Mapping custom parameters in rule steps to external data sources

If a rule step is associated with a business rule that includes custom rule parameters, you must edit the rule step in Process Designer to map the custom rule parameters to the external data sources.

Before you begin

For each custom rule parameter, you must define a data field whose value is populated by a previous step in the workflow. For example, if the associated rule uses a CreditRating custom parameter, define a CreditRating data field that is populated after completion of a step that receives credit ratings from a web service. You can then map each custom rule parameter to the appropriate data field.

Procedure

To map custom rule parameters in a rule step to external data sources:

  1. Open IBM® FileNet® Process Designer.
    On the Case Builder Activities page, click the Open IBM FileNet Process Designer icon that is displayed next to the activity. Alternatively, you can open IBM FileNet Process Designer from the More menu of the solution on the Manage Solutions page.
  2. Select the rule step that uses custom parameters.
  3. From the Operation Parameters list, open the expression for the CustomRuleParameterValues parameter in Expression Builder and specify the data fields to map to the custom rule parameters that are used by the rule step.
    Ensure that you specify the values in the same order as the custom rule parameter names are listed in the CustomRuleParameterNames parameter.
    Tip: If after you create a rule step you edit the associated rule and add a custom parameter, the custom parameter is not automatically included in the CustomRuleParameterNames parameter value. Manually add the parameter to the list of values.
    For multiple-value custom rule parameters, specify the value in the format arraytoString(data_field,"{","}",",").
    For example, if your rule step uses the InterestRate and CreditRatings custom rule parameters, and you defined data fields with the same names, specify the following value for the CustomRuleParameterValues parameter: {"InterestRate",arraytoString(CreditRatings,"{","}",",")}.
  4. Validate the workflow.