Default Error Process (Oracle Workflow Help)

Oracle Workflow Guide
Release 2.6.2
Part Number A95265-03


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Default Error Process

DEFAULT_ERROR is the internal name of the Default Error Process. The purpose of this error handling process is to:

send an administrator a notification when an error occurs in a process

provide information to the administrator about the error

allow the administrator to abort the process, retry the errored activity, or resolve the problem that caused the error to occur

Although you cannot customize the Default Error Process, the process is flexible enough for you to customize its behavior. By defining two item type attributes called WF_ADMINISTRATOR and ERROR_TIMEOUT in your item type that calls the Default Error Process, you can define who the error process sends the notification to and whether the error notification times out, respectively.

'Initialize Error' Function Activity

The Initialize Error activity calls a PL/SQL procedure named WF_STANDARD.INITIALIZEERRORS. This procedure determines if the item type of the errored process has an item type attribute defined with an internal name of WF_ADMINISTRATOR. If it does, it sets the performer of the subsequent notification activity, Notify Administrator, to the role stored in WF_ADMINISTRATOR. If it does not, the subsequent notification activity remains set to the default performer, System Administrator.

By checking for an item attribute called WF_ADMINISTRATOR in your errored process's item type, the Initialize Error activity lets you specify who you want a notification to be sent to in the case of an error in your specific process without modifying the error process.

For example, suppose you have a requisition approval workflow and you want the purchasing administrator, not the system administrator, to resolve any problems that arise from this workflow. You can define an item attribute called WF_ADMINISTRATOR in the item type that owns your requisition approval workflow and set WF_ADMINISTRATOR to the purchasing administrator's role, which may be PO_ADMIN.

'Notify Administrator' Notification Activity

The Notify Administrator activity sends the Default Retry Error message to a performer (the System Administrator or whatever role is stored in your item type's WF_ADMINISTRATOR item attribute). The message indicates that an error has occurred in the specified process and that a response is needed. The response options and their resulting actions are:

Abort the process--executes the Error Still Active activity to verify if the error is still present and if it is, calls the Abort function activity and ends the default error process.

Retry the process--executes the Error Still Active activity to verify if the error is still present and if it is, calls the Retry function activity and ends the default error process.

Resolved the process--ends the default error process because you addressed the errored process directly through some external means or using the embedded URL link to the Workflow Monitor.

Note: The notification message's embedded monitor URL displays the process in error in the Workflow Monitor with full administrator privileges. You can perform actions such as retrying, skipping or rolling back part of your process to resolve the error.

The subject and body of the Default Retry Error message are as follows:

Subject: Error in Workflow &ERROR_ITEM_TYPE/&ERROR_ITEM_KEY

    &ERROR_MESSAGE

Body: An Error occurred in the following Workflow.



    Item Type = &ERROR_ITEM_TYPE

    Item Key = &ERROR_ITEM_KEY

    User Key =&ERROR_USER_KEY



    Error Name = &ERROR_NAME

    Error Message = &ERROR_MESSAGE

    Error Stack = &ERROR_STACK



    Activity Id = &ERROR_ACTIVITY_ID

    Activity Label = &ERROR_ACTIVITY_LABEL

    Result Code = &ERROR_RESULT_CODE

    Notification Id = &ERROR_NOTIFICATION_ID

    Assigned User = &ERROR_ASSIGNED_USER



    &MONITOR

The Notify Administrator notification activity has a dynamic timeout value assigned to it. It checks the item type of the errored process for an item type attribute whose internal name is ERROR_TIMEOUT. ERROR_TIMEOUT must be an attribute of type NUMBER. The Workflow Engine interprets the value of this attribute as a relative offset from the begin date of the activity, in the unit of MINUTES to determine the timeout value of Notify Administrator. If ERROR_TIMEOUT contains a null value, a value of zero, or is not defined at all, then Notify Administrator has no timeout.

'Error Still Active' Function Activity

The Workflow Engine initiates the Error Still Active function activity if the Notify Administrator activity times out or returns Abort or Retry as a result.

The Error Still Active activity calls a PL/SQL procedure called WF_STANDARD.CHECKERRORACTIVE. The purpose of the Error Still Active activity is to determine whether the errored process is still in error before continuing with the error handling. If it is, Error Still Active returns TRUE and the Workflow Engine takes the appropriate transition to either send another notification or abort or retry the errored process. If the errored process is no longer in error, this activity returns False and the error handling process ends, as modelled in the process diagram.

'Retry' Function Activity

The Retry function activity executes the PL/SQL procedure WF_STANDARD.RESETERROR to clear the activity that was in error and run it again. This procedure calls the WF_ENGINE.HandleError API to rerun the activity.

'Abort' Function Activity

The Abort function activity executes the PL/SQL procedure WF_STANDARD.ABORTPROCESS, which in turn calls the WF_ENGINE.AbortProcess API to abort the process that encountered the error.