Including Decisions as a Process in Process Chains 

Procedure

You are in the plan view of the process chain, in which you want to include a decision as a process.

The Decision process type is available in the General Services process category.

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       1.      Insert the Decision process type into the process chain by using drag and drop or by double-clicking.

       2.      In the next dialog box, select a process variant and confirm your entry.

To create a new process variant, enter a name for the variant and choose Create.

                            a.      In the following dialog box, enter the description of the process variant and choose Next.

                            b.      The maintenance screen of process variants for a decision appears.

Enter the decision paths for the process variant in the table; that is, you specify the conditions on the basis of which specific options are to be selected as events.

For a decision path, the table displays in a row the condition that has to be fulfilled as well as the event that is triggered when fulfilling a condition.

When creating the variant, the system displays the first row with the if … then commands and the second, last row with the commands otherwise … then. You can insert additional rows. These are inserted between the first and last rows with the otherwise if … then commands.

Specify the condition in the Formula column using the formula builder for each row by choosing  Create. For the formula, enter the description that is displayed in the table.

For more information about using the formula builder, choose  with the quick info text Information in the application toolbar of the formula builder.

When using the process chains category function in the formula builder, note the following:

Input help is available. The input help refers to the process type. Fill the function parameters from left to right with the Constant pushbutton. The dialog box that appears enables input help that is dependent on the current process chain and the parameters for the function that have been maintained.

Additionally, specify in each row which option is to be chosen when fulfilling the condition as an event.

 For the last row, you cannot specify a formula because the condition is “If none of the previous conditions is fulfilled, chose <Option X> as event.”

                            c.      Save your entries and return to the previous screen.

                            d.      In the following dialog box, confirm the addition of the process variants in the process chain.

       3.      Link the process to the follow-up processes. The dialog box for determining the color of the connection allows you to select one of the options you defined and the connection when there are errors.

Whenever a follow-process waits for an option, follow-up processes have to be available for the other possible options because a possible follow-up process that is missing leads to errors when the missing option is chosen. If this is not the case, the system outputs a warning during the scheduling time check. On the other hand, the system outputs a warning when a follow-up process is waiting for an option that is not declared.

Result

You have included a decision process as a process in a process chain. After including any additional process variants in your chain, check the chain and activate it.