Input Required: Handling Tasks for Inactive Users and Out-of-Office Scenarios

Flowable Engine
1

Hi All,

We have identified tasks in our system that are assigned to users who are currently marked as inactive. To ensure these tasks are managed appropriately and in alignment with our processes, I would appreciate your input on the following:

  1. Defining a Replacement in Flowable:
  • What is the best approach in Flowable to handle the case of an inactive user and define a replacement?
  1. Task Reassignment for New Tasks for an inactive user:
  • How should newly created tasks be redirected to the replacement user to ensure no delays in handling?
  1. Out-of-Office Task Assignment for active user that is on vacation:
  • What is the recommended way to manage task assignments for users who are out of office?

Please note that the current version of flowable that we are using is 6.8.0

Regards,
Rami

2

This answer is based on our experience with the topic.

Flowable does not directly support the user substitution, but it is possible to provide that mechanism by using the tools that Flowable provides.

  1. Flowable does not provide storage and management of user substitutes. So, you have to check the meaning of “inactive” in your IDM (inactive as went to vacation and will be back soon, or inactive account as in AD? or something else?). Can you store substitutes in the IDM of your choice? If not, you have to find a different storage for it.
  2. For newly created tasks, the easiest way is to create a task listener, and to reassign the task to user substitute on task creation. But the already assigned tasks remain where they are
  3. The easiest way is to provide your interface (for instance, we do it in our custom REST endpoint) that implements custom task visibility logic. So, you can then easily implement that user A sees all its tasks + tasks of all users where A is their substitute & they are absent/inactive/whatever_condition
3

Thank you for your feedback on the following topic, just to clarify few things:

  1. What I meant by inactive user as a user that used to exist in the system but for some reason like leaving the company is no more active.
  2. For the out of office the user will be on vacation for 2 or 3 days for example so only in that period he will have a substitute.

Is it a good practice when designing a flow to have these listeners usually set?