Use worklist flexfields to define specialized worklist views that display information specific to particular types of notifications. Worklist flexfields are columns in the notification table, WF_NOTIFICATIONS, in which you can store information from different message attributes for different notifications. Storing information in the notification table lets you display that information in a Personal Worklist view. Through such a view, users can quickly review important details about several notifications at once, without navigating to the Notification Details page for each notification. Users can also sort their worklists by the displayed message attributes.

For example, if an expense notification includes message attributes for the expense total and purpose, an administrator can map these message attributes to worklist flexfields. The administrator can then define a worklist view that includes only expense notifications and displays the expense total and purpose for each notification alongside standard notification properties, such as the subject line and sent date.

Users must have access to the Personal Worklist to take advantage of a specialized worklist view. See: Adding Worklist Functions to User Responsibilities.

To define a specialized worklist view using worklist flexfields, perform these steps:

1. Define a worklist flexfields rule that maps message attributes from one or more workflow item types to worklist flexfields columns. See: Defining a Worklist Flexfields Rule.

2. Optionally define a securing function to secure access to your new worklist view. See: Defining a Securing Function.

3. Create a Personal Worklist view that displays the columns mapped by a worklist flexfields rule and that includes only notifications from the corresponding item types. See: Creating a Personalized View for the Personal Worklist.

4. If you secured access to the view with a securing function, restart Oracle HTTP Server. See: Restarting Oracle HTTP Server.

Some Oracle E-Business Suite products also provide seeded worklist flexfields rules and Personal Worklist views. For more information, consult your product-specific documentation or help.

Message Attributes in Worklist Flexfields Rules

Worklist flexfields rules can map both send and respond message attributes. If a respond message attribute has a default value, the corresponding worklist flexfield displays that value while the notification is open.

You can map message attributes with the following data types:

• Text

• Number

• Form

  Note: When displayed in a Personal Worklist view, a form attribute appears as a form icon that drills down to the specified Oracle E-Business Suite form or page. Users must use a responsibility with the appropriate security to open a linked form or Oracle Application Framework page.

• URL

  Note: When displayed in a Personal Worklist view, a URL attribute appears as a URL icon that links to the specified URL.

• Date

  Note: A message attribute of type date must have the following format to be used in a worklist flexfields rule:

  dd-mon-yyyy hh24:mi:ss

  The Personal Worklist requires date attributes to be stored in this format to display them properly according to each user's preference.

Worklist flexfields rules cannot map message attributes of type lookup, role, document, or event.

How Worklist Flexfields Rules Operate

Worklist flexfields rules make message attributes available for display in the Personal Worklist. A worklist flexfields rule operates in combination with other rules that cover the same item type. The phase numbers and customization levels of the rules determine how their effects combine to produce a net set of available message attributes.

• The phase numbers for worklist flexfields rules control the order in which rules for the same item type take effect. If two rules for the same item type map message attributes to the same worklist flexfield column, then the rule with the higher phase number overrides the rule with lower phase number in that column. Other column mappings from the lower-phase rule may still take effect if they do not conflict with any column mappings from higher-phase rules.

  Rules seeded by Oracle E-Business Suite use phase numbers from 1 to 99. You can assign your rules phase numbers of 100 or higher.

  Note: Do not assign the same phase number to more than one rule for the same item type. To ensure that the rules you want take effect, assign a different phase number to each rule for an item type.

• The customization level for a rule determines which worklist flexfields columns the rule can map and whether you can update the rule definition. Oracle Workflow uses the customization level to protect Oracle E-Business Suite seed data and to preserve your customizations in an upgrade.

  Rules seeded by Oracle E-Business Suite can have a customization level of Core or Limit. For rules that you define, Oracle Workflow automatically sets the customization level to User.

Core rules represent key Oracle E-Business Suite features. You cannot make any changes to the rule definitions. Core rules use a different set of worklist flexfields columns than limit and user rules, so core rules cannot override or be overridden by limit and user rules. However, a core rule with a higher phase number can override a core rule for the same item type with a lower phase number. Core rules use phase numbers from 1 to 99.

Core rules can map the following worklist flexfields columns.

Worklist Flexfields Columns for Core Rules

Usually, core rules map message attributes that appear in a seeded worklist view within a particular application. You can also include message attributes mapped by core rules in your own worklist views. If a core rule does not meet your requirements, you can choose not to include its message attributes in your views; however, Oracle Workflow still stores the message attributes in the mapped columns.

Limit rules represent optional Oracle E-Business Suite features. You can update the status of limit rules to Enabled or Disabled, but you cannot make any other changes to the rule definitions.

User rules are the custom rules that you define. You can update any property in the rule definitions.

Limit rules and user rules share the same set of worklist flexfields columns. However, limit rules use phase numbers from 1 to 99, while user rules use phase numbers of 100 or higher. Consequently, a limit rule can be overridden both by another limit rule for the same item type with a higher phase number and by a user rule for the same item type. However, a user rule can only be overridden by another user rule for the same item type with a higher phase number. A limit rule cannot override a user rule.

Limit rules and user rules can map the following worklist flexfields columns.

Worklist Flexfields Columns for Limit and User Rules

The message attributes mapped by limit rules may appear in a seeded worklist view within a particular application. You can also include these message attributes in your own worklist views. If a limit rule does not meet your requirements and you want to override some of its mappings while allowing others to take effect, define a user rule that maps the attributes you want to the relevant columns in place of the attributes you do not need. If you no longer want any mappings from a limit rule to take effect, disable that rule.

Define user rules for any message attributes you want that are not made available by default through core or limit rules. While defining a rule, you can check whether its column mappings conflict with any existing rules for the same item type, and whether the new rule will override or be overridden by the conflicting rules. Review each conflict to decide whether to accept the current overrides or update the rule definitions to make a different rule take effect. See: To Create or Update a Worklist Flexfields Rule.

When you finish defining a worklist flexfields rule, Oracle Workflow submits the Denormalize Worklist Flexfields concurrent program (FNDWFDCC) once for each workflow item type in the rule. The program stores the message attributes for any currently open notifications from that item type in the mapped columns, except for columns overridden by another rule. Subsequently, whenever Oracle Workflow sends a new notification from an item type covered by the rule, the Notification System stores the message attributes for the notification in the mapped columns.

To review the net set of message attributes that are currently available for a particular item type, or for a particular message within an item type, perform a worklist flexfields rules simulation. The simulation results also let you drill down to review any overridden rules for each column and create or update rules if necessary. After you are satisfied with the available attributes, use the simulation results to choose the columns to include when you create a Personal Worklist view. See: To Simulate the Effect of Worklist Flexfields Rules.

This example demonstrates how worklist flexfields rules operate, using the sample Requisition item type. For more details about this sample item type, see: The Requisition Item Type.

Suppose a core rule named EXC01 is seeded for the Requisition item type with a phase of 50 and the following column mapping:

• PROTECTED_TEXT_ATTRIBUTE1 column : Requisition Number attribute

Also, suppose a limit rule named EXL02 is seeded for the Requisition item type with a phase of 60 and the following column mappings:

• TEXT_ATTRIBUTE1 column : Requisition Description attribute

• NUMBER_ATTRIBUTE1 column : Requisition Amount attribute

You prefer to display the Note attribute instead of the Requisition Description attribute, and you also want to display the Monitor URL attribute. To do so, you define a user rule named EXU03 for the Requisition item type with a phase of 110 and the following column mappings:

• TEXT_ATTRIBUTE1 column : Note attribute

• URL_ATTRIBUTE1 column : Monitor URL attribute

These rules combine to produce a net set of four message attributes that you can display in a Personal Worklist view for the Requisition item type.

Example Set of Available Message Attributes

   Defining a Worklist Flexfields Rule:

To View and Maintain Worklist Flexfields Rules

1. Use a Web browser to navigate to the Worklist Flexfields Rules page, using a responsibility and navigation path specified by your system administrator. See: Oracle Workflow Administrator Navigation Paths.

2. Search for the rules you want to display. The search criteria are:

   • Rule Name - Enter the internal name of the rule. You can enter a partial value to search for rules whose internal names contain that value. This field is case-sensitive.

   • Display Name - Select the user-friendly name of the rule. You can enter a partial value to search for rules whose display names contain that value. This field is case-sensitive.

   • Phase - Enter the phase number that determines whether the rule overrides or is overridden by other rules.

   • Status - Select whether to display enabled rules or disabled rules.

   • Level - Select the customization level of the rule.

   • Workflow Type - Select a workflow item type that contains notifications to which the rule applies.

   • Message Attribute - Select a message attribute that the rule maps to a worklist flexfields column. If you specified a workflow type, you can only select a message attribute belonging to that workflow type. Otherwise, you can select a message attribute belonging to any workflow type

   • Column Name - Select a worklist flexfields column to which the rule maps a message attribute.

   You must enter at least one of the following criteria when you search to limit the size of the results list.

   • Rule Name

   • Display Name

   • Level

   • Workflow Type

   If you search only by the Level option or the Workflow Type option, you must select a specific value for that option. You cannot use one of these criteria with the Any value as your only search option.

   The Workflow Type, Message Attribute, and Column Name search options only list values for which a rule exists.

3. To update a rule, choose the update icon for that rule. See: To Create or Update a Worklist Flexfields Rule.

4. To create a new rule, select the Create Rule button. See: To Create or Update a Worklist Flexfields Rule.

To Create or Update a Worklist Flexfields Rule

To Enter General Properties

1. Navigate to the Create Worklist Flexfields Rule: Enter General Properties page or to the Update Worklist Flexfields Rule: Enter General Properties page. The Create Worklist Flexfields Rule pages and the Update Worklist Flexfields Rule pages are identical, except that the fields in the Update Worklist Flexfields Rule pages are populated with previously defined information for the selected rule.

2. Enter the internal name that uniquely identifies the rule and the user-friendly display name for the rule.

3. Review the customization level for the rule.

   • Core - You cannot make any changes to the rule definition. This level is used only for rules seeded by Oracle E-Business Suite.

   • Limit - You can update the rule status to Enabled or Disabled, but you cannot make any other changes to the rule definition. This level is used only for rules seeded by Oracle E-Business Suite.

   • User - You can update any property in the rule definition. This level is automatically set for rules that you define.

4. Select Enabled or Disabled as the rule status.

5. Enter a phase number for the rule to specify the order in which rules for the same workflow item type take effect. Rules with a higher phase number override rules with a lower phase number. Rules seeded by Oracle E-Business Suite use phase numbers from 1 to 99. You can assign your rules phase numbers of 100 or higher.

   Note: Do not assign the same phase number to more than one rule for the same item type. To ensure that the rules you want take effect, assign a different phase number to each rule for an item type.

6. Enter an optional description for the rule.

7. Identify the application that owns the rule by entering the application name in the Owner Name field and the application ID in the Owner Tag field.

To Select Filter Criteria

8. Search for the workflow item types that contain the notifications to which the rule should apply. You can enter a partial value in the Workflow Type field to search for item types whose display names begin with that value. This field is case-sensitive.

9. Select the item types you want in the Available Filter Criteria list and move them to the Selected Filter Criteria list.

   Select an item type in either list to view its description.

   If you perform a new search to show different item types in the Available Filter Criteria list, Oracle Workflow still preserves the item types that you already added to the Selected Filter Criteria list.

To Select Message Attributes

10. To remove a workflow item type from the filter criteria for the rule, choose the remove icon for that item type in the Selected Filter Criteria list.

    When you remove an item type, Oracle Workflow removes any message attributes belonging to that item type from the Available list and the Selected list.

11. Optionally specify the data type of the message attributes to display in the Available list.

12. Select the message attributes to map in the Available list and move them to the Selected list. You can select a maximum of ten text attributes, five number attributes, five form attributes, five URL attributes, and five date attributes.

    The lists show the display name and data type for each message attribute. Select a message attribute in either list to view in the Description field the display name and internal name of the message to which the attribute belongs.

    If multiple messages in the selected workflow item types have a message attribute with the same internal name, display name, and data type, that message attribute appears only once in the lists. In this case the Description field indicates that the message attribute occurs in multiple messages

    Note: Oracle Workflow treats all message attributes with the same internal name and data type as the same attribute for purposes of worklist flexfields column mapping. Although attributes with different display names appear separately in the Available and Selected lists, if you select at least one attribute with a particular internal name and data type, all attributes that share that internal name and data type will be included in the column mapping.

    If you display message attributes of a different data type in the Available list, Oracle Workflow still preserves the message attributes that you already added to the Selected list.

To Map Attributes to Columns

13. For each message attribute, select the worklist flexfields column in which to store the attribute value. The Mapped Column field for each attribute displays only columns that match the attribute data type. You can use each column only once in a rule.

    If multiple messages in the selected workflow item types have a message attribute with the same internal name and data type, that message attribute appears only once. However, if any of the repeated message attributes have different display names, the list shows all the display names.

14. To remove a message attribute from the column mappings for the rule, choose the remove icon for that attribute.

15. To review any conflicts with other rules' column mappings, choose the Find Conflicts button.

16. In the Find Worklist Flexfields Rule Map Conflicts page, review the columns that other rules map to different attributes for the same workflow item types. The Conflict field indicates whether the current rule overrides or is overridden by the other rule, based on the rule phase numbers.

    Note: Check that no two rules for the same item type have the same phase number. To ensure that the rules you want take effect, each rule for an item type must have a different phase number.

    To resolve a conflict:

    • If you want a worklist view to display the mapped attributes from all rules simultaneously, change the column mappings for one of the rules to use separate columns for the different attributes.

    • If you no longer want any column mappings from a particular rule to take effect, disable that rule.

    • If you want to override some column mappings from a particular rule while allowing others to take effect, either decrease the phase number for that rule or increase the phase number for the overriding rule.

    • If the appropriate rules already override any others, accept the existing rule definitions.

17. To return to your rule definition, choose the Return to Pending Rule link.

18. If you need to change this rule definition to resolve conflicts, return to the previous pages to make your changes.

19. To complete the rule definition, choose Finish. Oracle Workflow submits the Denormalize Worklist Flexfields concurrent program (FNDWFDCC) once for each workflow item type in the rule. The program stores the message attributes for any currently open notifications from that item type in the mapped columns, except for columns overridden by another rule. Use the displayed concurrent request IDs to track the progress of these requests.

To Simulate the Effect of Worklist Flexfields Rules

A worklist flexfields rules simulation lets you review the net effect of the enabled rules for a particular item type, or optionally for a particular message. The simulation shows which message attributes are available in which worklist flexfields columns after all relevant rules are applied, with higher-phase rules overriding lower-phase rules wherever they conflict.

• Perform a Core Rules simulation to learn which message attributes are already available in worklist flexfields columns by default. Although you cannot change these rules, you can use the simulation results to avoid duplicating the mapped attributes in user rules.

• Perform a Limit and User Rules simulation to verify that any other message attributes you require are available in worklist flexfields columns. If necessary, you can adjust the rules' effect by enabling or disabling limit rules and creating, updating, enabling, or disabling user rules.

• After you are satisfied with the net set of message attributes available for the item type, use the simulation results to choose the columns to include when you create a Personal Worklist view.

1. Use a Web browser to navigate to the Worklist Flexfields Rules Simulation page, using a responsibility and navigation path specified by your system administrator. See: Oracle Workflow Administrator Navigation Paths.

2. Specify the criteria for the simulation.

   • Select the workflow item type to review.

   • Optionally select a message within that item type to review.

   • Select the customization level to review, either core rules or limit and user rules together.

3. Choose Go to perform the simulation.

4. Review the list of mapped attributes and columns, which shows the net effect of the enabled rules for the selected item type and customization level. If you specified a message, the list shows only mapped attributes belonging to that message.

5. The list displays only the rule that takes effect for each column. To view any overridden rules that also map to that column, choose the overridden rules icon.

6. In the Find Worklist Flexfields Rule Conflicts page, review the columns that overridden rules map to different attributes than the effective rule. The Conflict field indicates that the effective rule overrides the other rules, based on the rule phase numbers.

   Note: Check that no two rules for the same item type have the same phase number. To ensure that the rules you want take effect, each rule for an item type must have a different phase number.

   To resolve a conflict:

   • If you want a worklist view to display the mapped attributes from all rules simultaneously, change the column mappings for one of the rules to use separate columns for the different attributes.

   • If you no longer want any column mappings from a particular rule to take effect, disable that rule.

   • If you want to override some column mappings from a particular rule while allowing others to take effect, either decrease the phase number for that rule or increase the phase number for the overriding rule.

   • If the appropriate rules already override any others, accept the existing rule definitions.

7. To return to the simulation results, choose the Return to Worklist Flexfields Rule Simulation link.

8. To update a rule, choose the update icon for that rule. See: To Create or Update a Worklist Flexfields Rule.

9. To create a new rule, select the Create Rule button. See: To Create or Update a Worklist Flexfields Rule.

   Defining a Securing Function:

If you want to secure access to your specialized worklist view, define a securing function to associate with the view. Use the Form Functions window in Oracle E-Business Suite (System Administrator: Application > Function) to define a function with the following properties:

• Type: Subfunction

• Context Dependence: Responsibility

Add both the securing function and the Personal Worklist function (WF_WORKLIST_CUSTOM) to a menu, and assign the responsibility associated with that menu to your users. Your specialized worklist view will appear in the list of views only when users access the Personal Worklist from that responsibility.

You can associate several worklist views with the same securing function if you want those views to be available through the same responsibility.

If you do not secure your specialized worklist view, it will appear in the list of views whenever any user accesses the Personal Worklist from any responsibility.

See: Overview of Function Security, Overview of Menus and Function Security, Form Functions Window, and Adding Worklist Functions to User Responsibilities.

   Creating a Personalized View for the Personal Worklist:

Use Oracle Application Framework Personalization to create a Personal Worklist view that displays the worklist flexfields to which you mapped message attributes. To make the view available to your users, create it as an administrator-seeded user-level personalization.

Worklist flexfields rules are connected to a Personal Worklist view through the item types they both reference. You do not need to associate rules directly with a view. Rather, to display meaningful information in a view, limit the view to include only related item types that are covered by worklist flexfields rules, and add only worklist flexfields columns that are mapped by those rules.

For more information about creating personalizations, see: Personalization.

1. Log in as a user for whom the Personalize Self-Service Defn profile option is set to Yes.

2. Navigate to the Personal Worklist and choose the Personalize Page global link or the Personalize region link for the "Customizable and searchable worklist" region. In the Page Hierarchy Personalization page, select the Seeded User Views icon for the "Table: Customizable and ..." item. In the Personalize Views page, select the Create View button.

3. In the Create View page, define the properties of your view.

   • If you defined a securing function for the view, specify the function in the view's general properties.

   • Select the columns to display in the view, including the worklist flexfields columns that are mapped to message attributes. Rename the columns as appropriate to identify the attributes stored in them.

     A view can include worklist flexfields columns that are mapped by different rules. However, to display meaningful values in the view, you should select columns that are mapped by rules for the same item types.

     Note: Perform a worklist flexfields rules simulation to review the worklist flexfields column mappings that are in effect for a particular item type. See: To Simulate the Effect of Worklist Flexfields Rules.

   • Specify the columns by which to sort the view, including worklist flexfields columns if appropriate.

   • To display only notifications from the relevant item types, add the Type parameter or the Type Internal Name parameter to the search query for the view, and specify the item type display name or internal name, respectively. You can add multiple instances of these parameters to include multiple item types in the view. In this case, select the Search results where each may contain any value entered option.

     If you do not limit the item types included in the view, then the view may display notifications from other item types with blank values or unrelated values in the worklist flexfields columns.

   For more information, see: Create View, Update View, and Duplicate View Pages.

   Restarting Oracle HTTP Server:

If you associated a securing function with the view, you must stop and restart Oracle HTTP Server after completing the menu updates and saving the view, to make the changes take effect. See: Administering Oracle HTTP Server.

Users must then access the Personal Worklist through a responsibility that includes the securing function for the view to appear in their list of available views.