Creating a user attribute definition

You can associate unique capabilities or qualities with one or more users by creating user attribute definitions.

Before you begin

To perform this task, you must be in the IBM® Process Designer desktop editor.

About this task

This procedure triggers dynamic group creation, which can be time consuming. You can configure IBM Business Process Manager to deactivate these triggers. See Deactivating dynamic group updates.

You can use defined attributes when you create teams that are based on a user attribute rule. For more information, see Deprecated: Defining Team rules.

When a user creates a new user attribute definition in a process application, the new attribute may need to be added to one or both of the following whitelists that describe authorization on a per-user-attribute level depending on the authorization requirement using a REST API for the specific attribute. These whitelists are included in the 00static.xml file and can be overwritten by users in the 100custom.xml file.
  • server/user-attributes/rest-authorization/public-attribute
  • server/user-attributes/rest-authorization/self-managable-attribute
When accessed using a REST API, users that are not assigned privileges in the ACTION_MANAGE_ANY_USERATTRIBUTE action policy:
  • Can only see attributes of themselves and other users listed as public-attribute
  • Can only see and update own attributes listed as self-managable-attribute
The following example shows how to add a new attribute to the list of self-managable attributes in the 100Custom.xml file.
<server>
<user-attributes merge="mergeChildren">
<rest-authorization merge="mergeChildren">
<self-managable-attribute merge="append">CustomAttribute</self-managable-attribute>
</rest-authorization>
</user-attributes>
</server>

To create a user attribute definition:

Procedure

  1. Open the Process Designer desktop editor.
  2. Open a process application in the Designer view.
  3. Click the plus sign next to Data and select User Attribute Definition from the list of components.
  4. In the New User Attribute Definition window, provide a unique name for the attribute, and click Finish.
  5. Supply the following requested information about the user attribute definition:
    Table 1. Input required for the user attribute definition
    Dialog area Field or link Description
    Common Name Displays the name that you provided in step 2.
      Documentation (Optional) Provides a description of the attribute in this field.
    Type Business Object Specifies the business object type. The default type is String. Click Select to specify a different type. Click New if you want to define a new business object.
    Obtain current value from... Source Specifies the source of the current value. The source is IBM Business Process Manager.
    Obtain possible values from... Source Specifies the sources of other possible values for the user attribute. Select the source from the list, Any Allowed, or List. The choice that you make determines the information that is required.
      If you select Any Allowed... Specifies that the possible values for the attribute are limited only by its business object type.
      If you select List... Enter each possible value in the Value field and click Add. You can remove values from the list by clicking Remove or change the order of the values that are displayed by clicking Up and Down.
  6. Click Save on the main toolbar. IBM Process Designer saves the user attribute definition, and you can use the attribute when creating teams.
Parent topic: Creating a business process definition (BPD)