Global process utility steps

Deployment Automation provides several utility steps for global processes.

To use the steps, open the global process and drag the steps from the Tools pane onto the design space.

Acquire Lock and Release Lock steps

Use the Acquire Lock and Release Lock steps to lock and release a process for a designated resource.

Locks are typically used to prevent specific processes from modifying the same resource at the same time, for example, when a database is updated.

In an Acquire Lock step, the process tries to acquire a lock with the specified name. If there is no other lock with the same name, the process acquires the lock and continues. If another process is using a lock with the same name, the process waits until the lock is released by the other process. Any processes that access the resource without a lock or with a lock of a different name do not wait on this lock.

Locks are released automatically when the process completes. If you need to release a lock before continuing later steps in a process, use the Release Lock step.

Administrators can also release locks. For details, see Manage locks.

The following table describes the properties for these steps.

Property Description
Lock Name

Specify the lock name. The default setting is as follows:
${p:component.name}-${p:componentProcess.name}-${p:resource.name}

Tip: The default lock name is set with a default variable. To make the lock names the same for different objects and processes, enter a static string for the name or use variables that resolve to the same in both processes. For example, to lock a resource against concurrent use for two processes in different components that are mapped to the same resource, you may use the following lock name for both: ${p:resource.name}.

Hint Add a comment to the step. To view the comment, point to the step in the design space.

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Set Status step

The Set Status step enables you to explicitly set the status of a process.

The following table describes the step's properties.

Property Description
Status Select from available statuses, Success or Failed.
Hint Add a comment to the step. To view the comment, point to the step in the design space.

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Set Property step

The Set Property step enables you to set a value of a property. For details on how to create statuses, see Define and use statuses.

The following table describes the step's properties.

Property Description
Name Enter a name for the step.
Property Name Enter a name for the property.
Property Value Enter a value for the property.
Property Type

Select a type for the property:

  • Request Execution. Select this option to create a property for the context of the running process. The property exists only while the process runs.
  • Component Version. Select this option to update an existing property of the component version deployed during the process.
Hint Add a comment to the step. To view the comment, point to the step in the design space.

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Switch step

The Switch step enables you to define a conditional step. The outbound connections for this step are set to check for values to determine the ongoing path of the process. For details, see Use conditions and switch steps.

The following table describes the step's properties.

Property Description
Name Enter a name for the step.
Property Name Enter a name for the property to be checked for values in the outgoing connections.
Hint Add a comment to the step. To view the comment, point to the step in the design space.

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Join step

Use the Join step to join steps in a process.

There are no properties for this step.

For the Join step to proceed to its outbound connections, all its inbound connection paths must be valid. To be valid, those that should evaluate to success do so, those that should evaluate to failure do so, those that should evaluate to any value do so, and those that should evaluate to a specific switch value do so.

You can do an implicit join without the Join step by having multiple inbound connections for another step. Regardless of whether it is an implicit or explicit join, all incoming connections must be valid for the joining step to run.

The Join step is useful when your process includes multiple steps that must all complete to a certain outcome and then continue on to multiple outbound steps without additional processing between them.

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Manual Task step

With the Manual Task step, you can interrupt a process until manual intervention is performed. Manual tasks in global processes are submitted dynamically as part of the step.

The following table describes the step's properties.

Field Description
Name Enter a name for the step. Include clearly identifiable information in the name as it appears in the notification about the task.
Users Select the users who can approve or reject this task.
Groups Select the groups who can approve or reject this task.
Template Name Enter the template name you want to use for the task notifications. The default template is TaskCreated.
Require Comment Require a comment upon approval or rejection.
Comment Prompt Enter a prompt for the comment box in the approval form, for example:
Enter reason and phone number:
Hint Add a comment to the step. To view the comment, point to the step in the design space.

All roles are required, and all affected users must respond before the process can continue.

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Run Global Process step

The Run Global Process step enables you to run a global process as part of your current process.

The following table describes the step's properties.

Property Description
Name Enter a name for the step.
Process Select the global process name.
Resource Name Enter a name for the resource. The default value is ${p:resource.name}.
Hint Add a comment to the step. To view the comment, point to the step in the design space.

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Annotation

An Annotation enables you to create a text note that you can then connect to a process step. This feature is especially useful in complex processes when you need to provide an explanation or instructions for specific steps.

The following table describes the Annotation properties.

Property Description
Annotation Enter a message of the annotation.
Style Select the background color for the annotation.

Note: You cannot use annotations as steps in a process. Annotations connect to steps, but not the other way around.

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See also: