Pre-requisites:
You must have the 'Manage Workflow Rules' role privilege on the project where a workflow needs to be set up.
The steps to create a new document workflow are mentioned below:
1. Navigate to the 'Workflows' tab and select the project in which a new workflow needs to be created.
2. Click the 'Create Workflow Definition' button to create a new workflow.
Alternatively, right-click the project name and select the 'Create Workflow Definition' option.
3. Capture the required details in mandatory fields:
Workflow Name - Name which you want to give to the new workflow.
Description - Enter a brief description of the new workflow.
Workflow Context - Select 'Document' as the workflow context.
Total Workflow Days - Total length of the workflow in number of days.
Once done, click 'Create' to create a new workflow record.
4. The visual workflow designer screen appears. In the shape repository on the left panel, various shapes are available to configure the workflow described below:
Shape | Name | Description |
 | Start Event | Indicates where a workflow starts. |
 | End Event | Indicates where workflow ends. |
 | Sequence Flow | The connector between two elements of a process. |
 | Association | Used to associate a text annotation (comment) with a particular workflow node. |
 | User Task | A configurable workflow task that is performed by the users to whom it is assigned. |
 | System Task | A configurable workflow task that is performed by the system automatically. |
 | Timer Event | Used to halt the workflow at a given point for a specific duration. |
 | Boundary Timer Event | Used to set a deadline by which an activity should start, and if it doesn't start, then the boundary timer is triggered to take alternative flow. |
 | Exclusive Gateway | Used when you want only one output to go ahead. If multiple outputs are required, then the status condition must be present. |
 | Parallel Gateway | Used when you want the workflow to wait until it receives all inputs to proceed. |
 | Inclusive Gateway | Used when you want multiple inputs and outputs with a condition attached. |
 | Text Annotation | Used when you want to put a text comment on a particular workflow node. |
Accordingly, below is a description of various tools available in the top panel:
Icon | Name | Description |
 | Save | To save the changes in workflow. |
 | Publish | To publish the changes in workflow. |
 | Cut | Cut and place the chosen objects or shapes onto the clipboard. |
 | Copy | Duplicate the selected objects or shapes into the clipboard. |
 | Paste | Paste the selected objects or shapes to the workflow designer canvas. |
 | Delete | Delete the selected objects or shapes. |
 | Undo | Undo the last action. |
 | Redo | Redo the last undone action. |
 | Middle | Move the objects or shapes vertically in the middle of the selected area. |
 | Center | Move the objects or shapes horizontally in the centre of the selected area. |
| Same Size | To set the same size for selected objects or shapes. |
 | Add Docker | Select any point on a line (connecting object), then click this icon. You can now drag the selected line pointer and position it accurately to indicate the movement of the workflow. |
 | Delete Docker | To delete an already added docker. |
 | Zoom In | To zoom in on the workflow. |
 | Zoom Out | To zoom out of the workflow. |
 | Zoom to Standard | Set the zoom of selected objects or shapes to their standard size. |
 | Zoom to Fit | Set the zoom of selected objects or shapes to fit the chosen area. |
5 Example Scenario
Let us create an example workflow using all of the above shapes as per the process mentioned below:
5a. The workflow starts when a new document revision is uploaded.
5b. The document controller must change the status of newly uploaded files in 2 days.
5c. If the document is assigned the 'QA Checked' status, it should go to the lead reviewer for further action.
5d. If the document is assigned the 'QA Rejected' status, it should stop the workflow.
5e. If the document status is assigned a different status, it should revert to the document controller.
5f. The lead reviewer changes the status again and distributes the document with other reviewers.
5g. If the lead reviewer assigns the 'Parallel Client Review' status, the document should be sent to the client and forwarded to other reviewers.
5h. Other reviewers create a aMessage on the document within 5 days.
5i. Client creates an aMessage on the documents.
5j. All documents from other reviewers and the client are sent to the lead reviewer.
5k. Lead reviewer releases the required aMessages, post which documents should reach document controller for status change.
5l. The workflow should end with the above step.
Steps to create workflow as per the above example:
5.1. Drag and drop the 'Play' shape onto the drawing board to create a new workflow. This is the starting point of the workflow.
5.2. Drag and drop a connecting object (arrow) from the start event.
5.3. Introduce a new user task linked to the start event using the previously mentioned connecting arrow.
5.4. Once the new user task has been added, you must configure its properties.
Name - Key in a name for this user task.
Description - Enter a brief description of this user task.
Task - Select the task you want the user to perform. In this example workflow, it will be the 'For Status Change' task. See below for a list of supported user tasks:
Context | Supported User Tasks |
File | For Acknowledgement For Action For Comment Coordination For Comment For Distribution For Information For Status Change For Comment Incorporation |
To - Select the user who needs to perform the above task. You can select multiple users. In this example workflow, it will be a document controller.
If you need to assign a task to multiple users, you can choose roles and organisations instead of individual users.
Tasks can also be assigned to 'Document Publisher', 'Workflow Originator', and 'Document Publisher's Organization'. The visual workflow engine will dynamically pick up these values based on the document or workflow.
Due Days - Indicate the days you wish to allow the user to complete a specific task. Please enter '2D' if you want to provide two days.
Workflow Transition Condition - Select an appropriate option from the dropdown.
'Wait for all users to complete task' - The Workflow will halt until all selected users have completed their tasks.
'Proceed after any one person completes task' - The Workflow will start progressing when at least one user completes the task.
5.5. Similarly, drag and drop the user task for the lead reviewer and configure its properties using the status change task and 5 due days to complete the task.
5.6. Now, let us drag and drop an exclusive gateway on the drawing board and configure its status conditions:
If the document is assigned the 'QA Checked' status, it should go to the lead reviewer for further action.
If the document is assigned the 'QA Rejected' status, it should stop the workflow.
To configure a status condition, click the connecting object moving out of the exclusive gateway.
Click the connecting object between the exclusive gateway and lead reviewer nodes.
Now, configure the properties for this connecting object:
Name - Key in a name for this condition.
Description - Enter a description about this step in the selected workflow.
Conditional Flow - Select the 'Yes' option if this flow has a condition, such as a document marked with a 'QA Checked' status. Otherwise, select the 'No' option.
Flow Condition - Here, we need to key in a small query to select the status value as 'QA Checked' as per the below steps:
Click the value field in front of the flow condition.
Context | Supported Parameters in Flow Condition | Actual Name in Flow Condition | Supported Values |
Document | Document Status | status | Auto populated |
Document | Purpose of Issue | poi | Auto populated |
Document | Dynamic ADecision Variable | dynamicADecisionVariable | 1 to 99 (Numeric) |
Key in the status query as ${status== and you will see a list of available statuses with their IDs.
Similarly, you can key in the purpose of issue query as ${poi== to see a list of available purposes of issues along with their IDs.
Status and purpose of issue conditions can be used jointly along with logical operators 'AND' and 'OR' as:
For example, if 's1' denotes the ID for the required status of the file and 'p1' denotes the ID for the necessary purpose of issuing the file, then:
For the 'AND' condition, the flow condition will be: ${status==s1 && poi==p1}
For the 'OR' condition, the flow condition will be: ${status==s1 || poi==p1}
Note: ${status==s1} is when the status id equals 1, and ${status!=1} is when the status id is not equal to 1, where == is 'equals to' while != is 'not equals to'.
For applying conditions on multiple statuses, the flow condition will be: ${status==s1 && status==s2}, where 's1' is the first status ID and 's2' is the second status ID, respectively.
For applying conditions on multiple purposes of issues, the flow condition will be: ${poi==p1 && poi==p2} where 'p1' is the first poi id and 'p2' is the second poi id, respectively.
Select the appropriate status from the drop-down list. In this example, let's choose the 'QA Checked' status.
Fill in the brace bracket and click 'OK' to continue.
5.7. Drag and drop an end event connecting with the exclusive gateway for the 'QA Rejected' status, as the workflow should end if the document is rejected.
5.8. Configure the properties of the second connecting object between the exclusive gateway and end event as mentioned above by selecting the 'QA Rejected' status.
5.9. It is required to ensure that if the document is not assigned the 'QA Checked' or 'QA Rejected' status, it must go back to the document controller. Drag a third connecting object from the exclusive gateway and return to a system task with a status change task assigned to the document controller. See below for a list of supported system tasks:
Context | Supported System Tasks |
File | Distribute Files Status Change Clear Tasks Update File Privacy Execute Groovy Script Lock File Activities Unlock File Activities Email Notification Publish As PDF |
A5 10. To complete the loop, add a connecting object as output from the system task, connecting it with the original user task for the document controller.
5.11. Continuing from steps 5e and 5f, once the document is in 'QA Checked' status, it reaches the lead reviewer, who reviews it and changes its status.
5.12. If the file is assigned the 'Parallel Client Review' status, the document should be sent to the client and other reviewers. To ensure this, you need to use an inclusive gateway.
5.13. Drag and drop an inclusive gateway on the drawing board ahead of the lead reviewer user task, connecting both with a connecting object. The connecting object will be output from the lead reviewer user task and input for the inclusive gateway.
5.14. You must ensure that documents with the 'Parallel Client Review' status are sent to the client, while all others should be directed to different reviewers.
5.15. Drag and drop a 'Distribute' user task to the drawing board to distribute the file to the client. Configure the properties for this task as mentioned in step d above, then select the 'For Distribution' task and assign it to the concerned user with a '3D' task time, i.e. 3 days.
You can use a connecting object to link the gateway with the previously mentioned user task. This will act as the inclusive gateway's initial output. Using the 'Parallel Client Review' status value, set the status condition in the properties outlined in step f above.
5.16. Drag and drop a user task for other reviewers and configure its properties as mentioned above using the 'For Comment' task and task time as 5D, i.e. 5 days and assign this task to all users who need to review these documents.
5.17. You can use a connecting object as the second output of the inclusive gateway and input for the previously mentioned user task and mark it as the default flow. This ensures that all the documents not matching the 'Parallel Client Review' status will take this flow.
5.18. Using boundary timer event: The task timeline mentioned in step p is five days. If we want the user not to complete this task within the stipulated timeline, the workflow should not stop here; it should move forward to the next step. For this, put a boundary timer event on the 'Distribute to Client' user task.
While configuring the properties of the boundary timer, you need to ensure that the task timeline for the main task should be less than the boundary timer timeline. In this task, if the user doesn't complete the task within 5 days, then after the sixth day, the boundary timer will trigger, and the workflow will move ahead.
Timer interval - The boundary timer will activate once the duration specified in the 'Time Interval' field has elapsed. The timer should be placed on a user task, and the interval set on the timer must exceed the duration of the user task. You can specify the interval in days, such as 1D for one day, 2D for two days, etc. The capital letters P, M, T, and R represent the date and time elements.
P is the duration designator (for the period) placed at the start of the duration representation.
M is the month designator that follows the value for the number of months.
D is the day designator that follows the value for the number of days.
T is the time designator that precedes the time components of the representation.
R is repeating intervals.
Time recurrences - This value indicates the number of recurrences of the boundary timer. If you enter '1' as the value, the boundary timer will be executed once, and the user task will be marked as cancelled. For values greater than 1, the boundary timer would execute after the lapse of the timer interval and wait for the same time interval to be executed again. The user task will not be marked as cancelled after the mentioned recurrences.
5.19. Output from the boundary timer: Using a boundary timer event must lead to an output. In this case, let's use an exclusive gateway. Drag and drop an exclusive gateway and connect the 'Distribute to Client' user task's output and boundary timers output as input to this exclusive gateway.
5.20. We now have outputs coming out from two nodes. We need to wait for both to proceed further.
Output coming out of the exclusive gateway mentioned in step s and
Output coming out of the user task mentioned in step p
5.21. Now, the workflow cannot proceed unless both tasks are completed, hence, we will use a parallel gateway.
5.22. Drag and drop a parallel gateway and connect it with outputs mentioned in t --> i & t --> ii
5.23. The workflow will wait at the parallel gateway till it receives input from t --> i and t --> ii. Once both inputs are received, the workflow will progress to the next node, i.e. distribute files to the lead reviewer, wherein the lead reviewer will release selected aMessages on the files.
5.24. Drag and drop a user task after the parallel gateway, which has a single input coming in from the parallel gateway.
5.25. Set the user task properties within the 'For Comment Coordination' task by configuring a task duration of 5 days and assigning it to the user who is the lead reviewer.
5.26. The next step after the lead reviewer releases selected aMessages as document status change by the controller.
5.27. Drag and drop a user task for the document controller status change, with the 'For Status Change' task assigned to the document controller with a '1D' task time.
5.28. Once the document controller alters the status of files, the workflow should conclude.
5.29. Drag and drop an end event, linking it to the document controller user task. This indicates that the user task's output serves as the input for the end event.
5.30. Now the workflow is fully configured, & you need to save it by clicking on the 'Save' button in the top left. The completed workflow is shown in the image below:
6. The system will prompt if the workflow needs to be published now or later. Once a workflow is created, it needs to be published to be able to run it.
Click 'Yes' to publish the workflow, or click 'Later' to publish it later.
7. After clicking 'Yes' to publish the workflow, you are prompted to create a trigger event for the new workflow.
If you save a new workflow created in a project template, this option to configure triggers won't be available.
8. Click 'Yes' to configure a trigger event for this workflow. To learn how to create a trigger event, you can click here.
9. Once the trigger event is configured, the workflow is ready to use and will start working the moment the trigger event occurs.
Note: A single project or a template can contain a maximum of 2000 workflow definitions. This can encompass workflows of all types, including files, forms and custom objects.
Next Article: Create a Workflow for Forms (in a Project)