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Procedure documentationModeling Automated Activities Locate this document in the navigation structure

 

An automated activity is a type of flow object in the process that illustrates an activity that the system performs. First, you create an automated activity as a part of your process. To make the automated activity work, proceed as follows:

  1. Assign a service interface definition (WSDL file) of a Web service and an operation to the automated activity.

    When the process is executed at runtime, the respective Web service is called and the automated activity is executed. You make service interface definitions available either by importing or manually creating them. You also create Service Groups or define logical destination for the service interface definitions.

  2. Define input and output data mappings for the automated activity.

Prerequisites

You have opened the Process Composer perspective in the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio and have expanded your project in Project Explorer view.

Procedure

1. Create the Automated Activity

  1. Expand Process Modeling, then expand Processes.

  2. In the context menu of a process, choose Open.

  3. Expand Activities from Palette.

  4. Choose Automated and click the modeling surface.

    The automated activity appears in the place you clicked.

  5. Choose General in the Properties view and specify a name of the activity in the Name field.

  6. (Optional) Specify a description of the activity in the Documentation field.

Note Note

You can drag a WSDL file from the Project Explorer view to the modeling surface. A new automated activity is created with the particular service interface and its first operation assigned to the automated activity.

You can also drag an operation from the Project Explorer view to the modeling surface. A new automated activity is created with the particular operation and service interface assigned to the automated activity.

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2. Make Service Interface Definitions Available

You make service interface definitions available in one of the following ways:

3. Assign Service Interface Definitions to Automated Activities

  1. Expand Process Modeling, then expand Processes.

  2. In the context menu of a process, choose Open.

  3. In the modeling surface, choose an automated activity.

  4. In the Properties view, choose Interface.

  5. In the Service Interface field, select a service from the dropdown menu.

  6. In the Operation field, select an operation from the dropdown menu.

Note Note

Alternatively, drag a WSDL file from the Project Explorer view to an automated activity. The particular service interface and its first operation are assigned to the automated activity.

You can also drag an operation from the Project Explorer view to an automated activity. The particular operation and service interface are assigned to the automated activity.

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Note Note

If you use SAP enterprise services to assign them to automated activities, you can avoid unintentional multiple requests to the service provider system by using service idempotency. When idempotency is enabled, the service provider system checks the requests it receives by their unique ID and discards these with the same ID. For more information about configuring idempotency, see Configuring Individual Web Service Clients.

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4. Create Service References

You create service references for the service interface definitions you have assigned to automated activities. Service references enable the connection at runtime to the particular systems that provide the necessary Web services. You create service references using one of the following options:

  • Use Service Group

    You use a Service Group to configure all Web services included in the group when you deploy your process. For more information, see Working with Service Groups.

  • Use logical destination

    You use this option when you want to configure separately each service interface definition that you reference.

    1. In the Properties view of an automated activity, which has a service interface definition assigned, choose Interface.

    2. Select the Use logical destination radio button.

    3. Specify the URL of the service interface definition you want to reference.

      When you use a logical destination to reference a service interface definition, you have to create a physical destination to enable the connection to the particular system that provides the Web service. You create the physical destination using the SAP NetWeaver Administrator. For more information, see Creating Web Service Physical Destinations.

5. Define Data Mappings

More information: Defining Data Mappings.