Working with long-running workflows

Processes that require logical fragmentation or human intervention (validations, approvals, exception handling) such as invoice processing and performance reviews, are handled with a set of instruments in the UiPath® suite: a dedicated project template in Studio called Orchestration Process, resource allocation capabilities in Orchestrator, and actions within Action Center.

Broadly, you configure your workflow using activities from the Persistence, IntelligentOCR, DocumentUnderstanding activity packages. The workflow can be configured so that a suspended job can only be resumed if certain requirements have been met. Only after the requirements have been met, resources are allocated for job resumption, thus ensuring no waste in consumption.

In Orchestrator this is marked by having the job suspended, awaiting for requirements to be met, and then having the job resumed and executed as usual. Depending on which pair you use, completion requirements change, and the Orchestrator response adjusts accordingly.

Jobs

Activites

Use Case

Start Job and Get Reference Wait for Job and Resume

Introduce a job condition, such as uploading queue items. After the main job has been suspended, the auxiliary job gets executed. After this process is complete, the main job is resumed. Depending on how you configured your workflow, the resumed job can make use of the data obtained from the auxiliary process execution. If your workflow uses the Start Job and Get Reference activity to invoke another workflow, your Robot role should be updated with the following permissions: View on Processes. View, Edit, Create on Jobs. View on Environments.

Queues

Activities	Use Case
Add Queue Item and Get Reference Wait for Queue Item and Resume	Introduce a queue condition, such as having queue items processed. After the main job has been suspended, the queue items need to be processed through the auxiliary job. After this process is complete, the main job is resumed. Depending on how you configured your workflow, the resumed job can make use of the output data obtained from the processed queue item.

Actions

Form actions

Activities	Use Case
Create Form Task Wait for Form Task and Resume	Introduce user intervention conditions, found in Action Center as actions. After the job has been suspended, an action is generated in Action Center (as configured in Studio). Only after action completion, is the job resumed. Form actions need to be completed by the assigned user. User assignment can be handled directly in Action Center, or through the Assign Tasks activity.

External actions

Activities	Use Case
Create External Task Wait for External Task and Resume	Introduce user intervention conditions, found in Action Center as actions. After the job has been suspended, an action is generated in Action Center (as configured in Studio). Only after action completion, is the job resumed. External actions can be completed by any user with Edit permissions on Actions, and access to the associated folder.

Document Validation actions

Activities

Use Case

Create Document Validation Action Wait for Document Validation Action and Resume

Introduce user intervention conditions, found in Action Center as actions. After the job has been suspended, an action is generated in Action Center (as configured in Studio). Only after action completion, is the job resumed. Document Validation actions need to be completed by the assigned user. User assignment can be handled directly in Action Center, or through the Assign Tasks activity. In order for the Robot to upload, download and delete data from a storage bucket, it needs to be granted the appropriate permissions. This can be done by updating the Robot role with the following: To upload document data: View, Create on Storage Files. View on Storage Buckets. To delete document data after downloading: View, Delete on Storage Files. View on Storage Buckets.

Document Classification actions

Activities

Use Case

Create Document Classification Action Wait for Document Classification Action and Resume

Introduce user intervention conditions, found in Action Center as actions. After the job has been suspended, an action is generated in Action Center (as configured in Studio). Only after action completion, is the job resumed. Document Classification actions need to be completed by the assigned user. User assignment can be handled directly in Action Center, or through the Assign Tasks activity. In order for the Robot to upload, download and delete data from a storage bucket, it needs to be granted the appropriate permissions. This can be done by updating the Robot role with the following: To upload document data: View, Create on Storage Files. View on Storage Buckets. To delete document data after downloading: View, Delete on Storage Files. View on Storage Buckets.

Duration

Activity	Use Case
Resume After Delay	Introduce a time interval as a delay, during which the workflow is suspended. After the delay has passed, the job is resumed.

Job fragments are not restricted to being executed by the same Robot. They can be executed by any Robot that is available when the job is resumed and ready for execution. This also depends on the execution target configured when defining the job. Details here.

Example

I defined my job to be executed by specific Robots, say X, Y and Z. When I start the job only Z is available, therefore my job is executed by Z until it gets suspended awaiting user validation. After it gets validated, and the job is resumed, only X is available, therefore the job is executed by X.

• From a monitoring point of view, such a job is counted as one, regardless of being fragmented or executed by different Robots.
• Suspended jobs cannot be assigned to Robots, only resumed ones can.

To check the triggers required for the resumption of a suspended job, check the Triggers tab on the Job Details window.