Promotion preference manager, promotion notice objects, and their work-flows

[gchampoux]

I'm still learning and configuring Intralink 9.1, and have some confusion about how the workflow is determined during a promotion.

The Promotion Preference Manager allows me to define which workflows are available.
However, a workflow can be assigned to the lifecycle phase/gate of a promotions request (wt.maturity.PromotionNotice).
This seems redundant or contradictory.
Can anyone explain the difference?

I copied the life cycle "Promotion Request" and assigned the workflow "Promotion Request Approval Process" as the <u>Phase Process</u> for the first phase (Open). In my site OIR's I assigned this new lifecycle to wt.maturity.PromotionNotice.

When a promotion occurs, the user is being prompted to select a workflow (defined in the Promotion Preference Manage).
Shouldn't the workflow of the promotion request's lifecyle be used automatically (without any prompt)?

What am I missing?

Gerry

[MikeLockwood]

Promotion is unique in that it is often desirable to have a different workflow process run depending on the target state. For this reason, it does not use a mapping from a lifecycle state to a workflow process.

Having a user select from available workflow processes seems to us as something that no real business should use; instead, administrators should configure a single workflow for each target state. The OTB condition in which the user can select Review seems especially contrary to any real business. Approval of Promotion is the control point. Allowing a user to select "Review" is like "I've decided to give myself a raise and I've approved it and I'm just letting you know."

So, with normal lifecycles, a process is assigned in the lifecycle, Promotion ignores this and uses the Preferences only.

[ddemay]

I don't think you really missing much here other than the fact that PTC
overrode their functionality for promote to allow the user to select the
workflow in case the need exists to have different business requirements
fulfilled.

[gchampoux]

It seems thatPTC gives the end-user greater authority than the administrator (me) wants to allow.

I could use the Promotion Preference Manager to allow only one workflow.
However, when creating a promotion, the user is still presented with the workflow-selection screen, even though there is only one workflow available.

Is there a better way?

And this still does not explain why the promotion'slife-cycle's workflow is not used.
If they are not used for the promotion, then what are they for?

Gerry

[MikeLockwood]

Need to have only one workflow process selected in the preference (multiple are listed, separated by a tilde (~)). If there is a different preference for each state, each is independent for this item.

Several configurations in the Promotion Request lifecycle are ignored. Included here is the OTB configuration for example that one can Promote a Promotion Request (absurd).

Also ignored are the OTB permissions that users Can Modify Promotion Requests, since they cannot be checked out. There are lots of OTB errors related to Promotion.

[AL_ANDERSON]

Windchill Solutions Group,

We installed Java Plug-in 1.6.0_23 on a test client machine hoping to fix
the multiple log in problem, restarted Internet Explorer, and found that
the applet graphics are scrambled and unusable.

We tried it both in Windchill Foundation PDM 8.0, and PDMLink 9.1. We
also tried with Fox Fire and got the same applet graphic issue.

We made sure to clear the Internet Explorer cache before restarting with
the new JRE.

Anyone else having problems? Any ideas on what is wrong?

Thanks,

Al Anderson
Solar Turbines Incorporated


Here is the log from the java console:

Java Plug-in 1.6.0_23
Using JRE version 1.6.0_23-b05 Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM
User home directory = C:\Documents and Settings\d96410

[ddemay]

Had a new person yesterday install update 23 in a browser that has never
used PDMLink 9.1 (I get to teach them everything I know) and several
applets refused to load. There were several exceptions showing up in the
verbose tracing mode of java console. PDMLink 9.1 M050. Browser was
FireFox.