By default, all activity elements except Event objects are blank. You can define properties such as label, input and output parameters, possible problems, rules, comments and all other information associated with an activity.

Steps to define properties for a workflow element

1. Double-click the activity element (for example, the first activity element in the Initial Claim Representative swim lane). This displays the properties associated with the activity element in the Activity Properties Panel in the Bottom Pane.

Alternately, you can right-click the activity element and select the View Properties option (see Figure 12).

Figure 12: Viewing Properties of an Activity Element 

The Activity Properties Panel is displayed in the Bottom Pane. It comprises of five tabs:

• General
• Input/Output
• Details
• Problems
• Comments

General Properties

1. When you click an element, the General tab appears as selected. Enter the name and description for the selected activity element in the Label and Description fields.
2. Click the element again in the Graph Canvas to display the name in the element (see Figure 13).

Figure 13: Displaying Name of Activity

You can enter details of users who will be executing this process model.

1. Click Create New Process Participant ( ). This displays a new user field in the Process Participant section (see Figure 14).

   

   Figure 14: Creating Process Participant

2. Enter the name of the user who would be participating in this process, in the Name field. For example, if manager will be participating in this process, enter the name of the manager in the Name Field.
3. Select the type of user from User or Role, who would be participating in this process, from the Type drop-down list. A single user or a group of users assigned a particular role, can participate in this process model.

Input/Output Properties

1. Click Input/Output tab to display all input and output properties for the selected element (see Figure 15).

   

   Figure 15: Input/Output Properties

2. Enter the name of input parameters required for the selected element, in the Input Parameters field. For example, when the Claim Specialist processes the Claim, he requires details such as Claim_ID or Policy_Number. These could be entered as input parameters.
3. Enter the name of output parameters required of the selected element, in the Output Parameters field. For example, when the Claim Specialist processes the Claim, he generates the Claim Amount. This could be entered as output parameter.
4. Enter the name of documents required as input for the selected element, in the Input Documents field. For example, when the Subrogation Expert conducts the Subrogate sub-process, he requires documents such as copies of Driver's License and Registration Certificate of vehicle. These could be entered as input documents.
5. Enter the name of documents required as output of the selected element, in the Output Documents field. For example, when the Subrogation Expert conducts the Subrogate sub-process, he can upload a copy of the Subrogation Amount Certificate. This could be entered as output documents.
6. Enter the parameters used to connect to the Claim Management application, in the Define Application Data field. For example, enter the name of the URL of the Claim Management application, or the host or port used.

Details Properties

1. Click the Details tab to display all detailed properties for the selected element (see Figure 16).

   

   Figure 16: Details Properties

2. Select priority of the selected element, from the Priority drop-down list.
3. Select the number of user resources required for the selected element, from the Number of User Resources field.
4. Select expected time duration of execution of the selected element, from the Expected Time Duration drop-down lists.
5. Select time duration when the selected element will be due, from the Due In drop-down lists.
6. Select time duration when task associated with the selected element will expire, from the Task Expires In drop-down lists.
7. Enter the name of sub-process or service associated with the selected element, in the Name of Sub Process/Service field.

8. Define the print sequence in the Print Sequence drop-down list.

   Print sequence defines the order in which the activities are displayed in the PDF file of the model.
   If Print Sequence of any activity is Zero(0), then its properties will not be visible in PDF, Word File and XML file formats.

9. Enter the rules that are defined for the selected element, in the Rules field. For example, when a Claim Adjustor verifies the claim, a rule could be defined that if Claim value>50,000, then the issue is escalated to Manager.

Problems Properties

1. Click Problems tab to display all possible problems associated with the selected element (see Figure 17).

   
   

   Figure 17: Problems Properties

2. You can enter details of all possible problems associated with the selected element. For example, when Call Center Representative updates the Claim System, the Claim_ID could be entered as incorrect. Click Create New Problem ( ). This displays a new field and here you can enter the problem.
3. Enter description of the problem in the Description field.
4. Enter details on handling this problem in the Handling field.
5. Select type of problem, such as, if it is related to whole application or a particular activity, from the Type drop-down list.
6. Select severity of problem from the Severity drop-down list.
7. Select frequency of the problem from the Frequency drop-down list.

 Comments Properties

1. Click Comments tab to display comments properties for the selected element (see Figure 18).

   

   Figure 18: Comments Properties

2. Enter comments for the selected element in the text field.

Apart from entering properties for an element, you can also enter properties for the entire process model.