Scheduled batch archiving of workitems using SARA

[Jim Swain]

The instructions were perfect!  This was my first assignment using variants and
I didn't realize how flexible they were.  Thanks to everyone for your input.
Marcel, I will contact you as we get further into the project, or you can
contact me directly at jim_swain at fpl.com.
 
Thanks again,
 
Jim Swain
FPL
 
"Landry, Marcel" wrote:
 
> Hi Jim,  interestingly enough, we are about to set up the same scenario.
>
> Here's what I've come up with to solve the 'moving endate' syndrome..
>    (I'm on 4.0B - hopefully the screens are somewhat similar...)
>
> When you create your variant for the WORKTIEM object, you can define the end
> date as a dynamicly calculated value.
>   You then refer to this variant in you batch setup in SARA.
>
> To setup the dynamic variant ...
> ================================
> 1. Create a new variant for WORKITEM.
> 2. On the maintenance screen, don't enter any dates and hit 'continue' to go
> to the next screen.
> 3. Enter a description ...  you won't have a choice!
> 4. For the "Actual End Date" field, check the selection variable box.
> 5. Then hit the "Selection Variables button" at the top of your screen
> 6. On this screen, you should only have one value.
>     Select the traffic light under the "D" column, (turns green)
>     defines this field as "Dynamic date calculation"
> 7. Under the "variable name" column, hit the down arrow.. select " Current
> date +/- ??? days"
> 8. Set your variable as "-60"  That will calculate "Current date -60   days"
> 9. On that same screen, set the selection option for that value to "<=" Less
> than or equal to.
>    Otherwise, you'll only select one day...
> 10.Save your variant...
>     You should notice that the actual end date is grey'ed out and shows the
> proper selection criteria.
>
> I tested this quickly in our dev environment.
>
> Try it out & keep us informed of your progress with this.
>
> Marcel Landry
> Workflow Administrator
> New Brunswick Power.
> Fredericton, N.B.
> CANADA
> 506.458.6592
>
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Jim Swain [mailto:jimswain at ix.netcom.com]
> Sent: November 30, 2000 8:41 PM
> To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: Scheduled batch archiving of workitems using SARA
>
> I am in the process of implementing workflow archiving on version 4.5B
> using the SARA transaction.  So far everything is working fine in our
> development environment, where we are individually starting each
> archive, modifying the variant each time.  The goal, however, is to set
> this up as a batch process in production (after initial clean-up of old
> workflows, of course).  I can use SARA to schedule a start date/time and
> a period (monthly) for the batch job but there seems to be no provision
> to automatically update the archive program variant with a new value for
> the actual end date before the scheduled job runs each month.  I would
> like for the actual end date value of the variant to contain a date of
> 60 days prior to the batch job run date, in order to archive only
> workflows that have been completed for over 60 days.
> What is the correct way to automatically update this variant each month,
> or is this just not a valid use for SARA?  If not, what is the correct
> way to configure  scheduled batch archiving for workflow?  I did attend
> the workflow archiving presentation at the ASUG group meeting in Tampa,
> but I don't recall this particular issue being discussed.
>
> Thank you in advance for any input you can provide.
>
> Jim Swain
> FPL