How workflows are started

The workflow properties defined how a workflow can start.

A workflow can be started in the following ways:

  • Automatically when an object of the object type is created (if Type in the workflow properties is set to Auto Start).
  • Manually when a user accesses the object and clicks an option on the Actions button if Type in the workflow properties is set to Manual Start.
  • Automatically at set times if Scheduled Start in the workflow properties is defined.

    Workflows that are defined with a Scheduled Start automatically display as jobs in the Scheduler.

  • By an administrator who clicks the Start Job option in the Scheduler if the workflow is defined with a Scheduled Start in the workflow properties. For more information, see Managing jobs.
  • By an administrator who clicks the Start Workflow option on the Workflow List. For more information, see Starting workflow instances in bulk.
Note: If an object is locked, it must be unlocked before a workflow on the object can start.
After a workflow begins, other workflows start in the following ways:
  • An action on a workflow can start another workflow for a related object.
  • When a workflow ends, another workflow for the same object can start.

A workflow can have Type set to Auto Start or Manual Start and also be defined with a scheduled start. The type and scheduled start are independent of each other. If a workflow is set to Auto Start, a scheduled start can be used to restart a workflow that already ran and completed.

For all start methods, a workflow starts only if the Applicability conditions in the workflow properties are met.

You can use Applicability conditions to restrict when a workflow starts, for example, you can restrict who can start the workflow to a specific user or user group. Without these conditions, any user can start a workflow.

For a workflow that is defined to start on a schedule, you can, for example, use Applicability conditions to start a workflow only if a Review Date is equal to today's date. Another option is to start a workflow before a due date, relative to today's date. For example, if a workflow for Control objects starts 6 weeks before the next assessment is due, the team has enough time to complete the assessment. In this case, add an Applicability condition based on the due date field, set Expression to [$TODAY$], set Adjust Date By to a specified value, and enter 42 in Number of Days.

For more information about Type and Applicability, see Defining workflow properties.