Changing the workflow based on process properties

This is the technical documentation for the Goobi plugin for automatically modifying workflows based on task properties.

Introduction

This documentation describes the installation, configuration and use of a plugin for automatically changing workflows at runtime. The plugin can open, close or deactivate (depending on configuration) steps. User groups can be assigned and production templates can also be completely exchanged. The decision as to what exactly should happen in each case is made on the basis of process properties.

Details
Identifier	intranda_step_changeWorkflow
Source code	https://github.com/intranda/goobi-plugin-step-change-workflow
Licence	GPL 2.0 or newer
Documentation date	31.03.2024

Precondition

The precondition for using the plugin is the use of Goobi workflow in version 3.0.0 or higher, the correct installation and configuration of the plugin as well as the correct integration of the plugin into the desired workflow steps.

Installation and Configuration

To use the plugin, it must be copied to the following location:

/opt/digiverso/goobi/plugins/step/plugin_intranda_step_changeWorkflow.jar

The configuration of the plugin is expected under the following path:

/opt/digiverso/goobi/config/plugin_intranda_step_changeWorkflow.xml

The following is a sample configuration with comments:

<config_plugin>
    <!--
        order of configuration is: 
        1.) project name and step name matches 
        2.) step name matches and project is * 
        3.) project name matches and step name is * 
        4.) project name and step name are * 
    -->

    <config>
        <!-- which projects to use for (can be more then one, otherwise use *) -->
        <project>Register</project>
        <step>Check</step>

        <!-- multiple changes can be done within one configuration rule; simply add another 'change' element with other properties here -->
        <change>
            <!-- name of the property or metadata to check: please take care to use the syntax of the Variable replacer here -->
            <propertyName>{process.TemplateID}</propertyName>
            <!-- expected value (can be blank too) -->
            <propertyValue>183</propertyValue>
            <!-- condition for value comparing, can be 'is' or 'not' or 'missing' or 'available' -->
            <propertyCondition>is</propertyCondition>
            <!-- list of steps to open, if property value matches -->
            <steps type="open">
                <title>Box preparation</title>
            </steps>
            <!-- list of steps to deactivate -->
            <steps type="deactivate">
                <title>Image QA</title>
            </steps>
            <!-- list of steps to close -->
            <steps type="close">
                <title>Automatic LayoutWizzard Cropping</title>
                <title>LayoutWizzard: Manual confirmation</title>
            </steps>
            <!-- list of steps to lock -->
            <steps type="lock">
                <title>Automatic export to Islandora</title>
            </steps>
		
            <!-- If any title under priority is configured with a *, then this priority value will be applied to all steps of this process. -->
            <!-- If more than two titles are configured with *, then the first match in the order of values 0, 1, 2, 3, 10 will be used. -->
            <!-- list of steps of priority 0 (standard) -->
            <priority value="0">
                <title>Some standard step</title>
            </priority>
			
            <!-- list of steps of priority 1 (priority) -->
            <priority value="1">
                <title>Step of priority</title>
            </priority>
			
            <!-- list of steps of priority 2 (high priority) -->
            <priority value="2">
                <title>Step of high priority</title>
            </priority>

            <!-- list of steps of priority 3 (highest priority) -->
            <priority value="3">
                <title>Step of highest priority</title>
                <title>another step of highest priority</title>
            </priority>
			
            <!-- list of steps of priority 10 (correction) -->
            <priority value="10">
                <title></title>
            </priority>

            <!-- user groups to be assigned to a step -->
            <usergroups step="Image QA">
                <usergroup>Administration</usergroup>
                <usergroup>AutomaticTasks</usergroup>
            </usergroups>

            <!-- list of properties to be changed or deleted -->
            <properties>
                <property name="My property" value="My value" />
                <property name="My boolean property" value="true" />
                <property name="My property to be deleted" delete="true" />
            </properties>
        </change>
    </config>

    <config>
        <!-- which projects to use for (can be more then one, otherwise use *) -->
        <project>*</project>
        <step>*</step>

        <!-- multiple changes can be done within one configuration rule; simply add another 'change' element with other properties here -->
        <change>
            <!-- name of the property or metadata to check: please take care to use the syntax of the Variable replacer here -->
            <propertyName>{process.upload to digitool}</propertyName>
            <!-- expected value (can be blank too) -->
            <propertyValue>No</propertyValue>
            <!-- condition for value comparing, can be 'is' or 'not' or 'missing' or 'available' -->
            <propertyCondition>is</propertyCondition>
            <!-- list of steps to open, if property value matches -->
            <steps type="open">
                <title>Create derivates</title>
                <title>Jpeg 2000 generation and validation</title>
            </steps>
            <!-- list of steps to deactivate -->
            <steps type="deactivate">
                <title>Rename files</title>
            </steps>
            <!-- list of steps to close -->
            <steps type="close">
                <title>Upload raw tiffs to uploaddirectory Socrates</title>
                <title>Automatic pagination</title>
            </steps>
            <!-- list of steps to lock -->
            <steps type="lock">
                <title>Create METS file</title>
                <title>Ingest into DigiTool</title>
            </steps>
        </change>
    </config>

    <config>
        <!-- which projects to use for (can be more then one, otherwise use *) -->
        <project>Archive_Project</project>
        <step>Check process template change</step>

        <!-- multiple changes can be done within one configuration rule; simply add another 'change' element with other properties here -->
        <change>
            <!-- name of the property or metadata to check: please take care to use the syntax of the Variable replacer here -->
            <propertyName>{process.TemplateID}</propertyName>
            <!-- expected value (can be blank too) -->
            <propertyValue>309919</propertyValue>
            <!-- condition for value comparing, can be 'is' or 'not' or 'missing' or 'available' -->
            <propertyCondition>is</propertyCondition>
            <!-- Name of the new process template -->
            <workflow>Manuscript workflow</workflow>

            <!-- write a message into the journal (aka process log) -->
            <log type="info">My info message</log>
            <log type="error">My error message</log>
            <log type="user">My user message</log>
            <log type="debug">My debug message</log>
        </change>
    </config>
</config_plugin>

Each config block is responsible for a certain project and a certain step, whereby wildcards * and multiple answers of processes or steps are also possible. If a step in the workflow is executed with this plugin, the system searches for a config block that matches the currently opened step. For example, if in the project "PDF Digitization" the step with the title "Change workflow after PDF extraction" is configured and executed with this plugin, the plugin looks for a config block that looks like this:

<config>
    <project>PDF Digitization</project>
    <step>Change workflow after PDF extraction</step>
    [...]
</config>

In each <change> element it is then configured which process property is checked (<propertyName>) and which value is expected (<propertyValue>). Please note that the specification for defining which property is to be used for checking a value must be specified with the syntax for the so-called variable replacer. Accordingly, when defining the field to be checked, the specification must be as in the following examples:

<propertyName>{process.ABC}</propertyName>
<propertyName>{{meta.ABC}}</propertyName>
<propertyName>{meta.topstruct.ABC}</propertyName>
<propertyName>{meta.firstchild.ABC}</propertyName>
<propertyName>{db_meta.ABC}</propertyName>

Further explanations about the use of variables can be found here:

8. VariablesGoobi workflow (English)

After defining how the properties are to be evaluated, the action to be performed is determined. The following possibilities exist here:

Changing the status of workflow steps.

Depending on existing properties, the status of defined steps within the workflow can be changed automatically. Workflow steps can be opened type="open", deactivated type="deactivate", closed type="close" or locked type="lock".

<steps type="open">
    <title>Create derivates</title>
    <title>Jpeg 2000 generation and validation</title>
</steps>
<steps type="deactivate">
    <title>Rename files</title>
</steps>
<steps type="close">
    <title>Upload raw tiffs to uploaddirectory Socrates</title>
    <title>Automatic pagination</title>
</steps>
<steps type="lock">
    <title>Create METS file</title>
    <title>Ingest into DigiTool</title>
</steps>

Parameter	Explanation
type	Determine which status the workflow steps are to receive.
title	Define here the name of the workflow steps that are to be set to the desired status.

Changing the priority of workflow steps.

Depending on existing properties, the priority of defined steps within the workflow can be changed automatically. Possible choices for priority are Standard value="0", Priority value="1", High priority value="2", Highest priority value="3" or Correction value="10". If any title is configured with *, then its priority value will be applied to all steps of this process. If more than two titles are configured with *, then only the value of the first one in the order 0, 1, 2, 3, 10 will be used.

<priority value="0">
    <title>Some standard step</title>
</priority>

<priority value="1">
    <title>Step of priority</title>
</priority>

<priority value="2">
    <title>Step of high priority</title>
</priority>

<priority value="3">
    <title>Step of highest priority</title>
    <title>another step of highest priority</title>
</priority>

<priority value="10">
    <title></title>
</priority>

Parameter	Explanation
value	Determine which priority the workflow steps are to receive.
title	Define here the name of the workflow steps that are to be set to the desired priority. Use * if the value should be applied to all steps of this process.

Changing the responsibility of user groups for workflow steps

Depending on existing properties, the responsible user groups can be defined for several workflow steps. The configuration is done as shown here:

<usergroups step="Image QA">
    <usergroup>Administration</usergroup>
    <usergroup>AutomaticTasks</usergroup>
</usergroups>

Parameter	Explanation
step	Determine for which workflow step you want to enter the user groups.
usergroup	Define here the name of the user group that is to be entered as responsible for the configured step.

Changing the process template on which the process is based

With a configuration like the following example, the process template can be exchanged while the workflow is running. Depending on existing properties, a workflow can thus be replaced by another workflow during execution. Workflow steps that are also present in the new workflow are automatically set to the correct status.

 <workflow>Manuscript workflow</workflow>

Parameter	Explanation
workflow	Define here the name of the process template to be used for the process.

Changing properties

Properties can be added, changed or deleted using the configuration shown in the following example:

<properties>
	<property name="My property" value="My value" />
	<property name="My boolean property" value="true" />
	<property name="My property to be deleted" delete="true" />
</properties>

Parameter	Explanation
name	Define the name of the property to be changed or deleted here.
value	Specify the value to be assigned to the property here. If it does not yet exist, it is created with this value. However, if it already exists, it is changed to this value. If a property is to be deleted, the "value" parameter does not need to be specified.
delete	If a property is to be deleted, this parameter must be specified with the value "true".

Settings in Goobi

After the plugin has been installed and configured, it can be configured in the user interface in a workflow step. Make sure that the name of the step is the same as in the configuration file. In addition, a check mark should be set for Automatic task.

Configuration of the Workflow step

Usage

Since the plugin should run fully automatically, there is nothing else to consider for the use of the plugin.