Default behavior of Get Next Work processing

Users typically click Next Assignment in the Case Manager or Case Worker portal to retrieve assignments. An activity then starts and performs several steps to retrieve the assignments.

The standard activities described in the following procedure are part of the Process API.

If you have not customized settings or specified parameters, the system performs the following steps to retrieve assignments:

  1. A user clicks Next Assignment in the Case Manager or Case Worker portals. The button might also appear on a confirmation form, and it might have a different text label.

  2. The button click starts the standard activity Work-.GetNextWork, which calls the final standard activity Work-.GetNextWorkObject.

  3. The GetNextWorkObject activity examines the pyWorkBasketFirst property for the user. This property corresponds to the Get from work queues first check box on the Work tab.

    One of the following occurs:

    • If the property is true, the activity calls the standard activity Work.findAssignmentinWorkbasket.

    • If the property is false, it calls the standard activity Work-.findAssignmentinWorklist. The search examines the worklist before work queues.

  4. The Work-.findAssignmentInWorkbasket activity examines the assignments that are in the operator's work queues to determine whether to assign them to the user. Work queues are listed on the Work tab of the Operator ID form.

    One of the following occurs:

    • If the Merge workbaskets check box on the tab is not selected, the activity searches for work queues the that order they appear on the Work tab.

    • If the Merge workbaskets check box on the tab is selected, the algorithm changes. All the assignments in all the listed work queues are assembled into a single list that is then sorted by declining pxUrgencyAssign.

  5. The standard decision tree Assign-.GetNextWorkCriteria is applied to each assignment found, according to the highest urgency first.

    The Get Next Work process disregards the following assignments:

    • Assignments that have a pyActionTime in the future.

    • Assignments that the operator already worked on today.

Assignments that cannot be locked are disregarded.

  1. Searching ends when it finds the first remaining assignment, if any, that meets all the criteria.

    One of the following occurs:

    • If assignments are found, the GetNextWork activity creates and populates the newAssignPagepage, moves the assignment to the user's worklist, and locks the work item.

      You can leave an assignment in a work queue by setting the GetNextWork_MoveAssignmentToWorklist System setting to false. However, you cannot apply this setting if:

      • The case uses optimistic locking.
      • The GetNextWork activity is called from the REST API when next is passed as the parameter for the Get Assignment Details request.
      Note: The assignment is always moved to the user’s list when called you call Get assignment details from the Pega REST API, regardless of the setting.
    • If assignments are not found, steps 4 to 6 are repeated using the Work-.findAssignmentinWorklist activity and the list view Assign-Worklist.GetNextWork.All.