Create Task Instances
You use the task distribution options to create instances of a Human task.
You can configure the options to create task instances based on the number of items in the data set, or you can configure options to create task instances based on the values in a column you select.
If you select the option to create task instances by text, you define a user list that you must use when you configure the task steps. If you select the option to create task instances by number of items, you do not define a user list.
Note: If you change from one task configuration policy to another, you discard the previous task configuration.
Creating Task Instances of Equal Size
You can create task instances based on the number of records or clusters in the data set. You can also specify the number of task instances to create. In each cases, you create tasks of equal size.
1. Open a Human task.
2. Select the Task Distribution tab, and enable task distribution.
3. Choose to create task instances by number of items.
4. Set the number of tasks to create, or set the number of rows or clusters in each task.
Creating Task Instances by Data Value
You can create task instances that contain all the records in the data set that have common values in a column that you select.
1. Open a Human task.
2. Select the Task Distribution tab, and enable task distribution.
3. Choose to create task instances by data value.
Optionally, specify the maximum number of records that any task instance can contain.
4. Select a column name from the Column menu. The menu lists the column names on the resource that you specify on the Data Source tab.
If you add a Cluster step to the Human task, select the group key column that you used in the mapping that generated the clusters. You select the group key column to ensure that the task distribution process does not split the records in a cluster into different clusters.
Note: The Column menu has a precision of 65. The menu does not display a column name that contains more than 65 characters.
5. Select the method that the workflow will use to assign users or groups to task instances.
You can associate each user or group with a single value in the column, or you can associate each user or group with a range of column values.
6. Create the assignments between the users or groups and the column data values.
You can add the users or groups and the values to associate with them to a grid in the Task Distribution tab. Or, you can connect to an external database table that stores the lists of users, groups, and column values.
7. To add values to the grid, select one of the following options:
- - Add Data Value. Enter a value, and select a user or group from the domain.
- - Add Data Value from Reference Table. Import data values and user or group names from a reference table. Create the reference table with a column of user or group names and a column of data values.
- - Add Data Value from Local File. Import data values and user or group names from a delimited file.
8. To add values from an external database table, browse to a database connection and select a database table. resource from the database.
9. Optionally, select a user or group to receive any record in the data source that does not satisfy the task distribution criteria that you specify.
Rules and Guidelines for Task Distribution By Column Values
Consider the following rules and guidelines when you specify data values and user or group names for task distribution:
- •You can enter the data values and the user or group names in a grid in the Task Distribution tab. Or, you can import the data values and the user or group names from a table or a file.
- •Enter each combination of data values and user or group names on a single row.
- •To associate a value with a user or group, enter a single value in the first column and a single user or group in the second column.
To associate a range of numbers with a user or group, enter the lower value in the first column and the upper value in the second column. Then, enter the user or group name in the third column.
To associate a range of dates with a user or group, enter the earlier date in the first column and the later date in the second column. Then, enter the user or group name in the third column.
- •You can select a table that contains more than three columns. The task configuration uses the first two columns if you specify single data values or the first three columns if you specify ranges of values. The task configuration disregards additional columns.
- •The lower and upper values correspond to the Start and End values in the Task Distribution tab. The earlier and later dates correspond to the Start and End dates.
- •On each row, the Start value must be lower than or equal to the End value. The Start date must be lower than or equal to the End date.
- •The workflow treats each range as inclusive. For example, a range of 50 through 99 includes the values 50 and 99. The ranges that you set cannot overlap.
- •The users and groups that you specify must exist in the Informatica domain in which the workflow runs. The data values in the table or file must match the values in the data source column that you select.
Include the security domain name with the user or group name. For example, enter Native\Jefferson to identify the user name Jefferson in the Native domain.
- •If a data value contains a delimiter, use quotation marks as text qualifiers to enclose the data value.
- •You can associate a column value or a range of values with more than one user or group. When the workflow runs, the Data Integration Service assigns any task that contains the value or values to the first user or group in the distribution list.
- •If a record contains a value that does not match the distribution criteria, the Data Integration Service adds the record to a unique task instance. The Data Integration Service assigns the instance to a user or group that you specify on the Task Distribution tab.
You can select any user or group in the domain, including any user or group that you select to receive other tasks.
Setting Permissions on a Step
Enter a short description of the task here (optional).
1. Open a Human task.
2. Select the Permissions tab.
The tab displays the options for viewing permissions and editing permissions.
3. To set each permission, open the menu in the Value field. Use the menu options to select the permission that you need.
- - When you opt to set viewing permissions on selected columns, the Visible Columns dialog box opens. Use the dialog box options to select the columns to show or hide in the Analyst tool.
- - When you opt to set editing permissions on selected columns, the Editable Columns dialog box opens. Use the dialog box options to select the columns that users can edit in the Analyst tool.
Note: Define editing permissions on one or more of the visible columns. Analyst tool users cannot edit data in a column that they cannot view.
Rules and Guidelines for Step Permission Options
By default, Analyst tool users can view all data and perform any action in the task instances that they own. Use the Permissions options to specify a set of viewing permissions and editing permissions for the task instances. Apply the permissions in the step that defines the task instances.
You can use permissions to assign data to users based on the users' roles or areas of expertise. For example, you might define a series of steps in a Human task so that different users can edit different columns of workflow data. Or, you might decide to hide sensitive data, such as salaries or Social Security numbers, from one or more users.
Consider the following rules and guidelines when you set the permissions:
- •You can define different permissions in each step in a Human task. An Analyst tool user who reviews a task instance might see a different data set to a user who worked on the data in an earlier task instance.
- •The permissions apply to the audit trail data in addition to the record or cluster data in each task instance.
- •If a business administrator transfers a task instance to another user, the permissions that you set for the step apply to the user that the business administrator identifies.
- •The viewing permissions that you set on a step take precedence over the editing permissions. If you grant editing permissions on a column and you do not grant viewing permissions on the column, Analyst tool users cannot edit the column data.
- •If you find and replace multiple values in a task instance, the Analyst tool restricts the operation to the data that the viewing permissions specify for the instance.
- •Analyst tool users can perform any action to update the status of a record, cluster, or task instance regardless of the viewing or editing permissions that you set.
Rules and Guidelines for Step Permission Options