Setting environment variables

Set environment variables to ensure that process implementations use correct values in each deployment environment.

About this task

Each workflow automation and toolkit includes environment variables. You can set these environment variables to ensure that your process implementations are using correct values, whatever environment you deploy to or whatever change occurs at run time in the environment. Suppose your process includes an implementation that requires the port number for an external application. By using an environment variable, you can set the port number for each environment in which the process runs. Plus, administrators can verify and adjust environment variable values from the Process Admin Console after a process application is installed.

To set environment variables:

Procedure

  1. Open the appropriate workflow automation or toolkit in the designer and click Environment Variables.
  2. Click + to add a new variable.
    Tip: To copy a variable from other workflow automation or toolkits, click Import an environment variable. This is an easy way to add environment variables that are referred to by artifacts copied or moved from other workflow automation or toolkits.
  3. Click the <NEW VARBL> placeholder in the Key cell, type the name of the new environment variable, and press Enter.
    Environment variable names must be valid JavaScript identifiers (they must begin with a letter or a '_' and can contain only letters, digits or the '_' character). The following examples are all valid names: ecmsystem_port , ecmSystem_port, and ecm_system_port.
  4. Click the Default cell for the newly entered variable, type in a value, and press Enter.
    If you know the value for the Development, Test, Staging, or Production environment, click the appropriate cell, type in the value, and press Enter. If you do not know the appropriate value for each environment, you can leave the setting blank and an administrator can provide the correct value after installation. If you do not provide a value for an environment and an administrator does not provide a value after installation, the default is used.
  5. To use one of the preceding variables in a script in the current workflow automation, you can use the variable key preceded by tw.env. For example, to set the value of a process variable to an environment variable in a JavaScript, you can type: tw.local.port = tw.env.ecmsystem_port. If the environment variable you want to use in your script is in a toolkit, you can precede the variable key with tw.env.toolkit.[toolkit_acronym]. So, to use the same environment variable from a toolkit with an acronym of BA, you can type: tw.local.port = tw.env.toolkit.BA.ecmsystem_port
  6. To remove an environment variable, click the cell of the variable and then X.