Working with Tasks using Task Drawer

note

The Task Drawer is a feature in Tech Preview—released in Digital.ai Release 22.2—enabled by default for Manual tasks. From Digital.ai Release 22.3, the design has been enhanced and this feature is applied to both Manual and Automated tasks. You can disable this feature (using the Feature flags) if you do not want to use the Task Drawer for Manual and Automated Tasks. For more information, see the Enable or Disable Task Drawer for Tasks section on this page.

Manual tasks are steps in a Template or Release that are to be completed manually by the assigned user. These tasks are either assigned to a single user or to a team and are displayed with a gray border in the Release flow editor. For more information on how Manual tasks are assigned, see Configure teams for a release.

Automated tasks are different from manual tasks, and a Release execution engine performs an automated script to complete an automated task. To understand the difference between the task types, see Task types in Release.

Here's how the Task Drawer looks like.

Latest Enhancements

The Task Drawer UI has been enhanced to improve the user experience.

• In the top header of the Task Drawer, a new action button titled Click to learn more has been introduced to provide context-sensitive help linking. This functionality is implemented across all tasks within Release, including those within Plugins. This feature allows direct access to documentation of the task from within the Task Drawer.
• In the Create Release task, when you select the Template dropdown list, it lists the available templates along with the folder names under which they are grouped. Previously, only the template names were listed. Truncation applies for longer folder and template names as follows:
  • If only one folder (root folder) is available with a longer name, the name truncates at the end.
  • If nested folders have longer names within the root folder, the folder names of the nested folders truncate at the beginning.
  • Longer template names truncate at the end, whether they are in the root folder or nested folder.
  • Longer longer folder or template names are truncated, and the full names are displayed in a tooltip when hovered over.

Enhancements for 24.1

The Task Drawer UI has been enhanced to improve the user experience.

• The Configuration and Overview tabs have been merged to ensure consistent configuration across various task types, and all the configurations are now accessible under the Overview tab. The Input properties/Output properties toggle is located below the description. For certain task types like Manual, Notification, and Gate tasks, where no Output parameters are available, the Input properties/Output properties toggle is hidden to save space.
• The top header now features the Release title and Phase title on the left side, with action buttons on the right. Longer titles are truncated, and the full title is displayed in a tooltip when hovered over.
• Below the top header in the main header area, the task icon, task name, and the full task type are displayed. Task status is visible on the right, with the status line appearing below when applicable.
• Additional action buttons, such as Lock/Unlock Tasks, Set Flag Message, and Add Watchers, are now present in the sub-header. Note that when a task is locked, the main header appears grayed out.

• Task tags functionality has been integrated into the Attributes tab.

• Container-based tasks now use the same Task Drawer as other tasks, with the Capabilities field added to the Overview tab. For more information, see Build Custom Container Plugin using Python SDK.
• An icon indicating container-based tasks is displayed in the main header alongside the task icon.
• When mandatory fields are left empty, a red badge indicating the number of empty or erroneous fields that must be filled now appears.

• Refresh functionality has been added to ensure user is editing the latest version of the task.
• Information on the last modification of the task can be found in the Activity tab.
• Concurrent edit checking support has been added. Turn it on, in the System settings > Experimental > Task editing settings section.

• Errors for Jython and Groovy script tasks are now displayed in the Overview tab, with the latest error linking to all errors in the Activity tab.
• Save and Revert buttons are now accessible in the Script editor window.

• The description in the Overview tab can be expanded or collapsed to allow more space for Input properties/Output properties configuration. By default, the description is visible but collapsible if needed.
• The @mentions feature has been updated to enhance notifications.

Experimental

When you select the Enable task search when adding a new task checkbox in System settings > Tasks > Task drawer (Recommended) section, you can now search and filter task types directly by entering relevant text in the task name search field within the Release flow editor when adding a new task. This feature is currently in an experimental stage, and will be further enhanced in the 24.3 release.

Components of Task Drawer

The following sub-sections illustrate how to work with tasks using the Task Drawer.

Top Header and Main Header

The Top header and Main header of the Task Drawer allows you to:

• View the task breadcrumb as Release title / Phase title. These are non-clickable breadcrumbs that provide context and orientation within the release flow.
• Click the button to do the following:
  • Change task type
  • Copy task URL
  • Duplicate task
  • Delete task

• You can also maximize or minimize the Task Drawer screen
• You can use the Close button to close the task
• You can refresh the task
• Hover over the icon to view the task type
• View or modify the task titles

Sub Header

The Sub header of the Task Drawer allows you to:

Lock/Unlock Tasks

Use the Lock icon at the sub-header of the Task Drawer to lock or unlock tasks. For more information, see lock tasks.

Set Status Flags

Use the status flags to signal about the status of the risk involved in the completion of a task. It alerts the Release Manager and other users when they navigate through all the sections of the Task Drawer.

1. Click the Flag icon below the sub-header of the Task Drawer. The FLAG MESSAGE pop-up appears.
2. You can set the flag as follows:
   • Black Flag indicates the flag message is set to None
   • Orange Flag indicates the flag message is set to Attention needed
   • Red Flag indicates the flag message is set to At risk
3. You can use the text box to customize the flag message.

Add Watchers

Watchers feature is used to notify watchers when events occur.

1. Click the Eye icon next to the Flag icon in the sub-header of the Task Drawer.
2. Click Start watching task to watch the task. You can stop watching the task by clicking Unwatch.
3. Click Add watcher to select other users to watch this task.

Overview Tab

The Overview tab contains everything required to complete a task as a runtime user. It provides information about the Assignee, Team, and Description.

Add an Assignee or Team

1. Hover over the Assignee or Team fields. These fields display an Unassigned placeholder when no assignees are assigned.
2. Click the Unassigned placeholder and select the assignee or team from the drop-down lists respectively.

Note: Users can be assigned directly using the Assign to me option from the three-dot menu in the Release flow editor.

Add Descriptions

1. Hover over the Description field. The field displays an Add a Description placeholder when no description is available.
2. Click the Add a Description placeholder and enter the description for the task. You can now expand or collapse the Description section.
3. Click Save to save your changes.

Input/Output Properties

User action task types like Manual, Gate, and User Input tasks do not have properties defined.

Automated Tasks have properties defined, and the input or output properties vary depending on the type of the task. The following screenshot is an example of an automated task (Check Asset task from Digital.ai Agility).

Create Connections

For automated tasks, you can now directly create a connection from the Overview tab itself. It is explained using a JIRA - Create Issue task below.

1. Add a Create Issue task.
2. In the Overview tab, select the Server drop-down list.
3. Click Create new Server. Note: If the connection to a JIRA server is already available on the folder or global level, it will be displayed in the drop-down list.
4. The Connections section opens for the respective folder with the New Jira: Server screen.

Activity Tab

The Activity tab displays the conversations related to the task. For more information, see Mention Users in the Release task.

Manage Conversations

1. Click Activity in the left-navigation pane of the Task Drawer.
2. To add a comment, type some text in the Add comment field at the bottom and press Enter. The comments are displayed above the Add comment field.
3. You can filter comments using the Search filter. Additionally, you can perform granular filtering using User messages or System and logs messages.
4. To edit or delete a comment, hover over the comment and edit or delete respectively.
5. Click Newest first to sort the latest comments from top to bottom.
6. Click Oldest first to sort the oldest comments from top to bottom.

Real time Task Updates

Real time updates about events like Comments and Container logs are now displayed in the Task Drawer.

Additionally, help notification icons are displayed in the Activity and Attachments tabs whenever an event occurs.

Download Live Logs

You can now click the download button next to the Runs drop-down list to download the live logs from the Task Drawer.

Scheduling Tab

The Scheduling tab is used to schedule a time period for tasks.

The design and look of the Scheduling tab is improved for better user experience.

Set Task Duration

1. Click Scheduling in the left-navigation pane of the Task Drawer.
2. In the Scheduling section, select the projected start date and projected end date of the task using the Start date and End date fields respectively. The Task duration section, calculates the duration of the task and displays it in the Days, Hours, and Minutes fields. These fields are enabled only after you click on them.

Note: The Wait for the start date toggle is enabled once you select the Start date.

3. In the Blackout period section, you can switch on the Postpone during blackout toggle to postpone the task during the blackout period.
4. You can view the blackout period using the View Release Calendar link. For more information, see Blackout period.
5. In the Environment availability section, you can switch on the Check environment availability toggle to postpone the task until the environment is available. For more information, see Environment availability.

Conditions Tab

The Conditions tab is used to manage preconditions and failure handlers for your tasks.

Enable Precondition

1. Click Conditions in the left-navigation pane of the Task Drawer. Precondition tab is selected by default.
2. Switch on the Enable precondition toggle button. The Precondition script field opens.
3. Enter or copy your script.
4. Click Save to save your changes.

Enable Failure Handler

1. Click Conditions in the left-navigation pane of the Task Drawer. Precondition tab is selected by default.
2. Click Failure Handler tab.
3. Switch on the Enable failure handler toggle button. If the task fails drop-down list is enabled with the following options:
   • Skip task
   • Restart Phase
   • Define additional action
4. Select Skip task to skip the task if it fails.
5. Select Restart Phase to restart the phase itself if the task fails.
6. Select Define additional action. The Failure handler script field opens.
7. Enter or copy your script.

Note: If you do not handle task failure within the script, your task will fail.

7. Click Save to save your changes.

Attributes Tab

The Attributes tab is used to link deployments to your deliveries and add task tags.

Add Attributes

1. Click Attributes in the left-navigation pane of the Task Drawer.
2. Click Add attribute.
3. In the Type drop-down list, select the attribute type. This will enable the other fields.

Note: Click ${ (Variable switching button) next to the Application, Version, or Environment fields, to toggle their field entries to variables or manual entries.

4. In the Application drop-down list, select the application.
5. In the Version field, enter the version number of the application.
6. In the Environment drop-down list, select the environment.
7. Click OK to save the changes.

Add Task Tags

Tags are used to add the tags to filter the tasks.

1. In the Task Tags field, enter any text and press Enter. Tags are added in the Task Tags field.
2. You can use these tags to filter the tasks.

Attachments Tab

The Attach. tab is used to add attachments for the task.

Add Attachments

1. Click Attach. in the left-navigation pane of the Task Drawer.
2. Click Select file(s) to select your attachment and add. Additionally, you can also drag and drop your attachments.

The following sections cover more information about how to access the Task Drawer.

Disable Task Drawer for Tasks

The Task Drawer is the default task editor. However, as a Release system administrator, you can disable the Task Drawer if you choose to. To disable the Task Drawer:

1. Log in to Digital.ai Release.

2. On the top-right corner, click Settings > System settings > Tasks.

3. Navigate to the Task drawer (Recommended) section, and clear the Enable side-panel Task drawer check box.

   Note: The Enable side-panel Task drawer check box is selected by default.

   

Enable or Disable Task Drawer for Tasks—Opt Out of Task Drawer

The Task Drawer is the default task editor. However, non-admin users can disable the Task Drawer feature if they choose to. To opt out of it in favor of the old Task Modal:

1. Log in to Digital.ai Release.
2. In the Profile page, under the New UI for task details section, clear the Use task drawer check box to opt out from the Task drawer and use the Task modal instead.

Note: The Task Drawer feature was introduced with Release 22.3. However, with every release enhancements are made for better usability. You can switch back to the old view (Task Modal) by clearing the Use new Task details version checkbox.