Page History

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• Deadlines act as a timer which triggers an exception transition to another activity when a specified duration has elapsed. Deadlines can be set for each activity.
• We set time limits on each activity, which will trigger an exception (in this case, a specific string variable). When a matching transition that has the condition set to 'exception' matches this string value, the transition will be invoked.

Types of Deadlines

• Deadline execution can be synchronous or asynchronous.
• For synchronous execution, the current activity will no longer be active when the deadline is triggered.  This is used in cases such as an approval escalation.
• For asynchronous execution, the next activity will be executed while the current activity is still waiting.  This is used in cases such as sending reminders.
• Multiple deadlines are supported for each activity.
  

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• When a deadline is triggered, and where the exception name matches the one set for a transition, the flow will execute along that transition to the next element along the workflow.
• Add an Exception-type transition from the activity to the next (i.e., Send Reminder).
• Set the type of condition to 'Exception'.
• Enter an Exception name (e.g., TIMEOUT) in the Expression text area.
• Confirm and close the properties window for the transition.

Tips

• You can set multiple deadlines in an activity. They can include a first-level reminder (asynchronous) which is then followed by an escalation (synchronous) if the activity has not been completed within the time limit.
• Remember to match the exception names. If they do not match, nothing will happen.