Using the Expression Builder

ActiveVOS Designer User’s Guide

Using the Expression Builder

You can select among the many function types to create an expression for Copy Operations, link transitions, and other BPEL constructs. See the procedure below for details on building an expression.

Examples

Expected Expressions for Conditions, Counters, and Other Values

Example XPath Expressions

Example XQuery Expressions

Functions

BPEL Functions

ActiveVOS Custom Functions

See also the BPEL for People Functions in ActiveVOS BPEL for People Online Help

Customization

Custom Functions Overview

Writing XQuery Functions

Select Expression Language

For Copy Operations in the Assign activity as well as for links and other constructs, you can create XPath (or another selected language) expressions that result in a string, number, or Boolean.

For details, see the XPath 1.0 specification at http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath.

To build an expression:

Select an activity that uses expressions, such as the assign, wait, or on alarm branch of a pick activity.
In the Properties view for the activity, select the appropriate property. For example, in an assign activity, select Copy Operations, and select Expression as a Copy/From type to display the following dialog.

Expression Builder dialog

Select the variables, functions and operators from the three boxes to build an expression, following these tips:

Build expressions faster with shortcuts. See Using Content Assist.
Expand a variable to see and use the parts and properties. For detailed descriptions of variables, see Using Variables.
Select a variable, part, function, or operator and select Insert
For working with variable attachments, see Custom Functions for Manipulating Attachments.
Add your own custom functions, as described in Creating POJO and XQuery Custom Functions

Select Evaluate to substitute a sample value for a variable part and simplify the expression to view its value.