Runtime states for activities in process applications
At run time, different events cause activities to transition
between various states. And the state that an activity is in determines
which actions can be performed.
When an activity's parent process is started, if the activity has
a precondition, the precondition is evaluated. Depending on the type
of the activity and any preconditions, the activity is put into one
of three initial states:
- If an automatic activity has no precondition or if it has a precondition
that evaluated to true, the activity is put into the
WORKING
state. - If a manual activity has no precondition or if it has a precondition
that evaluated to true, the activity is put into the
READY
state. - For both automatic and manual activities, if the activity has
a precondition that evaluated to false, the activity is put into the
WAITING
state.

For each non-end state, a set of events or actions cause the activity to go into another state.
WAITING
- An activity is in the
WAITING
state because the precondition evaluated to false. Manual activities with theWAITING
state are in the Ready category while automatic activities with theWAITING
state are in the In progress category. When one of the following events occurs, the state of the activity changes:- When the precondition evaluates to true:
- If it is an automatic activity, the activity changes to the
LAUNCHING
state. - If it is a manual activity, the activity changes to the
READY
state.
- If it is an automatic activity, the activity changes to the
- If the user clicks Disable or the corresponding REST API is
invoked, the activity changes to the
DISABLED
state.
- When the precondition evaluates to true:
LAUNCHING
- The
LAUNCHING
state is transitory for automatic activities. It indicates that the activity is starting. When the activity is successfully started, it automatically changes to theWORKING
state. READY
- When a manual activity is in the
READY
state, it waits until one of following events occurs:- If the user clicks Start or the corresponding REST API is invoked, the
activity changes to the
WORKING
state. - If the user clicks Disable or the corresponding REST API is
invoked, the activity changes to the
DISABLED
state. - If the activity is optional and the enclosing scope ends, the activity changes
to the
NOT USED
state.
- If the user clicks Start or the corresponding REST API is invoked, the
activity changes to the
WORKING
- An activity stays in the
WORKING
state until one of the following events occurs:- If the activity completes successfully, it changes to the
COMPLETED
state. - If the activity completes unsuccessfully, it changes to the
FAILED
state.
- If the activity completes successfully, it changes to the
COMPLETED
- The
COMPLETED
state is an end state for activities that completed successfully. FAILED
- If an error occurs during the completion of an activity, it is put into the
FAILED
state. An activity stays in theFAILED
state until the administrator completes one of the following actions:- The administrator repairs the activity and restarts it. The activity is put into the
WORKING
state. - The administrator determines that the activity cannot be repaired puts it into the
SKIPPED
state. The processing of the instance continues without the activity.
- The administrator repairs the activity and restarts it. The activity is put into the
NOT USED
- The
NOT USED
state is an end state for optional activities that are no longer available because the enclosing scope for the activity closed. DISABLED
- If the user clicks Enable or the corresponding REST API is invoked, the
activity returns to the state that the activity was in when it was disabled:
WAITING
orREADY
.Remember: If the activity was in theWAITING
state when it was disabled and the precondition now evaluates to true, the activity changes to theREADY
state. - If the activity is optional and the enclosing scope ends, the activity changes
to the
NOT USED
state.
- If the user clicks Enable or the corresponding REST API is invoked, the
activity returns to the state that the activity was in when it was disabled:
SKIPPED
- The
SKIPPED
state is an end state for activities. This state occurs when an administrator repairs a failed process instance by canceling the activity in the instance.
You can apply filters to the list of activities. The filters have the following effect:
- Ready shows manual activities that are in
READY
orWAITING
state. - In progress shows all activities that are in
WORKING
state or automatic activities that are inWAITING
state. - Complete shows activities that are in
COMPLETED
,FAILED
, andDISABLED
states. - In Process Inspector, All shows all activities regardless of their state.