Channel creation in ProcessMaker

Groups will act as channels because the concept is the same. So, for each channel that exists in Slack, a group will be created in ProcessMaker automatically.

Channel assignment to tasks

A bot will ask for the name of each of the channels that will be assigned to each task in each workflow.

For more details, see below.

User and channel import

When ProcessMaker and Slack are connected, ProcessMaker will suck in all the users and channels that are in the team.

A nightly sync will also be performed via cron to ensure that the information is kept up to date.

Because we don’t have access to the users passwords, for the login credentials that we will create in ProcessMaker, we will use:

Username: user_name in Slack e.g. ethnp

Password: user_id in Slack e.g. U02FG73JP

We will create the authentication module as a separate module so that we can easily extend/modify the authentication piece later down the road.

Thinking further in the future, ldap integration with Slack, Google SSO integration etc. We would need to somehow tie it to the user in Slack. We would need to investigate this further, but in the meantime, by writing the authentication piece as a separate module, this will give us the flexibility to do this later down the road.

Installation script

We will have an install script when ProcessMaker is first run.

This will be performed in Slack as “/pm install”. It will basically store the token received from Slack, so that we know that all future requests must be authenticated with that specific token.

In this manner, by using this extra authentication token, we are essentially having 3 keys for logging in:

1. The users username

2. The users user id (as the password)

3. The Slack authentication token

If someone tries to access the ProcessMaker workspace without all 3 of those keys, they will not be able to log in.

Additionally, we will create a table to store the key, so that we can have potentially multiple keys stored in the table so that a company can have multiple teams, so therefore different slack ids, but still share the same ProcessMaker instance.

So, we can have a workflow start in one team, say development, and go to hr. They would be completely separate teams, but still utilizing one workflow engine.

REST API authentication

Because we use OAuth 2.0, we cannot authenticate with Slack directly.

Slack will make a request to any url and pass with it the payload. The payload includes a token that comes from Slack and is created when you connect ProcessMaker to Slack.

Here is an example of the payload:

Array

(

  [token] => oddn3CBQPyMq8GRhWDuyKneT

  [team_id] => T02FG73JM

  [team_domain] => processmaker

  [channel_id] => G02FH9UBS

  [channel_name] => privategroup

  [user_id] => U02FG73JP

  [user_name] => ethnp

  [command] => /pm

  [text] =>

)

Because of this limitation, we will create a file in the services folder of our plugin that will be accessible without the need to be logged in. In this file we will check for the token that is passed from Slack and use the user_name and user_id, as the username and password to then login to the ProcessMaker REST API, as discussed in the point above.

Which channels should have access to start the Time Off Request?

“Everyone” or “all” or “#marketing”.

Which channels should be able to approve the request?

“#supervisors” or “#managers and supervisors and #executive-management”.

Which channels should have access to start the Purchase Request?

“Everyone” or “all” or “#sales”.

Which channels should be able to approve the request?

“#supervisors” or “#managers and supervisors and #executive-management”.

Which channel is in charge of making the actual purchase?

“#purchasing” or “#managers” or “same as requestor”

Request Time Off

Starting Task

This is where the user requests the time off.

Approve Time Off

Task

This is where the user gets approved to take time off

Slack Message

Trigger

This will send a notification to the user who initiated the request with the approvers decision.

RequesterUsername

Requestor Username

N

String

Time off requestors username

RequestorFullname

Requestor Fullname

N

String

The full name of the requestor

RequestDate

Request Date

N

Datetime

Date of the request

TimeOffDateStart

Time Off Start

Y

Datetime

Date the time off will start

TimeOffDateEnd

Time Off End

Y

Datetime

Date the time off will end

TotalTimeOff

Time Off Total

N

Integer

Total amount of leave being requested

ReasonForTimeOff

Reason For Taking Time Off

Y

String

The reason that the requestor is requesting for taking time off

Status

Status

N

String

The current status of the request. Options are:

{

 Pending Approval

 Approved

 Rejected

}

Notification to approver

Approve Time Off

Channel

Hello {{UserFullname}},

A new request for Time Off has been initiated by {{RequestorFullname}}.

{RequestorFullname} has requested to take time off from {{TimeOffDateStart}) until {{TimeOffDateEnd}}. That would mean a total of {{TotalTimeOff}} days off.

Would you like to Approve or Reject this request?

Note: To approve or reject the request, please click on the appropriate text above, or you may type either “/pm-route 253 approve” to approve the request, or “/pm-route 253 reject” to reject the request.

Approval notification to requestor

Approve Time Off

Private Message

Hello {{RequestorFullname}},

We just wanted to let you know, you have the best boss in the world!

Your request for time off, from {{TimeOffDateStart}} until {{TimeOffDateEnd}} has been approved!

For your records, the case number is {{AppNumber}}.

Enjoy your time off!

Rejection notification to requestor

Approve Time Off

Private Message

Hello {{RequestorFullname}},

We regret to inform you that your boss sucks!

Your request for time off has been rejected.

For your records, the case number is {{AppNumber}}.

Better luck next time!

New case note

All

Private Message

Hello {{UserFullname}},

We just wanted to let you know that there has been a new case note added to case number {{AppNumber}}.

See below for the full note.

“{{CaseNote_Content}}”

Purchase Request

Starting Task

This is where the user requests the purchase.

Approve Request

Task

This is where the purchase gets approved.

Make Purchase

Task

This is where the purchased gets made.

Slack Message

Trigger

This will send a notification to the user who initiated the request with the approvers decision.

RequesterUsername

Requestor Username

N

String

Time off requestors username

RequestorFullname

Requestor Fullname

N

String

The full name of the requestor

RequestDate

Request Date

N

Datetime

Date of the request

RequestedItems

Requested Items

Y

Array

List of items a user wishes to purchase, including qty and price

TotalAmount

Total Amount

N

Float

Total dollar amount of the entire purchase

Approved

Approved?

Y

Boolean

Indicating whether or not this purchase was approved.

DateApprovalDecision

Date of Approval Decision

N

Datetime

The date that the purchase was either approved or rejected.

ApproverUsername

Approver Username

N

String

The name of the approver

ApproverFullname

Approver Fullname

N

String

The full name of the approver

Purchased

Purchase?

N

Boolean

Indicating whether or not this purchase has been purchased yet.

DatePurchased

Date Purchased

N

Datetime

The date that the purchase happened.

PurchaserUsername

Purchaser Username

N

String

The username of the person making the purchase

PurchaserFullname

Purchaser Fullname

N

String

The full name of the person making the purchase

Status

Status

N

String

The current status of the request. Options are:

{

 Pending Approval

 Approved

 Rejected

 Pending Purchase

 Purchased

}

Notification to requestor

Request Purchase

Private Message

Hello {{RequesterFullname}},

Your Purchase Request has been submitted. The correct person has been notified and will reach out to you with a decision shortly (hopefully)!

Note: In the meantime, you can follow up with this request by simply typing into the chat “/pm-status 233” to check on the status of the request.

Notification to approver

Approve Purchase

Channel

Hello {{UserFullname}},

A new Purchase Request has been initiated by {{RequestorFullname}}.

{RequestorFullname} has requested to purchase the following items:

{{RequestedItems}}

Would you like to Approve or Reject this request?

Note: To approve or reject the request, please click on the appropriate text above, or you may type either “/pm-route 253 approve” to approve the request, or “/pm-route 253 reject” to reject the request.

Notification to purchaser

Make Purchase

Channel

Hello {{UserFullname}},

A new Purchase Request has been approved by {{ApproverFullname}}.

The following items were requested:

{{RequestedItems}}

Please confirm that the items were purchased.

Note: To confirm that the purchase was made, please click on the “confirm” text above, or alternatively, you may also type “/pm-route 253 confirm”.

Notification to requester

End of Process

Private Message

Hello {{RequesterFullname}},

Guess what? Your Purchase Request was not only approved, it was also purchased.

Keep a look out for the purchased items, if you haven’t received them already!

New case note

All

Private Message

Hello {{UserFullname}},

We just wanted to let you know that there has been a new case note added to case number {{AppNumber}}.

See below for the full note.

“{{CaseNote_Content}}”

/pm-inbox

This will return a list of cases that is in the user's unassigned view. To the user, this is their normal inbox, however, to ProcessMaker, this is unassigned/self service.

This will be as a message with fancy formatting, and for each case, there will also be an approve/reject link so that a user can directly approve or reject a case from that view.

/pm-case-note <case_number>

This will return all the case notes for a particular case number.

/pm-case-note <case_number> <text>

This will add a note to the case notes and also broadcast to all the channels that are subscribed to this case with the note that was added.

/pm-route <case_number> <action>

This will route a specific case number based on the action specified. For example, “/pm-route 2564 approve” will approve the case 2564.

/pm-status

This will enable the user to check on the status of a particular request.

E.g. “/pm-status 125” will return:

“The status of case number 125 is: Pending Approval”.

/pm-time-off <from_date> <to_date> <comments>

This will create a new case in the time off request process. The user will receive back a message indicating that their request has been received together with the case number for them to be able to follow up on it.

For example, “/pm-time-off from today until next Friday because I need to go surfing in California”.

/pm-purchase <items> <comments>

This will create a new case in the purchase request process. The user will receive back a message indicating that their request has been received together with the case number for them to be able to follow up on it. Maybe the case number can also act as the purchase order number.

For example, “/pm-purchase 2 computers for $1000 and 3 tablets for 300 dollars for setting up the new office”.

Message with approve/reject links

When a case is routed to another task, everyone in the channel will see the message that the case has been routed to a new task. In that message, there will be the information related to the case and at the bottom there will be two links, approve/reject.

If a user clicks on that link, very similar to how we do the Actions By Email, the case will be routed as approved or rejected, based on which link they select.

Notifications

Any user that is subscribed to a case will receive notifications of any and all actions taken on a particular case.

This will be displayed as a webhook message.

This includes whenever a case note is added, all subscribers will receive a notification with the case note

Perhaps we can add the ability for users to unsubscribe from a case if they do not wish to receive constant notifications of it’s progress. This would however require further customization to perhaps maintain a database in order to maintain the pub/sub relationships and permissions, with varying levels of subscription e.g. subcribe to a case being routed but not case notes or vice-versa.

Custom message from a ProcessMaker trigger

Custom message that can be sent via a ProcessMaker trigger to any channel, group or private message.