Defining Workflow Variables

Basic Administration > Supporting Collaboration > Workflow Administration > Workflow Tools > Workflow Template Administration > Common Workflow Administrative Tasks > Defining Workflow Variables

Click Create to create a workflow variable.

To update a variable, highlight the variable and click Update.

When updating the self variable, you can only change permissions. The self variable always refers to the current workflow template.

The primaryBusinessObject variable always refers to the associated business object. If no object is associated, the variable is null.

1. Declare the variable to use:

Name

Provide a name for the variable. If declaring a Java class, the name must be a proper Java variable name.

Define Display Name

Click Define Display Name to provide a user-friendly name. You can provide a single display name in the Default field, or provide additional localized values.

Some of the display names on the Create Training and Set Deadline task information page are not localized. You can use the Define Display Name field to localize the names.

Type Name

The drop-down menu includes several frequently used classes. If the class you want is not listed, you can select one of the following:

• Windchill Classes

The Windchill Classname drop-down menu appears.

• Other Class

Enter a class name. It must be an evolvable or a persistable class.

2. If you are declaring variables on a node or child process, the following fields also appear:

Initialize From

Initialize a variable value from a parent template variable when the node starts.

This automatically sets the Type Name field.

Copy Into

Copy a variable value into a parent template variable when the node completes.

3. The Default Value value appears if you are defining a variable with one of the following classes:

int

float

boolean

char

java.lang.String

java.util.Date (The format for java.util.Date is the standard Windchill date format.)

java.net.URL

You cannot provide a default value for a variable that is initialized from a parent workflow template variable, as the default value would be overwritten at runtime.

4. Select the following options:

Variable Options	Description
Visible	Controls whether or not the variable is visible to users.
Required	Controls whether the variable must have a value or whether its value can be null. All required variables must be given a value for the workflow template instance to start or complete.
Read Only	Controls whether the variable is read-only or whether it can be modified. Read-only URL variables are displayed as hyperlinks.
Resetable	Resets the variable to its default value each time the workflow process or node is started. This also applies to a node started because of a workflow process loop. For example, you might want to leave the Resetable checkbox clear if you define a variable that counts how many times a loop is executed in a workflow process. If you select Resetable, the variable is reset to its default value each time through the loop; if you clear the Resetable checkbox, you can add to the value each time through the loop.

5. You can set restrictions on any access-controlled business object referenced by a workflow template variable.

The permissions are in effect for the duration of the workflow activity node (if set on an activity-level variable) or workflow process (if set on a template-level variable).

Select Full Control (All) to give full control or any of the other permissions for limited control. For definitions of the default permission options, see Access Permissions.