Oracle Workflows interview Questions

·                  Workflow processes represent business process flows and information routing.

·                  Each workflow process consists of a set of activities and transitions.

·                  Activities can be process activities, notification activities, and function activities.

·                  The business process flow in Oracle Workflow can have decision points (branches), parallel flows, and loops.


·                  The Workflow Builder is a graphical interface for diagramming the workflow process.

·                  The Workflow Engine enforces and executes the workflow process and drives items through the workflow processes.

·                  The Workflow Monitor displays any instances/items and their status within a workflow process.

·                  The Workflow Definitions Loader loads the workflow definition from a flat file or from another database.

·                  Workflow Directory Services obtains the email addresses for roles from the directory repository.

·                  The Notification System sends out messages and solicits responses.

·                  The Workflow Engine is a PL/SQL program that resides on the server and drives items through workflow processes defined in Oracle Workflow.

·                  Each item has a set of attributed values that contains information about the specific item. Each one of these items, with its own set of attribute values in the middle of the workflow process, is referred to as one instance of the workflow process.

·                  Valid states of an activity are Active, Complete, Deferred, Error, Notified, Suspended, and Waiting.

·                  If the state is Error, the changes will roll back to the last savepoint and the error-handling process will be initiated.

·                  Active activities are deferred to the background Workflow Engine if the operating cost is higher than the threshold specified in the Workflow Engine.

·                  If an activity is completed, the Workflow Engine will issue a savepoint and the activities that depend on the completed activity will be set to Active, if appropriate.

·                  If Loop Reset is on and the Workflow Engine comes to an activity that has been executed, then all of the activities will be reversed; otherwise, the transition will be ignored.

·                  Workflow Engine APIs are found in the WF_ENGINE package.

·                  The CreateProcess API creates a new runtime process for an item of an instance.

·                  The StartProcess API begins execution of the workflow process.

·                  The CompleteActivity API notifies the Workflow Engine that an activity has been completed for an item.

·                  GetItemAttrInfo obtains type information about an item attribute.

·                  Oracle Workflow obtains information about a role from three views: WF_USERS, WF_ROLES, and WF_USER_ROLES.

·                  Groups of users, as well as individual users, are assigned to roles.

·                  The Email field in WF_ROLES is used if Expand Role is not checked; otherwise, the Email field of the users in the role will be used.

·                  To add more roles and users, you can use the three local tables: WF_LOCAL_USERS, WF_LOCAL_ROLES, and WF_LOCAL_USER_ROLES.

·                  An item type consists of six components/objects: attributes, processes, notifications, functions, messages, and lookup types.

·                  The internal name of Workflow Builder components must be unique, typed in uppercase, and should not contain spaces.

·                  If there is more than one process attached to an item type, a selector is needed to select the correct process.

·                  Each notification activity must have an attached message.

·                  A message can have its own attributes, and a respond attribute will solicit users to select a valid respond value.

·                  You can attach a time-out to the notification activity. If time passes and a response is not received within the specified time, a <Timeout> transition will be executed.

·                  Lookup types are used to define lists of lookup codes. Result types must be lookup types.

·                  To monitor workflow and to view its progress, you can use either the Workflow Status form in Oracle Applications or the Java-based Workflow Monitor tool.

·                  There are two modes for both forms: ADMIN and USER.

·                  To diagram a workflow process, drag and drop activities into the Process window and draw lines between them by holding down the right mouse button.

·                  Fill in the performer for a notification activity.

·                  The Continue Flow function and Wait for Flow function work together to coordinate the master/detail process flow.

·                  The Oracle Applications Implementation Wizard—wizard for short—is a module in Oracle Applications that guides you through the setup steps of Oracle Applications.

·                  The Oracle Applications Implementation Method (AIM) is a methodology that guides you through every phase of the implementation process and is complemented by the Implementation Wizard.

·                  The process hierarchy ensures that the common setups are finished before the specific setups.

·                  Primary processes are common processes that span the entire application, requiring setup steps that cross multiple modules across the financial, distribution, and manufacturing product families.

·                  Secondary processes are common processes that cross modules within the product family.

·                  Final processes are processes that are specific to an individual module and have no cross-module dependencies. Enter the context for setup steps that are dependent on organization context. Organization contexts are Business Group, Set of Books, Operating Unit, and Inventory Organization. Start the implementation process by launching it through the Implementation Wizard form.

·                  If you are assigned a setup step through the wizard, you will receive notification through Workflow, and you can see the notification in the Notifications Summary form.

·                  You can complete the setup and respond with a Done result.

·                  You can respond with a Skipped result and ask the wizard to skip the setup steps.

·                  You can reassign the setup steps to another role.

·                  You can run the wizard installation process to ensure that the wizard is installed correctly.


1.      When will an activity be deferred?
A.       Activity cost = 0
B.       Activity cost < Workflow Engine threshold
C.       Activity cost > Workflow Engine threshold
2.      What is the primary purpose of a workflow?
A.       Routes information
B.       Sends notifications
C.       Creates audit trails
D        Defines process rules
3.      What job does the SetItemUserKey API perform?
A.       Sets the unique identifier for an item
B.       Sets the role to be notified
C.       Sets the user-friendly identifier for an item
D.       Sets the activity ID for an item
4.      How will you define the possible results of an activity in order to drive different transitions?
A.       As item attributes for an item
B.       As lookup codes for a lookup type
C.       Separate the activity into two
D.       Use a process activity
5.      Time-out parameters apply to which activity?
A.       Function
B.       Process
C.       Notification
D.       All of the above
6.      What will solicit responses from a notification activity?
A.       Having a time-out parameter
B.       Having a performer
C.       Having a Send message attribute
D.       Having a Respond message attribute
7.      Which Work Engine API should you use to begin execution of an activity?
A.       CreateProcess
B.       StartProcess
C.       ResumeProcess
D.       BeginActivity
8.      Which implementation process group comes before the product family processes?
A.       Common application processes
B.       Product family processes
C.       Product-specific processes
D        Common financial
9.      What is the proper format for an internal name in the Workflow Builder component?
A.       Uppercase
B.       No spaces
C.       Unique within item type
D.       All of the above
10.  Which of the following statements is true?
A.       Role can be created in Workflow Builder.
B.       A user is a role if it has at least one active responsibility.
C.       A role can only have one user.
D.       A user must be a role.
11.  Which component in Oracle Workflow is the graphical interface for workflow processes?
A. Workflow Builder
B.       Workflow Engine
C.       Workflow Monitor
D.       Workflow Definitions Loader
12.  When do you need a selector for an item type?
A.       When you must perform role resolution
B.       When performing a voting activity
C.       When more than one process is associated with an item type
D.       When multiple result codes are possible
13.  What does the Workflow Engine do when a function activity has finished?
A.       Issue a savepoint
B.       Issue a commit
C.       Generate a log file
D.       Notify the user


Answer to the above Questions
1.      C. Activity cost > Workflow Engine threshold
Explanation An activity is deferred when the activity cost is greater than the Workflow Engine threshold. If the activity cost = 0 or if the activity cost is less than the Workflow Engine threshold, the activity will become Active.

2.      A., B., D. Routes information, Sends notifications, Defines process rules
Explanation The primary purposes of a workflow are to route information, send notification, and define process rule. Although some history is maintained automatically by Oracle Workflow, it will not be considered as creating audit trails.

3.      C. Set the user-friendly identifier for an item
Explanation The SetItemUserKey API is used for setting a user-friendly identifier for an item.

4.      B. As lookup codes for a lookup type
Explanation You define the possible results of an activity to drive different transitions using lookup codes for a lookup type. You cannot use item attributes. Separating the activity into two does not make sense since you want to drive two transactions with the same activity, but with two result codes. A process activity will not help in this scenario.

5.      C. Notification
Explanation A time-out parameter only applies to a notification activity since the time-out parameters are used to measure when a notification expires. It does not apply to a function activity or a process activity.

6.      D. Having a Respond message attribute
Explanation Having a Respond message attribute will solicit responses from a notification activity. The display name will become the prompt and the description will be the instruction. Nothing else, such as a time-out parameter, a performer, or a Send message attribute, will have 
an affect in soliciting responses.

7.      B. StartProcess
Explanation The StartProcess API begins the execution of an activity. The CreateProcess API creates a new runtime process for an item. The ResumeProcess API resumes a suspended item. The BeginActivity determines if the specified activity may currently be performed on the item.

8.      A. Common application processes
Explanation Common application processes come before the product family processes, which come before product-specific processes. Common financial is one of the product family processes. It does not come before product family processes.

9.      D. All of the above
Explanation An internal name for a Workflow Builder component must be in uppercase, have no spaces, and be unique within item type.

10.  D. A user must be a role.
Explanation A user must be a role. A role cannot be created in the Workflow Builder. Having one active responsibility is not a requirement for a user to be a role. A role can have more than one user.

11.  A. Workflow Builder
Explanation The Workflow Builder in Oracle Workflow is the graphical interface for workflow processes. The Workflow Engine drives items through workflow processes. The Workflow Monitor allows you to view and monitor workflow process instances and the Workflow Definitions Loader loads workflow definitions from a text file or database.

12.  C. More than one process associated with an item type
Explanation When you have more than one process associated with an item type, you need a selector to select a process. You use the Role Resolution standard activity to perform role resolution. Voting is another standard activity. Multiple result codes drive different transitions, but this is not related to the selector.

13.  A. Issue a savepoint
Explanation The Workflow Engine issues a savepoint when a function activity is completed. The Workflow Engine never issues a commit; the calling application issues a commit. The Workflow Engine does not generate a log file or notify users.