Case Data Terminology
Case Actions
A case action is a special type of business service, associated with a case class, that defines an action a user can perform that is related to a case. The availability of case actions can be restricted based on the current case state and/or the user's permissions.
Case Classes
A case class is a template for a case object. A case class must have at least one case identifier, and can have as many as are required by the nature of the data represented.
You can create a case object from a case class from within any BPM process application that references that case class.
Unlike local objects, which exist only over the lifespan of a process, case objects are persisted - each case object is stored in the case data tables that represent the case model from which the case object was instantiated.
Case Data Models (or Case Models)
A case data model is the ActiveMatrix BPM representation of a particular set of case data.
At design-time, a case data model is represented as one or more global BOMs in a Business Data project. Cases are modeled as case classes. The project must be deployed to the BPM runtime to make the case data model available to BPM applications.
At runtime, a case data model has two components:
- a business data application. (This contains the BDS Plug-ins generated from the Business Data project BOMs.)
- an associated set of case data tables in the case data store. These tables will be used to store case objects created and used by BPM process applications that reference this case data model.
Case Data Store
The case data store is the database in which case data models are stored, and from which processes can access items of case data (case objects).
The case data store is created as part of the ActiveMatrix BPM installation process, and can be either part of the BPM database, or a separate database
Case Data Tables
When a case data model is deployed from Business Studio, case data tables representing that case data model must be created in the case data store. (ActiveMatrix BPM can be configured to either do this automatically or to generate SQL scripts that must be manually run by a DBA.) After this has been done, instances of process applications that use that case model can be started and run.
TIBCO recommend that:
Case Identifiers
A case identifier (CID) is a special type of attribute that can be used to uniquely identify an instance of a case class. It can be used in processes, scripts or API calls to create or to find a particular case.
Case Objects
A case object is an instance of a case class. Data for a case object is stored in the case data tables associated with the case data model to which the case class belongs. You can create case objects from within a process by using a Global Data service task.
Case References
A case reference is a unique reference (or pointer) to a case object, created by ActiveMatrix BPM when that case object is created.
Creating a case object creates and returns a case reference. That reference can be used by any process to find and manipulate that case object.
You can use a case reference within a process to find, display, update or delete an existing case object.
Case States
A case state is a special type of attribute, available only on case classes, that can be used to uniquely identify a set of business-specific states that a case can be in. Case states can be used to control the availability of case actions to users.
Case Summaries
A case summary is a specified subset of the attributes defined for a case class. The case summary defines the initial set of information that is returned about a case object when that object is returned as part of a search result. When a user performs a search on a case class using the Openspace Case Management gadget, the case summary information is displayed for each matching case object.