Example: Enabling email updates to workflow assignments

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A system administrator wants to ensure that a supervisor, who does not have access to a desktop, can approve or reject workflow assignments. The system administrator also wants the supervisor to be able to change the start date and completion date of the workflow assignment.

Before you begin

Configuring email interaction requires an SMTP mail server with an administrator account for authentication. To allow a supervisor to change the attributes of the workflow assignment, in the record for the user in the People application, in the Email Format field must be set to Advanced. The default value for the field is advanced, so in this example, the system administrator does not change this field. Existing communication templates are provided for email interaction. For example, a template for the email that notifies the supervisor that the workflow assignment was approved is provided.

About this task

In a large textiles company, every work order in a workflow must be approved by Marco, the head supervisor. The company has a large factory floor and Marco is often on the floor without access to a desktop. The system administrator wants to configure email interaction so that when a work order is created, Marco receives an email on the portable device that he carries. The system administrator wants Marco to be able to reply to the email to approve or reject the work order. Also, due to a busy schedule, Marco must frequently delay the start date of work orders. The system administrator wants Marco to be able to edit the email to change the start date and completion date of the workflow assignment.

Procedure

  1. In the Systems Properties application, specify the address of the mail server as mail.smtp.host, your user ID as mxe.smtp.password, and the password as mxe.smtp.password for email authentication.
  2. To find existing templates, in the Communications Templates application, search for MFMAIL in the Template field.
    1. In the MFMAILSENDWFA1, MFMAILRESCOMPWF, and MFMAILRESREJWF1 templates, in the Send from field, specify the address of the E-mail Listener.
    2. Do not specify a recipient in the communication templates. The role is specified in the Send to field in the configuration.
  3. In the E-mail Listener application, enter MFMAILRCV for the workflow process.
    1. In the Select Security Settings window, create a row and specify the SR object.
    2. In the Select Security Settings window, create a row and specify the target object that is associated with the email notification.
    3. Activate the email listener and MFMAILCLEAN cron task.
  4. In the Workflow Designer application, open the task node properties and in the Communication template field, specify MFMAILSENDWFA1.
    The MFMAILSENDWFA1 template is an existing template for the first email that is sent to Marco when a work order is created.
  5. In the Escalations application, open and modify the MFMAILSENDWFM escalation.
    This escalation has an escalation point and an action that starts email interaction.
    1. Modify the SQL query in the escalation to specify the workflow process that sends the first email.
    2. Specify the custom class as com.ibm.tivoli.maximo.mfmail.MfMailWFSender.
  6. In the Email Interaction Setup application, specify Workflow for the configuration type and complete the fields.
    1. In the Workflow Assignment configurations window, in the Task Completion Notification Template field, specify MFMAILRESCOMPWF.
    2. In the Selection Values window, in the Workflow Change Response Template field, specify MFMAILRESCOMPWF in the row where you assign the selection value for accepting the work order.
    3. In the Workflow Change Response Template field, specify MFMAILRESREJWF1 in the row where you assign the selection value for rejecting the work order.
    4. Select the Validate and activate action.

Results

When a work order is created in a workflow, Marco receives an email with a request to approve or reject the work order. Marco can reply to the email to change the start date and completion date. Marco receives a second email with a request to approve or reject the work order. Marco replies to approve the work order and receives one final email that confirms that the choice was processed.