Custom Activities of Projects+ Application

You can find activities, included in the Projects+ Application in Process Page - Graphic Model - Plug-ins - Custom Activities – Projects+ (fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Graphic Model tab. Plug-ins unit. Custom Activities – Projects+ group

The Custom Activities – Projects+ group includes the following activities:

Add User to Stakeholders – use to add a user to the project team in the process;
Close Project – use to close the project in the process;
Change Project Stage – use to change the project stage in the process;
Reopen Project – use to restore the project from the archive in the process;
Publish Project Plan – use to publish a project plan in the process;
Publish Project – use to publish the project in the process;
Create Project Plan – use to create a project plan in the process.
Wait for project plan publication – this activity is used with the Publish Project Plan custom activity. It should be used if there are such activities as plugins and scripts before and/or after a Publish Project Plan activity.

Despite the fact, that these activities are in the custom activities group, they are system, and you cannot edit or delete them. However, you can copy these activities on the Scripts tab of ELMA Designer, and create new versions of these activities.

To view the properties of an activity, double click on it on the graphic model or select Settings in its context menu. This dialog box includes these tabs: Common, Input/Output Attributes .

Fig. 2. Dialog box for configuring a custom activity. Common tab

The Common tab (fig. 2) displays:

Name – the activity name, displayed on the graphic model, in the process documentation and process policies. The activity name is also displayed on the transition button in the web application, if the transition does not have its own name;
Description – activity description, displayed in the process documentation and process policies.

The set of fields on this tab is the same for all the activities (fig. 2).

The Input/Output Attributes tab (fig. 3) displays the input parameters (in the left part) and the output parameters (in the right part). To learn more about this tab, see the respective Help section.

Fig. 3. Dialog box for configuring a custom activity. Input/Output Attributes tab

The set of attributes on this tab depends on the activity.

Add User to Stakeholders activity

This activity has the following input variables: Project and User (fig. 4).

Fig. 4. Dialog box for configuring Add User to Stakeholders activity. Input/Output Attributes tab

Close Project activity

This activity has the following input variables: Project and Current Process (fig. 5). When a project is closed, all the project plan tasks are also closed, and the started processes are interrupted. You can select the process which will be interrupted, when the process is closed, in the Current Process variable. All the other processes, started in the plan, will be interrupted.

Fig. 5. Dialog box for configuring Close Project activity. Input/Output Attributes tab

Change Project Stage activity

This activity has the following input variables: Project and Project Stage (fig. 6).

Fig. 6. Dialog box for configuring Change Project Stage activity. Input/Output Attributes tab

Wait for Project Plan Publication Activity

This activity has the following input variable: Project (fig. 7)

Fig. 7. Dialog box for configuring Wait for Project Plan Publishing activity. Input/Output Attributes tab

Reopen Project activity

This activity has the Project input variable (fig. 8). It returns a project to the Current status and selects the stage, at which the project was, when it was closed. If the project is not in the Archive yet, this activity will not be executed.

Fig. 8. Dialog box for configuring Reopen Project activity. Input/Output Attributes tab

Publish Project Plan activity

This activity has the Project Plan input variable (fig. 9).

Fig. 9. Dialog box for configuring Publish Project Plan activity. Input/Output Attributes tab

Publish Project activity

This activity has the same variable, as the Reopen Project activity (fig. 8). When this activity is executed, the project gets the Current status. The project stage does not change. Usually, the Change Project Stage activity follows this activity.

Create Project Plan activity

This activity has the Project and Copied Project Plan input variables and the New Project Plan output variable (fig. 10). The Project Plan Object context variable must be filled in, otherwise the activity will not be executed. When you select input and output variables the project plan will be copied from the Copied Project Plan context variable to the New Project Plan context variable. You can leave the Copied Project Plan context variable empty, if you need to create a new (blank) project plan.

Note that this activity can be used only within one project. It is usually used to copy the current project plan version in order to edit it later.

Fig. 10. Dialog box for configuring Create Project Plan activity. Input/Output Attributes tab

To learn more about custom activity properties, see the respective Help section.

You can create or copy custom activities on the Scripts tab of ELMA Designer. To learn more, see the respective Help section.