A workflow defines the sequence of steps of a document's lifecycle.
Workflows can automate your business processes such as:
- reviewing documents
- approving invoices
- publishing company policies to your intranet
In AODocs, each workflow step is called a workflow state.
Learn more: Define workflow states and workflow transitions (in Assessment of your business need).
This article describes how to create a workflow and configure workflow states:
Automatically generated table of contents
Create workflows
1. Open the library administration.
2. Select Workflows.
3. Click the Create workflow button.
4. In the Create workflow dialog:
- select a document class for your workflow
-
enter a name for your workflow – by default the Workflow name is automatically filled in with the document class you selected for your workflow; you can modify the name as you want
Important:
– A workflow must be associated with a document class.
– Each document class can be associated with only one workflow.
Notes:
– When you create a new document class, it has no assigned workflow.
– When you assign a workflow to a document class, all documents in that class will have a workflow state. Documents that existed before the workflow was created automatically move to the workflow's initial state.
– You can't "detach" a workflow from a class. To stop using a workflow, you must delete it. Deleting a workflow removes all workflow state information from existing documents.
– If you want to use the workflow for a subset of documents, create a special workflow state. This state must have no transitions and the option Hidden from workflow tasks is active. Place documents not used in the workflow into this state.
Types of workflow state
There are two types of workflow state:
- Standard state: in this state, the document has one current version.
- Draft state: in this state, the document has two versions:
- Draft version: users defined in the draft workflow state permissions can view and edit this version
- Main version: this remains in the document's last standard state – it's read-only for all the people defined in the permissions of the draft workflow state.
Note: Draft states are used to automate check-out / check-in in a workflow.
Configure workflow states
A new workflow contains a single workflow state called Initial State. This is the start point of the workflow. Any new document created in the document class automatically enters this Initial State.
1. In the workflow configuration interface, rename the Initial State if needed.
2. Click Add new state to create a standard state or Add new draft to create a draft state.
3. Name the workflow state you have just created.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all you have created all the workflow states you need.
5. You can select any workflow state as the workflow’s initial state by clicking the home button.
Note: The initial state must be a standard state.
Tip: You can re-order the workflow states by drag-and-drop.
Note: If you have configured a view with the Browse by option set to Workflow state, the workflow states in the view appear in the same order as they appear in the workflow configuration screen. Learn more: Configure views in your library
6. You can choose to hide or show the workflow states from your end users by selecting the visibility of the workflow state:
- Always displayed: this is the default — the workflow state is displayed in all user interfaces.
- Hidden from workflow tasks: the workflow state is hidden from the workflow section in the library homepage and the list of pending workflow tasks.
- Never displayed: the workflow state is hidden from the workflow section in the library homepage and from views configured with Browse By or Filter based on workflow states.
Tips:
– Use the Never displayed option to hide technical workflow states that trigger reminders or customizations.
– Use the Hidden from workflow tasks option for workflow actions that don't follow a timeline.
Learn more: Configure views in your library and Browse the workflow tasks in your library
7. If required, add descriptions for your workflow states. The descriptions appear in the drop-down menu when you force the workflow to a different state without a transition.
8. Click Save and Close.
Delete workflow states
Click the cross on the top right of a workflow state to delete it.
Note: You can’t delete a workflow state if:
– it's the initial state
– it's referenced in a transition from another workflow state
– it's defined in the configuration of a view
– documents in the library are in this workflow state