Creating a workflow in the UI

You can use the user interface to create the steps for the workflow, define the routing order for the steps, assign performers to the steps, and specify validation rules for each step.

1. Create a new workflow in the Workflow Console.
   1. Click Data Model Manager > Workflows > New Workflow.
   2. Provide a name for the workflow.
   3. Set the access control for the workflow. The access control determines which roles can view, edit, or delete this workflow.
   4. Specify the container type:

      Catalog type

      Catalog type is for workflows that are used to create collaboration areas that are associated with a catalog. The workflows are created for specifying business processes that are associated with processing items.

      Hierarchy type

      Hierarchy type is for workflows that are used to create collaboration areas that are associated with a hierarchy. The workflows are created for specifying business processes that are associated with processing categories.

   Now that you have provided the basic information for the workflow, a workflow definition console displays. This console shows a list of system steps, which have been created for you (Initial, Success, Failure, and Fixit). These steps are required for all workflows. You can add additional steps, and then connect them together in the correct order to form a chain from Initial to Success.

   You can complete a workflow by mapping the Initial step directly to a Success step. However, if you have more than one step, the first step must be an Initial step followed by another step where you choose the step type. This procedure assumes that you are creating more than just an Initial step.

2. Add a step in the workflow to represent each business process that you want. For each step that you add, repeat the following tasks:
   1. Click Add Step and specify a name for the step for example, Specify Product Details.
   2. Select the step type. See Types of steps.
   3. Specify the performers for the step. In the Performers field, click the + button. A list of users and roles displays. Select any number of users or roles to assign to this step. Use roles instead of users, as that reduces the maintenance overhead if there is a personnel change. Click the disk icon to save the selection.
      Tip: For time-critical business processes, you can specify a timeout on the step. This means that if an entry remains in this step beyond the specified period, a Timeout will occur and the entry will be moved out on the TIMEOUT exit value. Select Duration or Date to specify a timeout deadline.
   4. Optional: Add user code to the step through the workflow step extension point. There are three functions, which can be coded:
      • IN (which will run on entrance to the step)
      • OUT (which will run on exiting of the step)
      • TIMEOUT (which will run when exiting due to timeout)
      See Workflow step extension points. Adding code including a moveToNextStep operation to the IN function can cause the step to operate automatically. These scripts can be coded through Script API or the Java™ API. For Java API, you do not type your code.
   5. Optional: Specify settings for the step:

      Reserve to edit

      Reserve an item by checking the Reserve to edit check box. Selecting this check box means that before a performer can make any edits to the checked out entry, they must reserve the entry. They cannot do this if another performer has reserved the entry already. Any performer who has reserved an entry can release it to make it available for editing by another performer. If this check box is not selected, reserve and release are not required for that step (and is not available to performers in that step).

      Allow recategorization

      Recategorize an item by checking the Allow recategorization check box. Selecting this check box means that for items or subcategories checked out to a collaboration area and arriving in the step corresponding to this workflow step, the performer is able to move them to a different category. If the check box is not selected, this will not be allowed for that step.

      Allow import into step

      Allow import into the step by checking the Allow import into step check box. If you select this check box, any performer who has access to this step can insert items into the workflow. This check box also inserts another starting point into your process flow. The more starting points that you have, the more entry places there are to insert new items or categories, thus, the less control you have as to how the new objects got into the workflow. For most imports, which will Import into the Initial step, ensure that you edit the initial step and enable this check box, otherwise the import fails.

   6. Specify any additional exit values for the step. Select the exit value. Some steps have predetermined exit values. If your step does not have a predetermined exit value, you must specify one. If the step involves user interaction, each outcome in the script within the step must map to an exit value. See Exit values in workflow steps.
   7. Specify any validations for the step in the Attributes to validate field. See Workflow validations.
   8. Optional: Specify Entrance notification email addresses, a comma separated list of email addresses, which will be notified when an entry enters the step.
   9. Optional: Specify Timeout notification email addresses, a comma separated list of email addresses, which will be notified when an entry times out from this step.

   If a performer does not edit the item within a specified amount of time, they are notified. Select Duration or Date to specify a timeout deadline.
3. Repeat the previous step until you have added all of the steps that you need in the workflow.
4. Define the routing path between the steps. A workflow is valid for saving only if the process moves through a continuous chain of steps from the Initial step to either Success, Failure, or Fixit without a break in the flow. Therefore, for a workflow to be valid, every step must have at least one next step and all paths from the Initial step must be connected ultimately to a final step. See Defining routing.
5. Save the workflow.
   Note: If you are using a clustered environment, to synchronize the workflow data, set the value of max_workflow_in_cache and max_workflow_cache_timeout_in_seconds properties to -1.