Introduction to the Document Engine guide

The Document Engine comprises a set of tools and methodologies for developing and modifying Service Manager workflows. The Document Engine was originally tasked to develop an underlying set of base functionality that would support multiple modules inside Service Manager, improve consistency of the user interface between modules and reduce the amount of code needed for any new module.

The Document Engine extends the display application capabilities with simplified and more extensive actions especially those involving multiple application calls. In addition, the Document Engine supports the use of joined tables and master format control calls. It is designed to meet the needs of most customers out of the box, yet retain flexibility. The relationship between Objects, States, and Processes is hierarchical.

The Document Engine controls behavior with Objects. An Object is referenced whenever a form opens, and the Object determines the behavior for the state of the form (open, list, search, etc.). Objects define overall table behavior. Within the Object, a State describes where a record is in its lifecycle (open, list, search, etc.). Within the State, different Processes are executed depending on the actions initiated by a user on the record. States also define how the system displays a record and what options (actions) are available at specific times or circumstances. For instance, States can determine an action, such as Save, given a user’s access privileges.

Processes are called from States based on the user's action. The Process uses RAD expressions, JavaScript, and calls to existing RAD applications to perform actions against the current record.