Initialize from section

The second section of the form for a Create Record task's properties is labeled Initialize From. After a Create Record task has created an empty record, it sets the values of the new record's fields to their initial values. Setting the initial values of the fields happens in two steps.

First the fields are set to their default values. Then specified values are copied from a task or a record. The way the values are specified is described in "Object mapping".

The Initialize From section has two radio buttons to specify where data to copy to a new record will come from. These radio buttons are labeled:

Workflow Activity: If this radio button is selected, it means that values will be copied from a preceding workflow task or a record associated with a preceding workflow task.
Existing Record: If this radio button is selected, it means that values will be copied from a specified record that exists now, at the time you are editing this workflow.

The selection of one of these radio buttons determines what appears in the Initialize From section.

When the Workflow Activity radio button is selected, the Initialize From section has fields to select a workflow task from which values can be copied. The Initialize From section also has a field and radio buttons to identify a record that is associated with the specified workflow task. Values from this record may be copied to a newly created record.

Under the Workflow Activity radio button there are fields used to identify a target record that is used to determine the record from which values may be copied.

There are radio buttons below these fields. The way that the target record is used to determine the existing record depends on which one of the radio buttons is selected.

Here are descriptions of the fields used to determine the target record:

Take the

This is a drop-down list that can have one of three possible values:

Business Object

If Business Object is selected, then the record associated with the task specified by the field to the right of this one will be the target record. If a specified task has multiple records associated with it, then there are multiple target records. If there are multiple target records, there will be multiple existing records to copy values from. This task will create as many records as it has existing records to copy values from.

Secondary BO

This option is available if the workflow is launched in response to an Associate or De-Associate system event. If the value of this field is Secondary BO, then the record at the other end of the association is the target record.

This option is also available if the workflow is launched in response to a SCHEVENTCREATE, SCHEVENTSTART or SCHEVENTEND system event. If the value of this field is Secondary BO, then the Event record that triggered the system event is the target record.

Assignee

If Assignee is selected, then the My Profile record of the user assigned to the task specified by the field to the right of this one will be the target record.

of Task

The value of this field is the label of the task that the target record will be associated with.

The radio buttons under these fields determine how the target record will be used to determine from which existing record values may be copied.

When the properties form is first displayed, only the currently selected radio button is visible. There is a down-arrow button to the left of the visible radio button. Clicking the down-arrow button alternately makes all the radio buttons visible or just the selected radio button visible.

The following descriptions explain the meaning of the radio buttons. There are fields that appear to the right of some of the radio buttons. These fields contain additional information needed for the choice represented by the radio button.

Here are descriptions of the radio buttons:

Use it

If this is selected, the target record will be the existing record that values may be copied from.

Use its Reference

If this is selected, values may be copied from an existing record referenced by a smart section or locator field of the target record. When you select this radio button, a window pops up that allows you to choose from the smart sections and locator fields in the target record.

If the record at the other end of the reference used by the smart section or locator field is a link, then values will be copied from the link and not its underlying record.

After you have selected this radio button, the name of the selected smart section or locator field is displayed in a read-only field to the right of the radio button.

Use its Association

If this is selected, values may be coped from a record associated with the target record. When you select this radio button, a window pops up that allows you to specify the type of association to use. It allows you to identify the association by the type of record that must be on the other end of the association and optionally the name of the association.

After you have selected this radio button, if you specified an association name, the association name is displayed in a read-only field to the right of the radio button. The type of record that was selected appears at the bottom of the Initialize from section in the Object Type field.

Use any Associated BO from Module ____ of type ____

This option is useful when you want to specify an associated record without specifying which association to use. This option is also useful when the association defined in the Data Modeler was to the base business object and you do not know which type of business object in a module is selected at runtime.

When you select this radio button, you must specify a module, unless the module whose name appears to the right of the Module icon is the module that contains the business object used to create the record on the other end of the association. If that is not the correct module, click the Module icon. A list of modules will pop up. Click the correct module.

You may also specify that the record on the other end of the association must have been created by a particular business object in the specified module. If the name of a business object appears in the drop-down list to the right of the module name, then the record on the other end of the association must have been created from the named business object. If -Any- appears in the drop-down list, then the record on the other end of the association may have been created from any business object in the named module.

To specify that a particular association name is required, click the Association icon. A list of the association types defined in the List Manager pops up. Click the association name that you want to appear to the right of the Association icon. To retrieve association records that are not restricted to a particular association name, click -Any- which appears at the top of the list.

Use its Parent

If the target record is created from a business object that is part of a hierarchy module and this option is selected, the values may be copied from the target record's parent.

When you select this radio button, a window pops up for you to select the business object that is assumed to have been used to create the parent record. This selection of a business object is not used for filtering. It is used to allow this task to access the parent's fields.

The selection of a business object represents an assumption about what kind of record the parent will be. Because of this assumption, subsequent tasks will be able to access the parent record's fields. If the actual parent was not created from the assumed business object, the task may fail if the actual record does not have an expected field.

One of the choices for the business object that created the parent is -Any-. Choosing this will be the equivalent of selecting the module's base business object (the one with the same name as the module).

At the bottom of the Initialize from section is a read-only field labeled Object Type. The value displayed in this field is the type of the record that values may be copied from. If the record can have been created from any business object in a particular module, the name of the module appears in the Object Type field.

It is possible for there to be multiple records to copy values from. This happens if there are multiple target records or if a target record is associated with multiple records or references multiple records that fit the specification. This task will create one new record for each record it has to copy values from.

If you want to initialize records with information that is determined by the application's configuration, select the option of using an existing record in the Intialize from section. When Existing Record is selected, the Intialize from section looks like the one in the following figure.

The image is explained in the text. — Figure 1. Create Record properties (existing)

Specify the value for the Module and Object properties so that this task knows what kind of record you want to copy values from. Then click the Record link to find the specific record you want this task to use.