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Activity Definition

Activity Definitions are the definitions of possible steps in a Process Definition.

The Activity Definitions in a Workflow Process Definitions define one of the following:

  • Manual Activities, performed by Users, who execute the Activity, for example, by reviewing or modifying the items associated with the Activity. In Visio Workflow Designer, an image of a person indicates that an Activity is a Manual Activity.
  • Automatic Activities, performed by the system, which executes code. In Visio Workflow Designer, an image of a gear and a clipboard indicates that an Activity is an Automatic Activity.

Both Manual Activities and Automatic Activities can be decision Activities or non-decision Activities:

  • Decision Activities require the User or code to choose the next Activity by making a decision (typically, to approve or reject the result of a previous Activity). Decision Activities appear as diamond-shaped in Visio.
  • Non-decision Activities have only one possible next Activity, which is automatically triggered when this Activity ends. Non-decision Activities appear as rectangles in Visio.