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The source (Send or Respond) of a message attribute determines how the message attribute is used. When you define a message attribute with a source of 'Send', you can embed the message attribute in the subject and/or body of the message for token substitution. In addition, you can attach the message attribute to the message when the notification is sent.

Each message attribute has a specific data type. The value of a 'Send' message attribute can be a constant or can be a value returned by an item type attribute of that same data type. To embed a message attribute in a message's subject or body for token substitution, specify the internal name of the message attribute using the format &MESGATTR within the subject or body text.

Note: You should not embed a message attribute of type Document in a message's subject, since Document message attributes cannot be be token substituted in the subject. Document message attributes embedded in the subject will be ignored.

You can, however, embed Document message attributes within the body of a message for token substitution.

A message attribute defined with a source of 'Respond' constitutes the response section of a message. A 'Respond' message attribute provides instructions that prompts a recipient for a response. When you define a 'Respond' message attribute, you must specify the data type of the attribute. You can also provide an optional default value for the response. The default value can be a constant or a value returned from an item type attribute of the same data type.

You can define 'Respond' message attributes of type URL or form if you want the notification recipient to respond to the notification through the specified web page or form. In this case that custom web page or form must mark the notification as closed and include a call to the Workflow Engine CompleteActivity( ) API to inform the Workflow Engine when the notification response is complete. Also, you must not define any 'Respond' message attributes of other types. Any response values that are required must be entered in the specified web page or form. See: CompleteActivity, Oracle Workflow API Reference.

In Oracle Applications, if you define 'Respond' message attributes of type URL or form, the Notification Details page will display only the URL response links or form response icons and will not display any other response fields. However, users will still be able to reassign or request more information for the notification as usual, if the notification is defined to allow those options.

See Also

To Define a Message Attribute

Message Attributes, Oracle Workflow Administrator's Guide