Process does not advance if "Days Elapsed Since Step Began" or "Days Elapsed Since Process Began" is used as the step condition

Products

• Clarity PPM SaaS
• Clarity PPM On Premise

Issue/Introduction

Newly created process does not advance if (Days elapsed since step began = 1) is used as the step condition.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Create a simple on-demand project object process
2. In the post condition for the start step, use 'Days elapsed since step began' = 1
3. Link the start step to the Finish step
4. Go to the project object , select a project and start the process
5. Check the process in the next day

Expected: For the process to be completed
Actual: The process is still waiting on the start step

Environment

Release: Any

Resolution

There are two things to check to make sure this type of condition is set up correctly.

1,  Is the correct option under Object chosen?

• The correct choice for Days Elapsed Since Step Began is Step.step_id where step_id is the id of the step you are creating the condition for.  This condition will only work for the step it is created on.
• The correct choice for Days Elapsed Since Process Began is Process.process_id where process_id is the name of the process.

2.  Make sure you choose the >= to operator.  The process will fail most of the time if you choose == 1. 

EXPLANATION OF WHY >= SHOULD BE USED:  Let's say you chose Days Elapsed Since Step Began == 1.  This type of condition is evaluated on a periodic basis,  If the condition is equal to 1, it means the process will only move forward only if the time elapsed is exactly equal to 1 day (or 24 hours).  If it is slightly more, the condition is not met.  Choosing >= to 1 will allow the condition to be evaluated to True whether the time elapsed is exactly 1 day or 1 day + 20 minutes when the condition is evaluated.

HINT:  When testing a process like this, don't set the amount of time to the full number of days you want.  Instead start with a value like (.0035 which is slightly more than 5 minutes) so that you can run through your testing more quickly.  You can always change it to the desired amount of time once you have completed your testing.

Additional Information

Please also see:

How to define a Process Step Elapsed in minutes