Using the Process Automation extension for irAuthor

This article covers the use of the irAuthor extension to provide schema mapping to InRule Process Automation process models as well as the Execute Process action within rules.

Upgrade considerations

If you are upgrading from version 1.0.0 or 1.0.1 of the Process Automation Extension, your environment settings will not be persisted through the version upgrade and must be reconfigured. Instructions for environment configuration can be found below.

Installing the Process Automation extension for irAuthor

Trial Users Only

Download irAuthor by navigating to Provisioned Resources and locating the Authoring resource.  Click the Download irAuthor link and follow the installation steps. The Process Automation extension will automatically be available in irAuthor. 

Licensed or Trial Users

Install the Process Automation extension through the Extension Manager in irAuthor.  

Configure a Process Automation Environment in irAuthor

Once you have installed irAuthor and the Process Automation extension, you will be able to configure a connection to a Process Automation environment. To do this, select the Configure button from the Environments section of the Process Automation tab in irAuthor.

This opens a dialog that allows you to add a Process Automation environment. Click the Add Environment button to add a new environment. Next, set a name for the environment. Below that is an option for Centralized Authentication. Licensed InRule customers will provide credentials and an API key for a Process Automation account. Trial users will use Centralized Authentication.

To Trial Users: If you are not already logged into irAuthor and select Centralized Authentication you will see a button that will allow you to Log in to Process Automation. Click this button and enter the credentials for your trial login.

Once you are logged in, you will see a drop-down for selecting a tenant. After selecting your tenant from the drop-down, you are done configuring the Process Automation Environment.

Licensed Customers Only

Customers will not use Centralized Authentication. Instead, they will provide the URL for the Process Automation environment they wish to use, their username and password, and their API Key. API Key information can be found in the Calling InRule from Process Automation using the Execute Decision component article as well as on the Process Automation support site.

Both trial users and customers can use the Test connection button to check that the connection is successful.

With the Process Automation environment configured, you will now be able to manage the schemas associated with your Process Automation environment. The following section describes this process which is only relevant to the Process Automation calling InRule integration pattern.

Schema Management and Entity Selection

With a Process Automation environment configured, the forms in that environment can be retrieved and used to create entities and fields in irAuthor. Before managing your schema, you will need to make sure you are connected to a catalog and that you have a rule app checked out.

To Trial Users: Any form you wish to use must be part of a process that has been configured to give access to the InRule Service Account.

To begin managing your schema, start by going to the Process Automation tab in irAuthor and selecting the Manage button in the Schema section.

Select an environment from the list of Process Automation environments you have configured by clicking the Use this button.

After selecting which environment to use, you will be presented with a list of forms. Click on the arrow to expand the Forms list to see the form’s fields. To create irAuthor entities from these forms, select the fields on the form you wish to use and click the Update button.

Doing so will create an entity for your form with the fields you selected. It should look like this:

Supported Field Types and Mappings

To help inform your choice of field type, the below table describes the mapping between Process Automation datatypes and InRule datatypes. 

Schema Refresh

If you have updated fields on your Process Automation form, you can use the Refresh button in the schema management window to update your entities to match your updated forms and fields.

Refreshing your schema will first display a warning detailing any elements that are being removed and a summary of changes that details what changes have been found. 

These changes will not be applied until you select the Update button with your selected list of entities and fields.

Changing the name value of a field in Process Automation is perceived by irAuthor as removing and adding a field and will be reflected as such in the summary of changes.

Disconnecting Entities

You may want to disconnect an entity or field from Process Automation so that changes to its value do not get stored. For example, if you are using a Process Automation field for an interim calculation, but don't want that value to get saved in Process Automation, you can accomplish this using the Disconnect Item button.

To disconnect an item, either right-click the item in the Entities view and select Disconnect Item (Figure 1)  or select the item and click the Disconnect Item button in the Process Automation tab (Figure 2).

Figure 1

Figure 2

To ensure an entity or field has been disconnected, you can check the Schema Source for the entity or field. A connected item will show Process Automation in the schema source, whereas a disconnected item will be shown as internal.