Using StarTeam Notification Agent

This chapter provides an overview of StarTeam Notification Agent and explains how to:
  • Ensure that StarTeam Notification Agent will run successfully by creating mailboxes and user names and setting access rights in advance.
  • Set up and run StarTeam Notification Agent.
  • Change the http server port number, if necessary. For example, you may be using the default port (9000) for another purpose or you might want to run multiple http servers.

StarTeam Notification Agent watches the projects, views, and items controlled by workflows and performs the following functions:

Status notification If a workflow step requires status notification, Notification Agent sends messages simultaneously to all the users in the status notification list, letting them know that an item has reached that workflow step. The notification messages informing users about item status can be customized.
Responsibility notification StarTeam Notification Agent ensures that users are notified of pending work. Notification messages are sent whenever an item under workflow control enters a step that has a list of participants. The users who are listed as participants for that step are notified, all at once or in the specified order, depending on that step’s properties in the workflow. When a participant accepts a workflow request, the responsibility notification process for that step ends. The notification messages asking users to accept responsibility for the work can be customized. Responsibility notification messages now come in the following types:
Those that require a response

Notification Agent always sends email messages using the SMTP protocol. It receives messages using one of the following:

  • The Apache HTTP Server
  • IMAP protocol (as in previous releases)
  • POP3 protocol (as in previous releases)

You must provide either an Http Server Address or a Mail Store Address so that StarTeam Notification Agent can process the responses. You can provide both addresses. If you provide only an Http Server Address, StarTeam Notification Agent sends a default email message that uses http links for accepting and declining responsibility. If you provide only a Mail Store Address, you must also provide StarTeam Notification Agent with a mailbox for your email system. StarTeam Notification Agent sends a default email message with email links for accepting and declining responsibility.

You can provide both an Http Server Address and a Mail Store Address. However, this does not much sense unless you also plan to provide a custom message that will use both http and email links. In this case, by default, StarTeam Notification Agent will send the responsibility message that includes email links.

Those that require no response StarTeam Notification Agent sends mail messages using the SMTP protocol. If StarTeam Notification Agent notices that you have provided no Http Server Address and no Mail Store Address, it sends a default message that requires no response. You should probably designate that messages to participants be blasted. This is a Workflow Designer setting.
Exception notification When a workflow step is not completed as expected, for example, when a step is not completed within the specified duration, or when no participant accepts responsibility for an item at this step, StarTeam Notification Agent generates an exception message. This message goes simultaneously to the users in the exception list for that workflow step. The exception message is formed by StarTeam Notification Agent based on the type of exception.

Notification information is logged in files with names based on when the files were created, for example, NA-2002-9-25-21-12-10.log. The log files are stored in StarTeam Notification Agent’s installation folder.

Messages can be sent as plain text for email or as HTML (the TomCat http server is installed along with StarTeam Notification Agent).

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