Nodes

Nodes define the basic structure of the XTRAC system. They provide the organizational backbone for several components of an XTRAC workflow.

Nodes represent the operational and reporting structure of a business. For example:

Access groups determine the nodes that an operator can access. For example:

• An operator can process work at nodes that are in their work access group..
• An operator can view work at nodes that are in their view access group and work access group.

Queues, which are attached to nodes, hold work items that are waiting for processing at different stages in the workflow. A queue is attached to a single node. The order that queues are listed in determines the order that work is fed to operators who work in Cascade Queue Feed mode. See Specifying the Cascade Order of Queues.

XTRAC rules determine the appearance of work items and the operation of the workflow at a specified node. For example, a work item rule specifies the appearance of a work item at a particular node. A transfer rule specifies how a work item moves from queue to queue through the workflow. When you create a rule, you specify a node that stores the rule. For each type of rule, you specify whether a node uses the rules that it stores or the rules stored at another node.

Note: If a node (Node A) references the rules stored at another node (Node B) and that node references the rules stored at another node (Node C), XTRAC uses the rules only at the first reference (Node B). XTRAC does not continue to follow any other node references. See Using Rules Stored at Another Node.

Correspondence Options

The following options are related to correspondence and can be configured on a node:

• Approval queues: Determines the order that correspondence is routed to these queues and whether the creating operator or final approver prints the correspondence.
• Approval groups: Determines where XTRAC routes customer letters for approval, based on the correspondence type of the letter and the queues that are associated with the approval group.
• Correspondence type groups: Determines the correspondence types that appear for selection when an operator creates correspondence, based on the correspondence types that are associated with the operator’s current working node.
• Printer groups: Determines the printer to use, based on the correspondence type of the letter.
• Default printer: Determines the printer that XTRAC sends correspondence to when there is no printer group assigned at the work item’s current node or the applicable correspondence type is not associated with the printer group and the correspondence type does not have an associated printer. This printer serves as the default printer for XTRAC correspondence.

Source system functionality integrates an application with an XTRAC workflow. For example, you can integrate the XTRAC Viewer with XTRAC so that operators can view and attach documents to an XTRAC work item. See Source Systems

Nodes with Correspondence, Source, Queue Order, and Rules

Nodes can be used with the following features of Correspondence, Source, Queue Order, and Rules:

Creating a Node

Note: To define a node, you need the Create and Node security functions as part of the security group that is associated with your entitlement set.

Before you create a node, you must create an access group.

To create a node

1. In Feature Explorer, click Environment > Nodes.
2. In the Node Summary window, click New.
3. In the Note Detail window, in the Name field, type a name for the node (up to 30 characters).
4. (Optional) Select the parent node.
5. In the Description field, type a description for the node (up to 60 characters).
6. In the Access Group drop-down list box, select the access group to associate with this node.
7. In the Customer ID drop-down list box, select the display format for the customer ID.
8. (Optional) In the Change Request ID field, type the ID for the change request (up to 30 characters).
9. (Optional) in the Memo field, type the reason for creating the node (up to 60 characters).
10. Click Save.

XTRAC saves the node. The new node is listed in the Node Summary window.

Searching for a Node

The Search Node feature in the Node Summary window finds the specified node and then displays it and selects it in the list of nodes in the right column. In the left column, this feature also displays the parent node in a tree structure.

To search for a node

1. In Feature Explorer, click Environment > Nodes.
2. In the Node Summary window, in the Search Node drop-down list box, select a node from the list of nodes in your organization.
   
3. On the right side of the window, click Search.

XTRAC finds the node. In the left column, XTRAC lists the parent of the node in the tree structure of nodes. In the right column, the node is selected and is included in the list of nodes.

Viewing a Subset of Nodes

The Include option in the Node Summary window locates all of the nodes in a summary window that meet the criteria that you select. For example, an administrator who is responsible for a subset of nodes want to list only that subset and not see all of the nodes in the organization.

To view a subset of nodes

1. In Feature Explorer, click Environment > Nodes.
2. In the Node Summary window, from the Include drop-down list box, select Node.
   
3. In the Value field, select the value of the node that you want to include.
4. On the right side of the window, click Include.

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