@Id)"/> 
	<assign to="State">PendingApproval</assign> 
	<assign to="Status">Unread</assign> 
	<assign to="StorageArea">Inbox</assign> 
	<assign to="SuspendAsWaiting">NO</assign> 
	<assign to="SystemAccount">ReceiverCompanyUserAccount</assign> 
	<assign to="TemplateName">ExamplePurchaseOrders</assign> 
	<assign to="Timeout"/> 
	<assign to="." from="*"/> 
</output> 
<input message="inmsg"> 
	<assign to="." from="*"/> 
</input> 
</operation> 
</sequence> 
</process>

The following table describes the fields used to configure the Human Interaction Event service in the GPM:

Usage Examples

The following sections contain additional examples for using the Human Interaction Event service.

Placing a Business Process in a Waiting State for Human Interaction

The example in this section describes a scenario that uses the Human Interaction Event service to save a reference to the business process data in the database and place the business process in a wait state until the purchase order is approved. The Human Interaction Event service is also configured to invoke the WebSuiteEmailNotif to send an email notification to the approver. After the purchase order is approved, the business process resumes and continues with the next step. In this scenario, the next step is to invoke a subprocess for further processing of the purchase order.

The following example illustrates this scenario using the GPM.

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The following example illustrates the business process using BPML:

<process name="ExamplePurchaseOrderHIEventWaiting"> 
<sequence name="Start HI Event Service"> 
<assign to="poNumber" from="DocToDOM(PrimaryDocument)/@Id" append="true"/> 
<operation name="Human Interaction Event"> 
<participant name="HumanInteractionEvent"/> 
<output message="HumanInteractionEventTypeInputMessage"> 
	<assign to="DocumentType">Purchase Order</assign> 
	<assign to="FromAccount">SendingTradingPartner</assign> 
	<assign to="MergeDataOnResume">NO</assign> 
	<assign to="MergeDataOnUpdate">NO</assign> 
	<assign to="NotificationBPName">WebSuiteEmailNotif</assign> 
	<assign to="Operation">ADD</assign> 
	<assign to="ReferenceId" from="number(/ProcessData/poNumber/@Id)"/> 
	<assign to="State">PendingApproval</assign> 
	<assign to="Status">Unread</assign> 
	<assign to="StorageArea">Inbox</assign> 
	<assign to="SuspendAsWaiting">YES</assign> 
	<assign to="SystemAccount">ApproverAccount</assign> 
	<assign to="TemplateName">ExamplePurchaseOrders</assign> 
	<assign to="Timeout">60</assign> 
	<assign to="." from="*"/> 
</output> 
<input message="inmsg"> 
	<assign to="." from="*"/> 
</input> 
</operation> 
<operation name="Invoke Sub-Process"> 
<participant name="InvokeSubProcessService"/> 
<output message="InvokeSubProcessServiceTypeInputMessage"> 
	<assign to="INVOKE_MODE">ASYNC</assign> 
	<assign to="WFD_NAME">ExampleHIEventSubProcess</assign> 
	<assign to="." from="*"/> 
</output> 
<input message="inmsg"> 
	<assign to="." from="*"/> 
</input> 
</operation> 
</sequence> 
</process> 

Updating or Deleting a Document in the Sterling B2B Integrator Database

You must specify the MinedDataId parameter as an input parameter to the Human Interaction Event service when updating or deleting a document in the database. The MinedDataId parameter corresponds to the value in the MINED_DATA_ID column of the WEBX_MINED_DATA table. This value is populated when a document is added to the database using the Human Interaction Event service.

Use the Human Interaction Query service to retrieve the reference data for documents. The reference data includes the MinedDataId for each document. The MinedDataId corresponds to the listItem objectId attribute returned by the Human Interaction Query service.

You can specify these fields by using the Advanced Editor option in the GPM Service Editor or by using BPML.

The following example illustrates specifying the MinedDataId parameter in the GPM. This example assumes that the MinedDataId value was loaded into process data (not shown).

The following example illustrates the same business process by using BPML. This example assumes that the MinedDataId value was loaded into process data (not shown).