Human tasks, complex types and variable assignment.

Question

Hi folks,
I encountered a problem while working with 10.1.3.1 which I haven't managed to solve yet and would be grateful for assistance. I have defined a complex data type (just a sequence of strings) and want to fill that data type by going through a flow of screens, e.g. through several human tasks. I have defined that type as a variable to the BPEL process and have managed to assign simple expressions to the variable and pass that into a Human Task. In the task I see now a simple input form for all attributes of the type.
Now the problem. After I fill out the form and complete the human task, I have
The global variable:
<outputVariable>
     <part xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" name="payload">
          <MyProcessResponse xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/VacationRequest">
               <vorname/>
               <nachname/>
               <strasse/>
               <nummer/>
               <postleitzahl/>
               <stadt/>
               <maximaleDauer/>
               <minimaleDauer/>
          </MyProcessResponse>
     </part>
</outputVariable>
and the return value from the human task:
<task>
     <title>CaptureData</title>-
          <payload>
               <MyProcessResponse>
                    <vorname>David</vorname>
                    <nachname>Beckham</nachname>
                    <strasse>HighStreet</strasse>
                    <nummer/>
                    <postleitzahl/>
                    <stadt/>
                    <maximaleDauer/>
                    <minimaleDauer/>
               </MyProcessResponse>
          </payload>
</task>
Now the only thing I would like to do is to replace the original values in the variable with the new values that have been returned from the task, this should be performed in an extra assign step. Sounds simple. JDeveloper wouldn't even let me klick through the return value from the HumanTask, so it seems as if I have to do things manually.
These are my tries:
Command 1:
<copy>
     <from variable="CaptureData_1_globalVariable"
part="payload" query="/task:task/task:payload" />
<to variable="outputVariable" part="payload"
query="/ns1:MyProcessResponse"/>
</copy>
Result 1:
<outputVariable>
     <part xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" name="payload">
          <ns0:MyProcessResponse xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/bpel/workflow/task"     xmlns:ns0="http://xmlns.oracle.com/VacationRequest">
               <MyProcessResponse xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/VacationRequest">
                    <vorname>David</vorname>
                    <nachname>Beckham</nachname>
                    <strasse>HighStreet</strasse>
                    <nummer/>
                    <postleitzahl/>
                    <stadt/>
                    <maximaleDauer/>
                    <minimaleDauer/>
               </MyProcessResponse>
          </ns0:MyProcessResponse>
     </part>
</outputVariable>
--> There is one MyProcessResponse element too many
Command 2:
<copy>
     <from variable="CaptureData_1_globalVariable"
part="payload" query="/task:task/task:payload"/>
<to variable="outputVariable" part="payload"
query="/ns1:MyProcessResponse/ns1:vorname"/>
</copy>
Result 2:
<outputVariable>
     <part xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" name="payload">
          <MyProcessResponse xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/VacationRequest">
               <ns0:vorname xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/bpel/workflow/task"                     xmlns:ns0="http://xmlns.oracle.com/VacationRequest">
                    <MyProcessResponse xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/VacationRequest">
                         <vorname>David</vorname>
                         <nachname>Beckham</nachname>
                         <strasse>HighStreet</strasse>
                         <nummer/>
                         <postleitzahl/>
                         <stadt/>
                         <maximaleDauer/>
                         <minimaleDauer/>
                    </MyProcessResponse>
               </ns0:vorname>
               <nachname/>
               <strasse/>
               <nummer/>
               <postleitzahl/>
               <stadt/>
               <maximaleDauer/>
               <minimaleDauer/>
          </MyProcessResponse>
     </part>
</outputVariable>
--> This was moreless expected, since I tried to copy the stuff to some wrong place.
Command 3:
<copy>
     <from variable="CaptureData_1_globalVariable"
part="payload" query="/task:task/task:payload/ns0:MyProcessResponse"/>
<to variable="outputVariable" part="payload"
query="/ns1:MyProcessResponse"/>
</copy>
Result 3:
--> Task does't return (!!!). In the BPEL Worklist, the task is completed, however in the BPEL console it still apears as "waiting to return from Human task".
Does anyone have a hint on how to copy the values so that I get exactly the structure that I printed at the very top?
Thanks for help. Rock On !

Answer 1

Hello everyone,
It seems that we are talking about different things, I am afraid. Let me describe the scenario once again:
- I want to have a BPEL process with more than one role involved
- This process should be used to gather some complex data.
- All data gathering should be done through HumanTasks.
So I defined an xsd complex type, that contains a sequence of fields. This complex type should be part of the process payload.
Now before HumanTask 1 is called, I copy the contents of this variable into the input for tasks1. This works fine and I see the appropriate values, when opening the Human Task in the BPEL worklist application.
Now after HumanTask1 is completed, the values I entered inside that tasks are returned as a variable from the HumanTask. My problem is, that I cannot copy the contents of the task back into the main process. With simpleTypes this is relatively ok, since Jdev supports the assembling of the copy operation, however for complex tasks it fails.
A typical scenario for this would be where e.g. a customer fills a shipping address and afterwards a store staff fills product details in the same order. In Java this could be solved via "pass by reference". Who can provide an example?