Chapter 3:  My Tasks

Overview

A triangle in the lower right of the split screen at the top of the Main Tool Bar provides access to My Tasks. If your User ID is configured to process approvals or to process Code Enforcement actions, clicking the mouse anywhere within that half of the screen will launch the My Tasks window. If your User ID is not configured to do either of these activities, the lower right of the split screen on the BluePrince Main Tool Bar will have no label.

If you click that area, you may see the My Tasks Form with two tabs: My Approval Activities and My Enforcement Actions.  They may both be visible or only one may be visible, depending on your responsibilities and your jurisdiction’s configuration of BluePrince. The My Approval Activities tab displays approvals that are currently pending that you are configured to approve. The My Enforcement Actions tab identifies actions currently pending that your account is configured to handle.

Using the My Tasks Tabs

Working with each of these tabs is very similar.  The buttons will be described in this section, and the actions specific to each tab will be described separately. 

The data table of activities may be sorted by clicking any column header. More details about sorting may be found in Sorting Data Tables.

The buttons are:

• Orig Sort – this button restores the table to the sort that was in effect when tab was first opened.
• Project Details / Case Details – this button is active when a row is selected.

o   For Approvals, clicking the Project Details button opens the Project form on the project for the selected row. You may use the information on the Project form to remind yourself of the circumstances and context of the approval.

o   For Code Enforcement Cases, clicking the Case Details button opens the Code Violation Form or the Zoning Complaint Form. Use the information on the form to remind yourself of the circumstances and context of the action.

• Change Status / Calculate Fees – this button is available when the selected item needs to be processed.  The label changes depending on the tab you are looking at and the status of the selected item, however – so the actions related to this button will be discussed in more detail for each tab.

o   For Approvals, the Change Status button opens the Approval Entry form.  If the item is a Project Step Fee Approval, the button is labeled Calculate Fees and clicking it opens the Fee Calculation form within the Account form.

o   For Code Enforcement Cases, clicking the Change Status button opens the Enforcement Action Entry form.

• Send Message / Print Letter – this button initiates communication with someone about the selected item, in the form of a message or generating a letter. 

o   For Approvals, a message is created to be sent to the applicant.  Clicking it opens your default E-mail client program with the project Contractor's email address filled in for you. If the project Contractor's email address is not in your database, BluePrince will tell you and not open your E-mail client program.

o   For Code Enforcement Cases, the message is a letter to the Responsible Person.  Print Letter creates a PDF or RTF file using a Letter Editor template created in BlueConfig. Letter Editor templates have variables that are populated according to the data in the particular Code Enforcement Case.  PDF files are opened in Adobe and can be printed or saved while RTF files are saved to your computer and can be opened with a word editing program.

• Reload – this button refreshes the table of tasks needing activity.

o   For Approvals, this has the effect of removing all Approvals that no longer "Need Review" from the table.

o   For Code Enforcement Cases, this has the effect of removing outstanding Code Enforcement actions from the table.

My Approval Activities

Data Table

Under the My Approval Activities tab all pending approvals that your User ID is configured to approve are listed in a data table (see Figure 23). Column headers in the table include: N (New), Step (Project Step), Project Name, Approval Type, Status, Related Data, ID (Approval ID), ApproveDate (Approval Date), Comments, and Notes. When first displayed, the columns are sorted first by New Approvals, then by Project Name and finally by Approval Type.  "New" approvals are defined as those that have been created since the last time you reloaded the table or opened the form.

Figure 22 - My Approval Activities Tab

Change Status Button

The Change Status button is active when a row is selected with status of “Needs Review”, and clicking Change Status opens the Approval Entry form. From there you can change the status of the approval and add notes or comments. When you change the status and click Save, the form closes and the table row you highlighted is refreshed with the new approval status. This serves as a confirmation to you that the approval was saved, and gives you the opportunity to double check the approval status. If you reload the table or reopen the My Tasks form, any approvals that you just changed from “Needs Review” are no longer displayed.

Within the My Approval Activities tab, the button changes from Change Status to Approval Details button when a row is selected with status other than “Needs Review”.  Clicking it opens the Approval Entry form, allowing you to view details or make corrections. The button label changes as an "eye catcher" to help you identify approvals that have already been approved. See the Approvals section of Chapter 5:  Create New Project, Chapter 6:  Create New Building Permit, Chapter 7:  Create New Zoning Standard Permit, or Chapter 8:  Create New Zoning Relief Permit for more details.

My Enforcement Actions

Data Table

Under the My Enforcement Actions tab all pending enforcement actions that your User ID is configured to act upon are listed in a table (see Figure 24). Both Code Violations and Zoning Complaints may be shown in this table at the same time, or only one may be shown, depending on how your User ID is configured. Column headers in the table include: N (New), Address, CaseNum (Case Number), CaseOwnerId (Case Owner ID), GenCat (General Category), Action, Type, Status, and Due Date, Completed Date, and Comments. When first displayed, the columns are sorted first by New Actions, then by Due Date. "New" actions are displayed in red text and are defined as those with a 'Notify' date that is earlier or equal to today's date AND have not been displayed on the table yet.

Figure 23 - My Tasks: My Enforcement Actions Tab

Change Status Button

The Change Status button is active when a row is selected.  Click it to open the Enforcement Action Entry form. From there you can change the status of the action and add comments. You can also change the Notify Date and Due Date of the action. The Due Date is for tracking the date by which you want the action to be processed. The Notify Date is the date at which BluePrince will start showing it on the My Enforcement Actions table. When you change the status to one that indicates completion of the action and click Save, a Select Next Step dialog box opens. See Chapter 11:  Code Enforcement – Code Violations and Zoning Complaints for more details on processing Code Enforcements.