Who is this article for?

Administrators responsible for managing workflows.

Workflow Definition Administration access is required.

You can create a new workflow definition four different ways:

• manual creation through the browser interface
• using the Workflow Designer tool
• importing a workflow definition file from outside your system
• cloning an existing definition in your system.

We recommend using the Workflow Designer tool to create new workflows if you're not copying from an existing or imported workflow definition.

1. How to Manually Create a Workflow Definition

When manually building all pieces of a workflow definition, the basic process should be to create the steps, then Routes, then add custom fields to each, add responsible parties, then finalize the remaining settings. The steps below walk you through creating workflows in this order; however, with more experience you can perform many of the following tasks out of this order, at various stages of creation.

1. From the workflow administration page, select Create New workflow from the drop-down at the upper right.
2. Enter the Title as it will appear to end users and on the administration page and any optional Description to clarify its use, then click Create workflow.

1. 3) From the definition page that opens, begin by creating the steps that determine each step in the process. Enter the Title of the first step, change what type of step it is if needed, and select Add step.

• • • User (step) - means the end user enters data into the fields they're presented with.
    • Automation (step) - used to designate system actions, which automatically begin a system process when the workflow reaches this stage. Examples include workflow launcher and data copier.

1. 4) The page refreshes showing the step you've added in a tree outline format. Repeat step three for each step the workflow includes.

Note: You can add steps in any order; not until you add routes does the tree outline become reshuffled.

Tip! Click Workflow Definition Settings to navigate back to the main workflow definition page after drilling into an individual step.

1. 5) Create the routes that link the steps by completing the following fields and clicking Add Route:

• • • Title - the description that appears as a button which end users can click to move the workflow to the next step.
    • From Step - the step the route button appears on.
    • To Step - the step the route button moves the workflow to.
    • Create Email Action - whether you want the system to automatically create a corresponding Email Action for the Route you're creating. The default email subject and body are specified on the System Settings - Workflows tab. The responsible parties for the next step are automatically added as recipients.

1. 6) The page refreshes showing a collapsible/expandable item for every step you've added routes to. Click the Expand All link to view them all at once. Repeat step five until all routes are added.

Note: Steps displayed with a peach color are not connected by routes and/or do not have responsible parties designated. All newly added steps appear in this color until you finish building the definition. Steps are displayed in green when you have either just added routes to or from them, or they have been selected and their properties are displayed on the right for modification.

1. 7) Set the begin and end steps so Ideagen Quality Management knows which fields can be inherited from step to step as you add them later. To do this, select the workflow title at the upper left to return to the main definition page. Set the begin and end step drop-down options on the right side of the page and select Save Changes.

• • • Begin/End step - designate the initial and final steps in the process.

1. 8) Add the optional and required custom fields presented to end users at each step. At least one custom field must be added to each step. To do this, click on the first (begin) step to open its properties along the right side of the page.

1. 9) Select Open Options next to New Fields for this step. All custom fields are available by expanding the nodes for each type. Enable the ones you want and click Add fields. If you have IconKey2 Custom Fields Administration permission, you can also create new custom fields directly from this page by typing the field name and choosing its type in the Create New Field area.

Note: You must return to the custom fields administration page to modify the content of any newly created field. For instance, if you create a list field, the values it contains are only added from the custom fields administration page.

• • • ID - the unique ID# associated with the custom field only as it's used in this workflow definition. A new ID# is assigned each time a custom field is used in a workflow definition.
    • Field Title - the field name as specified in the custom fields administration page and as it appears to end users.
    • Field Type - which of the eight field types is being used.
    • Subfield Options - For subform fields, click this link to set view and edit settings per column of the subform, as shown below. These can be set differently per step of the workflow.
    • View - whether the field is presented for viewing at this step. If edit is not enabled also, the field is read-only.
    • Edit - whether the field is able to be edited by the step's responsible parties or collaborators. users with the IconKey2 Alter Workflow Instances permission can always edit visible fields regardless of this setting.
    • Order - how the field appears on the workflow instance to the end user from top to bottom. Enter different values here to reshuffle the order.
    • Remove - deletes the custom field from use on all steps in the workflow. If you don't want the field to show up on a given step, just don't enable view or edit options on the field for that step.

1. 10) Repeat step eight for all remaining steps, but be sure to configure the settings for Fields from Previous steps while you're working any step other than the initial one. All fields from other steps you enable for either View or edit are presented at the bottom of the workflow instance page below all new fields for the step. These fields are automatically inherited from previous steps as long as the begin and end steps are set in step seven.

To view where Fields from Other steps are coming from and add/remove them quicker, click the Fields from Other Steps Open Options link. A tree structure appears showing which steps each field originates in. Fields already added to the current step appear on the right, while fields added to the workflow elsewhere appear on the left.

Note: If you create routes that move the workflow back to previous steps, new fields may now be available at that previous step that you may want to enable for view or edit.

1. 11) Once you have all fields added for the steps, add your requirements for the routes. To do this, click on each route and select which of the custom fields you just added are required before the end user can press the route button. Fields not selected as Required for Route are optional.

Note: If you use subforms in your workflow, then you have the option to make the entire subform required (i.e. the user must have at least one row and all subfields must include values) or any combination of subfields in the subform required (i.e. the user must have at least one row but only those subfields checked as required must include a value). If any subform OR subfield is checked as required, the workflow instance must have at least one row in the subform in order to route to the next step.

1. 12) While on each route page, select any fields Required for Route or Route Exceptions the step needs.

• • • Route Requirement - whether only one user in the responsible parties list is required to process the workflow instance through this step or all users.
    • Time Delay (in Days) - places a time delay from when the user selects the Route button to when it moves to the next step and is available for further processing.
    • Route Exceptions - if the a list custom field is used in the step, you can create alternate routing options for the workflow based on values contained in those fields. Choose the List Fields, select the List Field Value, then select the To Step it moves the workflow to. If you create a route exception, you do not have to additionally add the route itself in step five.

Note: If you use All Responsible Parties as Required for Route, then this delay is applied when the last user moves it.

Tip! To delete existing routes, select the step that route belongs to. Scroll down to the bottom of the information for that step for a list of routes for that step. Next to each route is a Remove option. Select this to delete that route from the workflow. This action cannot be undone.

1. 13) From the same route page, ensure associated email actions exist. If none are included in the table, add them from the Administration > Email Actions page.

1. 14) Add the responsible parties and collaborators to each step by clicking on the step and selecting Open Options from the responsible parties and collaborators area. Responsible parties are the users/groups who are allowed to enter data and process the workflow at a given step. For the initial step, this means they can create a new workflow instance from the Navigation Menu. For all subsequent steps, it means they receive an Inbox task to process the workflow. Collaborators are users/groups who are allowed to edit the workflow at a given step just like responsible parties can; however, they cannot click the route button to move it on to the next stage. Collaborators are useful where technical review or feedback is needed beyond what the responsible party can provide.

• • • Personnel - the users/groups allowed to process the current step.
    • Custom Fields - if a personnel custom field is added to any previous step, the user(s) selected in that field can be used as the responsible party.
    • Workflow Initiator - enable this if you want the individual user who initiated the workflow instance to be the responsible party for the current step.

1. 15) Select the workflow definition settings link to return to the main definition page and finalize the configuration.
2. Configure the following fields:

• • • •Inbox Display field - select which custom field's data will be used along with the workflow instance ID# as the description of the workflow instance in users' Inboxes. The following format is used: Id({ID#}): {Custom Field Data}
    • Password Verification Required - enable this option to require users reenter their Ideagen Quality Management login credentials when processing the workflow through each step. This works identically to the same setting in document control and training.

Note: Subform fields are displayed as: {Field Name} | {Subfield Name}, as shown below.

1. 17) Configure Expiration settings if needed:

• • • Expires - if enabled, you can make all processed workflow instances expire on a specific date, a certain time period after completion, or based on a selection in a date custom field used in the workflow.
    • Expires based on - if you have Custom date fields in at least one step, your workflow can expire based on the date entered in that custom field.
    • Step Expires To - determine which step and responsible parties' Inboxes the workflow expires to.
    • Number of Expirations - change this setting if you want it to expire a certain number of times. Leave it at "0" to expire indefinitely on the date selected above.

1. 18) Configure any additional access permissions beyond those users designated as responsible parties for processing. See the Access Requirements Chart at the end of this chapter for further details.

• • • Alter Workflow instances Permission Disabled - means users with that permission cannot view or alter its workflow instances like they normally can.
    • Instance Access - which users/groups can view active workflow instances while they're in processing, or whether they're allowed to modify fields that are editable once its complete.
    • Definition Access - which users/groups can view the workflow definition page and its settings, or whether they're allowed to take it offline and modify its configuration.

Note: Members of any subgroups contained within the groups added here also receive instance access.

Note: Regardless of which users/groups are assigned to the definition access permission fields, only those users with IconKey2 Workflow Definition Administration permission can access workflow definitions.

1. 19) Add any Custom Header and Footer information you want to include on the workflow instance at each step. Any information added here must be written in HTML format.

Tip! Images can be added to these header/footers in addition to text. Any image file type is supported, not just .jpg files. We recommend you store the image file as an uncontrolled document in the Documents Tree. Once the uncontrolled document has been added, insert the following HTML into the header/footer of the workflow definition:

<img src="https://{Server_URL}/Showdocument.aspx?ID={DocID}&Mode=">

1. 20) Select Save Changes.
2. When you've finished configuration and are ready for users to begin processing it, select Put Online.

Note: If there are any errors in how a definition is configured, Ideagen Quality Management presents you with a list of where they occur. Such errors must be fixed before the workflow can go online. However, you can enable the Automatically fix small errors setting on the System Settings - Workflows tab to have Ideagen Quality Management resolve any issues for which there is only one logical resolution. For instance, if a personnel custom field is used as a responsible party but that field is not set as required for the route leading into that step, Ideagen Quality Management will add it as required.