Using Business Identifiers |
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Business Identifiers
In an application it is necessary to identify the process instances using specific identifiers. These types of identifiers are called Business Identifiers which can be defined at a project level and be linked to one or more process models. When a single business identifier is linked to multiple process models, then each instance of that model will have one instance of the linked business identifier value. Process developers should ensure that proper values are assigned to these Business Identifiers. Assignment of business data to Business Identifiers is possible using the message map. However, the values stored in the business identifiers cannot be used to assign values to the input messages of an activity. If the values larger than 250 characters are assigned, they are truncated at run-time. Once the values are linked and assigned to these identifiers, they will enable the query of process instances across different process models with a single business identifier.
Business Identifiers must have a name, a description, and a type.
Note:
- The description of a business identifier is translatable. An Auto-suggest menu is available for the Description field, using which you can select from the existing text identifiers.
- To translate a description, right-click the required business identifier, and select Translate. The Translation Editor is displayed, where you can specify the translation languages and the translated descriptions.
Business Identifier Data Types
Business identifiers are type safe. Business Identifiers can have 3 different data types - String, Numeric, and Date. When Numeric is chosen, precision must be specified. When String is chosen, the value of the string identifier must not be more than 250 characters. When Date is chosen, then the value must be in XSD format. If XSD format is not used, the process instance throws an error during the execution. For example, XSD Date format 2001-10-26T21:32:52.12679.
Following tasks can be performed using the Business Identifiers: