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Attach document-link to process instances via new REST API

b_schnarr

Hello at all,

we want to upload attachments to user tasks AND process instances via REST API in a way that the users can see those attachments in the activiti explorer.

Especially, we want to attach links to documents, not the document itself. I know that you can attatch document links to both, user tasks AND process instances via Java API with the method

Attachment createAttachment(String attachmentType,
                          String taskId,
                          String processInstanceId,
                          String attachmentName,
                          String attachmentDescription,
                          String url)‍‍‍‍‍‍

With the new REST API (Activiti 5.14), you can create a new attachment on a task, containing a link to an external resource.
The Question is: Can you attach those links to process instances, too? (like the Java API can?)

We just can communicate with Activiti through REST. Therefore, we need a way to "store" document links in a global process variable so that the user can access those links via the activiti explorer.

I hope that somebody can help.
Thanks and best regards
Ben

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Comments

trademak

But if you only want to add a link you could also just use a process variable for that.
You're right that adding attachment links is currently only available for tasks in the REST API. If you also need it on process instances, please create a JIRA issue and we'll add it to the REST API.

Best regards,

b_schnarr

Thank you for your quick reply. If I use a process variable to attach the link, is this link visible in the activiti axplorer?

best regards,
Ben

frederikherema1

I comitted a fix for this.. The process-instance ID was not populated, when uploaded through REST…

b_schnarr

Thanks for your reply. Does that mean that it is now possible to attach a link to a process instance correctly via REST API? How can we use this fix?

frederikherema1

The fix involves populating the process-instance id when a task-attachment is added trough REST. Adding attachments without a task is currently not possible. Add attachments trough tasks that are part of the process, and they will appear in the explorer the way they should….

b_schnarr

Do we have to use another activiti commit for that? Will this fix be included in the next release?

jbarrez

Frederik has committed a patch for it on https://github.com/Activiti/Activiti.

You can either build a snapshot version yourself (mvn clean install) or wait for the next official release.

b_schnarr

We need to implement a document-centric process (like a document-approval process). Therefore, each task in this process should have the same link to the document attached (and it must be visible in the activity explorer). In addition, we want to trigger the process via REST. Is this possible via REST? I know how to start a process via rest, but I have no idea how to attach the link to ALL tasks in the process in a way that the link is shown in the activity explorer when I start a process instance?

frederikherema1

Currently, we only support adding attachments to a task. However, I've fixed an issue with that resource, so that the process-instance ID is also populated (will be available in 5.15, 5.14 won't show the attachments process-instance wide):

https://github.com/Activiti/Activiti/commit/57034fa44bfbaefdd2449d70cbe4da668659e687

This fix will expose these attachments on all tasks of that process (in case the task is part of a process). The REST-resource I was referring to is posted below and supports both URL-attachment (JSON-body) and file-attachment (multipart-body).

<br>POST runtime/tasks/{taskId}/attachments<br>

b_schnarr

Ok, just for my understanding: With the new version 5.15, do I have a chance to realize my requirement? What does this exactly mean :"This fix will expose these attachments on all tasks of that process". Lets say I start a new process instance, am I able to attach a link to ALL tasks that are part of this process in a way that the attachment is shown in the activity explorer?

Thanks for your quick reply

frederikherema1

Yes, you will be able to attach an attachment to a task. All other tasks in that task's process (future and existing) will show that attachment in the Explorer UI as "related content". An explicit call to add an attachment ONLY to a process-instance is not yet included since this is inconsistent with the Java-API, which allows you to add attachments only though the taskService.

b_schnarr

Wow, that is great! So the steps would be:

1.) Start a process instance via rest (e.g. a process which has 3 user tasks)
2.) Attach the document link to ONE of those 3 tasks via REST
3.) All 3 tasks will show the related content in the UI
Am I right?

Could you give me a an estimation when the new version will be released?

Thanks for your reply!

frederikherema1

Yes, those 3 steps would become possible in the 5.15 release, scheduled for half of february (15th I think).

Just out of curiosity, are you actually using Activiti Explorer as a fronted for your users? It's initially intended to be used as a demo-app to get familiar with the API-calls and concepts Activiti offers…

b_schnarr

We are planning to extend the functionalities of an existing Enterprise Content Management Archive with document-routing services. Therefore, we want to start processes in the ECM-GUI and set parameters for the involved documents as links. For the interaction with the processes (document approval), we plan to use the activity explorer so we do not need to render forms etc in the ECM GUI; In addition, it would be overdosed to develop a separate GUI just for this case.

b_schnarr

I tried to attach one Document-Link to ONE task of a specific process via REST but the attached link is not shown in the activiti explorer even though the attachment is successfully added. The POST Request is:

http://10.120.40.24:8080/activiti-rest/service/runtime/tasks/2626/attachments with the body:

{
"name":"test link",
"description":"test",
"type":"simpleType",
"externalUrl":"https://www.google.de"
}

When I query all attachment of this task with rest with GET http://10.120.40.24:8080/activiti-rest/service/runtime/tasks/2626/attachments, I can see this attachment. But the activiti explorer only shows the comment on the right side, that the link was attached. The link itself is not shown.

When I attach a link in the activiti explorer, I can see this link in the explorer, but not in the rest query. Could it be that the links which are shown in the "related content" section are stored in another table? It seems that the attachments via REST are separated from the attachments created directly in the explorer.
Both web apps use the same database and all other data is consistent.

It would be great if someone could help me. Thank you very much

b_schnarr

I found the difference. When I add an attachment via activiti explorer, the TASK_ID is null and the PROC_INST_ID is set to the corresponsing process instance id in the table act_hi_attachment. When I add an attachment via REST, the TASK_ID is set and the PROC_INST_ID is null.
Look at this picture: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6vpoyxssoq90yxx/attachment_rest.png
I have added two attachments to the task with the task_id = 2667. The corresponding process_instance_id is 2662. The activiti explorer shows only those attachments, where the PROC_INST_ID_ is set. Wouldn´t it be better if both variables (task_id and PROC_INST_ID_) were set no matter if the attachment is added via rest or via the activiti explorer?

Should I open an issue in the activiti explorer section?

Would be great if this could be fixed. I hope that I can contribute with this post.

Thank you very much
Ben

trademak

Hi Ben,

We make a difference between process instance attachments and task attachments. But the Activiti Explorer could be enriched by also showing the task attachments. We still need to add a REST service to add attachments to a process instance as well.

Best regards,

b_schnarr

Hi Tijs,

thank you for your quick answer. Will this fix : https://github.com/Activiti/Activiti/commit/57034fa44bfbaefdd2449d70cbe4da668659e687
solve my problem? Because Frederik said that with this fix, all tasks of a certain process will show the corresponding attachments in the activiti explorer

Best regards and thanks
Ben

trademak

Hi Ben,

Yes that should solve your problem.

Best regards,

b_schnarr

Is it possible in the meantime to store and retrieve attachments of process instances via REST? Because this would be consistent to the Java-API. In my custom tasklist, I want to have the same behaviour as in the Activiti Explorer. I want to create an attachment for 1 task within the process. But all other tasks should have this attachment, too.

Thanks and best regards
Ben

b_schnarr

Just created a JIRA issue concerning this topic: https://jira.codehaus.org/browse/ACT-2174

b_schnarr

Is there any progress on this?

jbarrez

No, not currently. Attachments are not used a lot by customers of Activiti, hence why it isn't as prioritised as other issues at the moment.

ahmed_mahfouz

Just if somebody stumbled upon this question. There is a workaround you can get all the tasks related to a process using the task historic rest endpoint query/historic-task-instances?processInstanceId=<your-process-instance-id> and after that loop on the results array and get the attachments for every task.