About Task Status

After a task is started, it can transition through several states. Task status can be set manually by a user with the proper privileges, or automatically by the Task Engine as a result of an event action. The following states are available (user-defined states are not supported):

Active—The task is running normally and is available for user interaction. A task is placed in Active status when it is started, and can be returned to Active status as a result of a manual status change by a user or as a result of a task event evaluation. Only Active tasks appear in the user inboxes.

Completed—The task is complete as a result of manual completion by a user or as a result of a task event evaluation. No further work can be done on a task that is completed, other than deleting it.

Error—The task has transitioned to an error condition as identified operationally by the Task Engine or as a result of a task event evaluation. No further work can be done on a task that is in Error status, other than deleting it.

Cancelled—The task is cancelled as a result of manual cancellation by a user or as a result of a task event evaluation. No further work can be done on a task that is cancelled, other than deleting it.

Suspended—The task is suspended as a result of manual suspension by a user or as a result of a task event evaluation. A suspended task is no longer available in a task type inbox or user’s Task Inbox and can be viewed only on the Task List Management page, and no events or assignments are evaluated for a suspended task. A suspended task can be resumed (placed back into Active status) only by a manual user action.

Expired—The task has expired as a result of a manual action by a user or as a result of a task event evaluation.

New—This status is not displayed in the inbox and Task List Management status display; tasks are in New status only momentarily; immediately after the task starts, it transitions from New to Active status. New status can be used when defining a task event, for example, to detect newly started tasks.

After a task is started, it remains in the system (regardless of its state) until it is deleted. A task can be deleted manually, or global task rules can be created in My webMethods Server to automatically delete tasks.

For example, My webMethods is installed with a global Delete Task schedule rule. This rule deletes any task in Completed, Cancelled, Expired, or Error status after the task has been in that state for a specified period of time (set to seven days by default). This rule is evaluated once per day. For more information on global task rules, see the PDF publication webMethods Task Engine User’s Guide.