Activiti Struts Integration Program

1. Activiti External Form Rendering

Reference: Activiti in Action

Reference: Activiti 5.10 User Guide. http://activiti.org/userguide/index.html#externalFormRendering

Reference: http://rongjih.blog.163.com/blog/static/33574461201263124922670/

We should be aware of the difference of StartForm and TaskForm.

Fact 1: FormService Interface should be implemented by myself

StartForm Methods	TaskForm Methods	Note
getStartFormData	getTaskFormData	no template involved
getRenderedStartForm	getRenderedTaskForm	template loaded, and script like juel in template evaluated
submitStartFormData	submitTaskFormData

Any reference implementation of FormService interface? YES! org.activiti.engine.impl.FormServiceImpl

public class FormServiceImpl extends ServiceImpl implements FormService {

  //HERE COMMAND PATTERN APPLIED
  public Object getRenderedStartForm(String processDefinitionId) {
    return commandExecutor.execute(new GetRenderedStartFormCmd(processDefinitionId, null));
  }

  public Object getRenderedStartForm(String processDefinitionId, String engineName) {
    return commandExecutor.execute(new GetRenderedStartFormCmd(processDefinitionId, engineName));
  }

  public Object getRenderedTaskForm(String taskId) {
    return commandExecutor.execute(new GetRenderedTaskFormCmd(taskId, null));
  }

  public Object getRenderedTaskForm(String taskId, String engineName) {
    return commandExecutor.execute(new GetRenderedTaskFormCmd(taskId, engineName));
  }

  public StartFormData getStartFormData(String processDefinitionId) {
    return commandExecutor.execute(new GetStartFormCmd(processDefinitionId));
  }

  public TaskFormData getTaskFormData(String taskId) {
    return commandExecutor.execute(new GetTaskFormCmd(taskId));
  }

  public ProcessInstance submitStartFormData(String processDefinitionId, Map<String, String> properties) {
    return commandExecutor.execute(new SubmitStartFormCmd(processDefinitionId, null, properties));
  }
  
  public ProcessInstance submitStartFormData(String processDefinitionId, String businessKey, Map<String, String> properties) {
	  return commandExecutor.execute(new SubmitStartFormCmd(processDefinitionId, businessKey, properties));
  }

  public void submitTaskFormData(String taskId, Map<String, String> properties) {
    commandExecutor.execute(new SubmitTaskFormCmd(taskId, properties));
  }

  public String getStartFormKey(String processDefinitionId) {
    return commandExecutor.execute(new GetFormKeyCmd(processDefinitionId));
  }

  public String getTaskFormKey(String processDefinitionId, String taskDefinitionKey) {
    return commandExecutor.execute(new GetFormKeyCmd(processDefinitionId, taskDefinitionKey));
  }

}

public class GetRenderedStartFormCmd implements Command<Object>, Serializable {

  private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
  protected String processDefinitionId;
  protected String formEngineName;
  
  public GetRenderedStartFormCmd(String processDefinitionId, String formEngineName) {
    this.processDefinitionId = processDefinitionId;
    this.formEngineName = formEngineName;
  }

  public Object execute(CommandContext commandContext) {
    ProcessDefinitionEntity processDefinition = Context
      .getProcessEngineConfiguration()
      .getDeploymentCache()
      .findDeployedProcessDefinitionById(processDefinitionId);
    if (processDefinition == null) {
      throw new ActivitiException("Process Definition '" + processDefinitionId +"' not found");
    }
    StartFormHandler startFormHandler = processDefinition.getStartFormHandler();
    if (startFormHandler == null) {
      return null;
    }
    
    FormEngine formEngine = Context
      .getProcessEngineConfiguration()
      .getFormEngines()
      .get(formEngineName);
    
    if (formEngine==null) {
      throw new ActivitiException("No formEngine '" + formEngineName +"' defined process engine configuration");
    }
    
    StartFormData startForm = startFormHandler.createStartFormData(processDefinition);
    
    return formEngine.renderStartForm(startForm);
  }
}

Noteworthy: business key

/** 
   * Start a new process instance with the user data that was entered as properties in a start form. 
   * 
   * A business key can be provided to associate the process instance with a
   * certain identifier that has a clear business meaning. For example in an
   * order process, the business key could be an order id. This business key can
   * then be used to easily look up that process instance , see
   * {@link ProcessInstanceQuery#processInstanceBusinessKey(String)}. Providing such a business
   * key is definitely a best practice.
   * 
   * Note that a business key MUST be unique for the given process definition.
   * Process instance from different process definition are allowed to have the
   * same business key.
   * 
   * @param processDefinitionId the id of the process definition, cannot be null.
   * @param businessKey a key that uniquely identifies the process instance in the context or the
   *                    given process definition.
   * @param properties the properties to pass, can be null.
   */  
  ProcessInstance submitStartFormData(String processDefinitionId, String businessKey, Map<String, String> properties);

public abstract class AbstractFormType implements FormType {
  //What does this mean?
  public abstract Object convertFormValueToModelValue(String propertyValue);

  public abstract String convertModelValueToFormValue(Object modelValue);

  public Object getInformation(String key) {
    return null;
  }

}

public abstract class FormDataImpl implements FormData, Serializable {

  private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
  //UNDERSTANDING
  protected String formKey;
  protected String deploymentId;
  protected List<FormProperty> formProperties = new ArrayList<FormProperty>();

public interface FormHandler {

  ThreadLocal<FormHandler> current = new ThreadLocal<FormHandler>();

  void parseConfiguration(Element activityElement, DeploymentEntity deployment, ProcessDefinitionEntity processDefinition, BpmnParse bpmnParse);

  void submitFormProperties(Map<String, String> properties, ExecutionEntity execution);
}