Job notifications

Available with Workflow Manager license.

Job notification types define the template for messages to be sent to individuals, via email, after certain events have occurred in the system. Similar to activity types, these notifications are sent for events throughout the life cycle of the job. Unlike activity types, users must be subscribed to the notification type to be able to see them. In addition to the message, you can include all job attachments as part of the email sent with notifications. Notifications are sent at the following times by default:

  • Job is assigned or reassigned
  • Job created
  • Job cloned
  • Job closed
  • Dependency added
  • Hold released
  • Hold added
  • Extended properties updated
  • Step execution completed
  • Workflow updated
  • Workflow committed for execution
  • Step completed
  • Attachment added
  • Attachment deleted
  • Dependency deleted
  • Job properties updated
  • Area of interest updated
  • Version created
  • Current step set
  • Step assigned or reassigned
  • Step started
  • Step set as current job step
  • Notes updated
  • Linked (1-M) property added
  • Linked (1-M) property deleted
  • Linked (1-M) property updated

Unlike activity types, notifications can be extended and easily built into your workflows using the Send Notification step type. This custom step is part of the Workflow Manager (Classic) Steps library and takes a notification type as an argument.

A notification type has the following properties associated with it:

  • Name
  • Subject
  • Message Body
  • Include Job Attachments
  • Sender Email
  • Sender Display Name
  • Subscribers

The Subscribers property is a list of email addresses. Each of the above properties can contain dynamic values. These are controlled by tokens. For example, you can subscribe the current user to a particular notification, even if you don't know who that person is at design time, by entering the following:

[EMAILOF([SYS:CUR_LOGIN])]

For notifications to be sent, the SMTP server for the system must be configured. For more information about configuring this setting, see Workflow Manager (Classic) system settings. The attachment size limit is based on your mail server settings.

Add new job notification types

You can add new notification types triggered by actions in the application or by workflow steps.

  1. Start ArcGIS Workflow Manager (Classic) Administrator and connect to your Workflow Manager (Classic) database.
  2. Expand Notifications.
  3. Right-click Job Notifications and click Add Job Notification.

    The Notification Type Properties dialog box appears.

  4. Provide a name for the notification in the Notification Type Name text box.
  5. Provide a subject for the email notification in the Subject text box.
  6. Provide the email message that will appear using tokens as necessary in the Message text box.
  7. Check the Include Job Attachment check box to send all the job's attachments with this notification.
  8. Click the To/From tab.
  9. Enter the sender's email address and display name in the Sender Email and Sender Name text boxes.

    These fields can also contain tokens for the current user at the time the notification is sent.

  10. Click Modify to add or remove subscribers to the list of people that will receive the notification.

    The Select Subscribers dialog box appears.

  11. Enter email addresses in the text box (separate multiple subscribers with a semicolon) or double-click a Workflow Manager (Classic) user to add their email address.
  12. Click OK to save the changes and close the Select Subscribers dialog box.
  13. Click OK to save the notification.

Manage subscribers for notification types

You can manage subscribers for existing notification types.

  1. Start Workflow Manager (Classic) Administrator and connect to your Workflow Manager (Classic) database.
  2. Expand Notifications and click Job Notifications.
  3. Select the notification type for which you want to manage subscribers in the right panel.
    Tip:

    Hold the Shift key as you click to select multiple notifications in the right panel.

  4. Right-click the notification and click Edit Item.
  5. Click Modify to add or remove subscribers to the list of people that will receive the notification.

    The Select Subscribers dialog box appears.

  6. Enter email addresses in the text box (separate multiple subscribers with a semicolon) or double-click a Workflow Manager (Classic) user to add their email address.
  7. Click OK to save the changes and close the Select Subscribers dialog box.
  8. Click OK to save the notification.

Use notifications in workflows

If you have configured custom notification types for your system, you can build them into your workflows by setting a notification as part of a step property or using the SendNotification custom step.

Use notifications as a property of a step

You can configure your workflow steps to send notifications when the step is executed.

  1. Start Workflow Manager (Classic) Administrator and connect to your Workflow Manager (Classic) database.
  2. Expand Job Components > Workflows.
  3. Right-click Workflows and click Add a Workflow, or right-click a workflow and click Edit Item.
  4. Click the Workflow tab.
  5. Right-click the step to which you want to add a notification and click Properties.

    The Detailed Step Properties dialog box appears.

  6. Click the Step Notifications drop-down arrow and choose the notification type you want sent after this step is executed.
  7. Click OK to save changes to the step properties.
  8. Click OK to save changes to the workflow.

Use notifications as a step type

You can configure your workflow steps to send notifications when the step is executed.

  1. Start Workflow Manager (Classic) Administrator and connect to your Workflow Manager (Classic) database.
  2. Expand Job Components.
  3. Right-click and click Add Step Type.

    The Step Type Properties dialog box appears.

  4. Provide basic step information in the Step Type Name and Description text boxes.
  5. Click the Indicator drop-down menu and choose a shape for the step type.
  6. Leave the Hide Workflow Manager While Running check box unchecked.
  7. Click the Execution tab.
  8. Choose Custom Step Object.
  9. Click the CLSID/ProgID browse button (...).
  10. The Browse for Custom Steps dialog box appears.
  11. Expand All Platforms, click Send Notification, and click OK.
  12. Type /notifType:<notification name> in the Arguments text box.
  13. Click Validate Argument Names to verify that the argument you've entered is formatted correctly.
  14. Click OK to save the step type.
  15. Right-click Workflows and click Add a Workflow, or right-click a workflow and click Edit Item.
  16. Click the Workflow tab.

    The new step type appears in the step list under Custom Step.

  17. Add the step to the workflow and add a path to include the new step.
  18. Click OK to save the workflow.

You're now ready to create a new job and send a notification.

Note:

You can use tokens to get the information about the job or current user at runtime, when the time the notification is sent.

The message for the notification can contain HTML tags when HTML Notifications have been enabled in the Workflow Manager (Classic) system settings.