Name, Title, and Alias

When you create an object, you give it a name and, optionally, a title. In some situations, you can also assign it an alias. Name, titles, and aliases have different functions.

The task boxes in Workflows contain two rows to display the name, title and alias of the object. Administrator users define which of these attributes should be displayed in which order in the AWI configuration.properties file. This configuration also determines what is displayed on the User Interface of the Workflow editor and of the Workflow monitor (see Monitoring Workflows). For more information about the Workflow editor, see Designing Workflows in the Editor.

Name

When you create an object, you must give it a name. When you insert it in a Workflow, its name is displayed at the top of the task box unless your administrator has defined it otherwise. 

Tip: Changing the Title of objects is easy. However, modifying its Name has a bigger impact. The object can be linked to other objects, in which case its name is used to create the link between them. Although the Rename function lets you change the object name automatically, it is advisable to define and follow consistent naming conventions in the first place.

For more information, see:

• Best Practices: Naming Conventions
• Renaming Objects and Folders

Title

Optionally, you can assign a title to the object, either when creating it or afterward on its General Page. The title should be descriptive to help you identify the purpose of the object.

Alias

You can assign an alias to a task in the following situations:

• In Workflows

  Objects that are inserted in a Workflow are called tasks. You can define specific task properties that apply to a task only when it is executed from within the Workflow (see Object Properties in Workflows). On the General Tab, you can assign it an alias.

  Aliases are means to uniquely identify tasks in Workflows. This is why they are essential when you insert one task multiple times in a Workflow.

  Example: You want to automate the payroll process at a company with employees in multiple countries. The process is identical for all countries.

  1. Create a Workflow that contains all the steps (Jobs, Notifications, Reports) that are necessary to process the payroll. Let's suppose that its name is Payroll_Process.
  2. Insert this Workflow in a parent Workflow (in our example, it is called Overall_Payroll) as many times as there are countries in your company. All the child Workflows display the same name: Payroll_Process.
  3. Select the first child Workflow, open the properties pane and go to the General tab.

  4. Enter an Alias that identifies this instance of Payroll_Process, for example, Payroll_Process_AT.

     Do the same with the rest of the child Workflows (Payroll_Process_FR, Payroll_Process_IT, and so on).

  Now the unique aliases are displayed in the task boxes instead of the names.

• When you execute an object with the Execute Once option, see Executing Objects Once.

• When you execute an object with the Execute Recurring option, see Executing Objects - Recurring.

Notes:

• When you assign an alias to a task, the alias replaces the name everywhere, also in the Name column in all Executions lists, in the Tasks list in the Process Monitoring perspective and in the search result list in the Advanced Search

• You can use static aliases that you type or you can apply variables and thus build dynamic aliases

See also:

• Workflows (JOBP)
• Designing Workflows in the Editor