Configuring custom case widgets for a container environment

In IBM Business Automation Workflow, you can configure custom case widgets for a container environment either by using the IBM Business Automation Workflow Case administration if the widget does not need an ear file that is deployed or by using the CR file to deploy and register your custom widgets.

About this task

Do the following steps to configure a custom case widget in a container environment by using the CR file to deploy and register your custom widgets:

  1. Add the custom widget package .zip file to the custom plug-ins persistent volume directory of IBM Content Navigator.
  2. Specify the custom widget in a comma-separated list of custom widget names in the Custom Resource (CR) .yaml file, which operator uses to configure the environment. The comma-separated list is specified with the custom_package_names key under the spec > workflow_authoring_configuration or baw_configuration> case section. For example, 
    custom_package_names: "CustomWidget.zip"
  3. Apply the custom resource definition to your Red Hat OpenShift environment.
  4. If you modified to your custom widget package after initial deployment and you want to redeploy the package, complete the following steps:
    1. Delete the custom_widget_name.ok file from the following folder:
      “custom_plugins_Navigator_persistent_volume/properties”
    2. Delete the case Init job in Red Hat OpenShift and the system reruns the case Init job and redeploy your custom widget package.
      Note: If you are using custom case widgets that reference IBM Business Automation Workflow Case Management resources, update the implementation code and repackage the compressed (.zip) file. This is required for a Cloud Pak for Business Automation environment because the case resources are on the IBM Business Automation Workflow container and your custom widget EAR file is deployed on the Business Automation Navigator container. This is important if you are upgrading from a legacy IBM Case Manager or from an embedded IBM Content Navigator environment where IBM Content Navigator and IBM Business Automation Workflow case components are using the same WebSphere® profile.

      After the custom widget is deployed, it becomes available in Case Builder. Open the Page Designer in Case Builder. The custom widget appears in a new left-side section window along with the other out-of-the-box widgets.

Do the following steps to configure custom case widgets for a container environment either by using the IBM Business Automation Workflow Case administration:

Register the custom widget package by using IBM Business Automation Workflow Case administration:
  1. Extract the files in the package compressed file to a directory on the workflow server. For example, extract the files to a temporary directory.
  2. Log in to the IBM Business Automation Workflow Case administration on the server where IBM Business Automation Workflow is running.
  3. Point your browser to https://server:port/navigator/?desktop=bawadmin where server is the hostname or IP address of the IBM Business Automation Workflow server and port is the IBM Content Navigator port number.
  4. Navigate to Object Stores > Design Object Store > Widget Packages.
  5. Select Import custom widget and then browse to find the package-compressed file.
  6. Complete the wizard steps.

What to do next

If you want to see a visual representation of the extended history for a case, see Optional: Enabling the Timeline Visualizer widget to display Business Automation Workflow process activity flow.

Deploy the custom resource (CR) file after completing optional steps and preparing for each capability that you want to install. See Creating a production deployment.