How to efficiently handle approval process transfer: a practical guide

1. Retrieve Current Task Information

When implementing the reassignment feature, the first step is to retrieve the information of the current task. You can get the current task using the task ID or process instance ID:

TaskService taskService = processEngine.getTaskService();
Task currentTask = taskService.createTaskQuery().taskId(taskId).singleResult();
String currentAssignee = currentTask.getAssignee();

2. Update the Assignee of the Task

You can reassign the task to a new approver by calling the workflow engine's API. For example, in Activiti, you can use the setAssignee method:

String newAssignee = "newApprover"; // Username of the new approver
taskService.setAssignee(taskId, newAssignee);
System.out.println("Task has been reassigned to: " + newAssignee);

3. Update the Database Tables

After completing the task reassignment, you need to update the relevant records in the database to ensure data consistency. Assuming we have created the following database tables:

• Process_Instances: Stores information about process instances
• Approval_Tasks: Stores information about approval tasks
• Approval_Logs: Stores logs of approval actions

Update the assignment information in the approval tasks table:

UPDATE Approval_Tasks
SET Assignee = ?, Updated_At = NOW()
WHERE Task_ID = ?;

Log the reassignment action:

INSERT INTO Approval_Logs (Task_ID, Approver_ID, Action, Timestamp, Comments)
VALUES (?, ?, 'REASSIGNED', NOW(), 'Task reassigned to ' + ?);