Workflows comprise one or more structured and linked procedures Steps, Conditionals and Subworkflows, which together realize a business objective or policy goal. In the building phase, this structure is referred to as a Business Process Definition. The Workflow module lets you create and maintain multiple versions of a Business Process Definition.
Steps, Conditionals and Subworkflows
Here's a quick overview of the elements that comprise a Business Process Definition:
Steps:
The Definition must contain at least one Step to be promoted into Production.
Steps may contain zero to many Tasks. Tasks are actions that can be Manual (completed by a specified user or group) or Automated (completed by the system).
Subworkflows:
A subworkflow is a step that automatically starts a specified (existing) Business Process Definition within the Business Process Definition where the Subworkflow is added. This creates a hierarchical link between Workflow definitions. Subworkflows let you build large, complex business processes or smaller processes linked together.
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The system tracks all levels of a Workflow instance hierarchy. The hierarchy levels are defined as:
Root workflow – This is the starting workflow in the process. Each hierarchy can have only one root workflow.
Parent workflow – This is a workflow that has at least one subworkflow inserted into its definition. A Parent can represent both the parent workflow and root workflow. You can have multiple parent workflows under a root workflow.
Subworkflow – This is a workflow that has a parent workflow. A subworkflow can also be a parent workflow but it cannot be a root workflow.
The relationship of the hierarchy does not solely dictate when Subworkflow steps are started/completed. This is done via the Subworkflow configuration.
Conditionals
A Conditional is a decision point within a Business Process Definition. A conditional can link Steps, Subworkflows, and other Conditionals, or be the first item in a Definition.
A transition coming out of a Conditional is either True or False. Each Conditional can contain many rules which are based on the Definition's extended data.
You can add a Conditional as a stand-alone object and then connect it between two items, or you can select an item and add the Conditional from it.
Assignment Sets
Assignment Sets can be used as part of a Task definition to ensure the same person is assigned to a series of related tasks within a Workflow.
The Workflow ensures the same user is assigned to all Tasks included in the Assignment Set. An Assignment Set is evaluated when the status of the first Task in the set is set to In Progress.
During the active instance of a Workflow, users can change the assigned user and group in an Assignment Set, thus cascading that change to all Waiting tasks within that set.
Note
Assignment sets only exist within a specific Definition, Steps and Sets cannot be 'reused' from Definition to Definition.
Extended Data
You can add Extended data via the Add/Edit Definition dialog as described above. You can also add/edit Extended Data via the Editor.
A Workflow is a running instance of the promoted version of a Business Process Definition. Starting a Workflow requires you to first promote one version to production. Only one version can be promoted to production at a time. Once started, you can monitor and manage the Workflow via the Overview and Layout pages. These pages let you track the Workflow's progress, and pause, resume, or cancel the Workflow as needed.
Groups, Lists, Extended Data and Smart Data can be employed in Business Process Definitions to facilitate organization and data flow.
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Access to configuration tools for the elements listed below is via the CONFIGURE option on the Workflow menu.
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Data Lookups (Smart Data) | Let you for pull in data from a specified object. For example, you can configure a Data Lookup that gets its values from an Order attribute and populates those values as extended data for use in Conditionals and Actions. See Data Lookups. |
Definitions | A collection of one or more structured and linked procedures (Steps, Conditionals and Subworkflows), which together realize a business objective or policy goal. See Business Process Definitions. |
Extended Data Templates | Reusable, shared Extended Data definitions. As an alternative to specifying an ad-hoc Extended Data item which applies only to the Definition where you add it, you can link to a pre-defined Extended Data Template which can be applied wherever you choose to use it. See Extended Data Templates. |
Field Service Management | Settings for integrating with the Zinier Field Service Management application. See the Field Service Management article in the IDI Knowledge Center for details. |
Groups | A set of users to which a Task may be assigned. Tasks may also be assigned to individual users. See Groups. |
Lists | A pre-configured set of data values that may be selected when specifying an Extended Data item or when configuring an Extended Data Template. The system comes with several Global (pre-defined) lists that are fixed and cannot be modified. You can also create additional custom user-defined lists. See Lists. If you intend to use custom Lists, set them up before you configure A means for pulling in data from a specified object. For example, you can configure a Data Lookup that gets its values from an Order attribute and populates those values as extended data for use in Conditionals and Actions.Extended Data templates and/or Definitions where they will be used. |
Settings | Communications settings support sending Emails from Workflow instances. See Settings. |
Triggers | Let you pair a system event with a configurable system action. See Working with Triggers. |
Quicklinks | Facilitate navigation between web modules and other external systems. See Working with Quicklinks. |
Work Order Types | Manage field service requests in the Field Service Management Solution. See See Work Order Types and the Field Service Management article in the IDI Knowledge Center for details. |
Note
Lists, Extended Data and Data Lookups (Smart Data) may be used in building Business Process Definitions. For efficiency, it is recommended (but not required) that you have these elements in place and ready to use before you begin building Business Process Definitions.
Triggers
A Trigger is logic employed by other web modules (Tickets, Customer Care, etc...) to initiate the execution of a specified Action. For example, for the Tickets web module you can configure a Trigger that notifies a user via email when a Ticket is reassigned them. Triggers are processed independent of your user-defined Workflows.
While Triggers are consumed by the various web modules, they are configured and managed in the Workflow web module.
Actions
Logical operations, both in Workflows and Triggers, are executed by Actions. In Workflows, each Task within a Step can specify an Action to be performed. In Triggers, the Action is simply paired with the Trigger. The Workflow web module provides a gallery of actions from which to choose.
Finding Your Way Around the Workflow Web Module
When you first log in to the Workflow module you land on the Welcome to Workflow page. This page provides a short description of the Workflow module, and has links to My Tasks, My Workflows, and Definitions pages.
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You can choose any one of these as the default page to be opened for subsequent log-ins by clicking the associated 
button.
Once set, if you need to change your default page, click Workflow on the menu bar from any page. This returns you to the Welcome page where you can select the new default.
Note
To remove the default setting, clear your browser's cache. This will reset the Welcome page as the default.
The Workflow menu to the left of the Welcome page provides easy navigation to Workflow functional areas, help, and to other web modules.
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WORKFLOW
| When you're on any Workflow page, this returns you to the Welcome page where you can change the default page. |
APPS
| Displays a submenu for selecting a different web module (Customer Care, Tickets, etc... |
START
| Displays the Start Workflow page where you can select a Business Process Definition to initiate a Workflow. |
CONFIGURE
| Displays a submenu with options that take you to the configuration page for:
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WORKLIST
| Displays a submenu with options to take you to:
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SEARCH
| Displays a submenu with options to take you to the search page for:
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HELP
| Displays a submenu with options to take you to
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This menu is available on every Workflow page. The areas you can access depend on your security role as described below.
Giving Users Access to Functionality that Matches Their Responsibility
Different user types require different levels of access to Workflow. This is set up in Security as described in Setting Up User Roles.
Links to More Information
Working with Business Process Definitions (build, promote and manage Business Process Definitions, and configure other Workflow elements)
Working with Dynamic Parameters
See Also: