Business Process Context includes all the input data, and the data added and modified in the course of the process, structured and divided by types. Business Process Context is the information about the participants and contractors, data and standard document forms, executors' comments and other information created, edited, processed, transmitted, displayed or saved within the process.
Information units that define the process flow are called variables, since their contents (value) can be changed during the process. You can set access permissions for users to view or edit the data stored in a variable.
In ELMA, the process context consists of such variables. A context variable is a minimum information unit of a certain type. There are two types of variables: a simple variable contains only one component; a compound variable contains a set of fields or a data block.
You can find the list of all the process variables on the Context tab of the process page (Fig. 1). On the Form (context) tab of the Task activity, you can specify the context variables, which you want the users to see when they open the task form in Web Application. You can also specify their display settings. In ELMA Designer, you can add a specific set of visible variables for each task of your business process. Users can change the variable values in task forms in Web Application or with scripts. Moreover, ELMA features specific activities for managing context variable values that concern document management, process instance statuses, metrics, KPIs of the process and process instances, project management and customer relationships.
A process has two default variables: "Process Instance" and "UID". You cannot edit, copy or delete these variables. In the context variable list they are highlighted green.
Fig. 1. Process context variables.
The Context tab features the following information:
Key Variable, depicted with the icon next to the variable name in the first column;
Displayed Name - name of the variable, displayed on the task form in Web Application, process documentation, and settings of the activity where the variable is used;
Property Name - name of the variable, used in scripts, reports, Razor forms and document templates, in order to address the variable's value and attributes;
Search - makes the variable available as a filtering parameter and in the advanced search form in Web Application. This feature is not available for default variables such as Process Instance or UID. If you mouse over such fields, the “Cannot change value” notification will appear;
Delete the selected context variable. ELMA does not allow users to delete system objects. Therefore, a deleted context variable will no longer be available in the process context, but you can still restore it. If you try to create a new context variable with the same name, ELMA offers you to restore the one that was previously deleted.
Move the selected context variable up or down in the list. An element's position on the Context tab affects readability and makes it easier to search for a variable.
Context menu
To open the context menu, right click in the list of variables on the "Context" tab. If there is a variable selected, the context menu for this variable will open, when you click on any free space in the table.
Delete - delete the selected context variable. ELMA does not allow users to delete system objects. Therefore, a deleted context variable will no longer be available in the process context, but you can still restore it. If you try to create a new context variable with the same name, ELMA offers you to restore the one that was previously deleted.
Up, Down - move the selected context variable up or down in the list. An element's position on the Context tab affects readability and makes it easier to search for a variable.
Copy - copy the selected context variable to the clipboard.
Paste - paste the previously copied context variable, creating a variable double.
Searching in the process context
Searching in a process context is similar to searching in the list of processes.
icon next to the variable name in the first column; 
