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InterAction® Administrator Answer Center

Defining the Activity Type

  • Updated

Every activity entered in InterAction has an activity type. This describes the type of activity, such as email or letter.

The activity type settings define how Application Collaboration sets the activity types for activities brought in from the external system. Choose between two options:

  • Use an ID value from the external system.
  • Use a specific InterAction activity type for every harvested activity.

Getting the Activity Type from the Data Source

If you select to get the activity type from the data source, you need to harvest the ID for the activity type into the ACT_TYPE column of the activity data table. The ID must be numeric and must correspond to one of the IDs for an existing active or inactive activity type in InterAction. You can set each activity to a different type if necessary.

The activity type IDs are listed in InterAction Administrator in the Manage Activity & Appointment Types dialog box.

[A] Refer to InterAction Administrator for the Activity Types and corresponding type IDs.

For example, if you harvest the value 1 into the ACT_TYPE column, the activity is assigned the type Reminder in InterAction. Note that activity type IDs are assigned automatically when you create the activity types in InterAction Administrator.

When you select this option, the ACT_TYPE column becomes non-nullable. Every row harvested into the table must include a valid activity type ID.

To configure an activity data set to get the activity type from the external system, follow these steps:

  1. Select the data source of the data set from the console list.
  2. Right-click the activity data set () and choose Edit.
  3. Under Activity Type, select External data source.

  4. Choose OK to save your changes.

    When harvesting, make sure the values you harvest into the ACT_TYPE column match the ID values of activity types defined in your system.

Using a Static InterAction Activity Type

If you select to use a specific InterAction activity type for the entire data set, you do not need to harvest any activity type information. Instead, select an activity type when configuring the data set. All activities harvested from the external system are assigned the same activity type.

When you select this option, the ACT_TYPE column of the data set table still exists, but it is set to be nullable. You can leave it completely blank when harvesting. If you do harvest a value into this column, Application Collaboration ignores it when transforming the data.

[A] All activities created using this data set are assigned the Other activity type.

You must create the activity type in InterAction before you can select it for a data set. You can select any active or inactive type. This lets you set activities from the external system to inactive types that users cannot use. This is a useful way of distinguishing activities imported from the external system.

To configure an activity data set to use a specific activity type for all activities, follow these steps:

  1. Select the data source of the data set from the console list.
  2. Right-click the activity data set () and choose Edit.
  3. Select the Activity Type tab.
  4. Select Use selected activity type.
  5. Select the activity type to use from the list.
  6. Choose OK to save your changes.
  7. When harvesting, you can leave the ACT_TYPE column empty.