Workflow Lifecycle

A workflow defines a series of tasks that must be completed for a process. Workflows are controlled by the Workflow policy.

If your Business Administrator has enabled state-based blocking for an object's policy, then the workflow can block the object from promotion until all tasks in the workflow have been completed. For example, if an RFQ must be reviewed internally prior to sending it to suppliers, the workflow assigned to the Initial Review state for the RFQ can be configured to prevent the RFQ from being promoted until all required reviews have been completed.

The workflow can be configured to automatically promote the object to the next state once the workflow has been completed.

The Workflow lifecycle includes these states:

Stopped

The Workflow is created in the Stopped state with no tasks. If the workflow specified Auto Start, then it is automatically promoted to Started when it is created.

Started

When the workflow is promoted to started, the first level tasks are created. If the workflow is paused at this point, all active tasks are also paused. When resumed, all paused tasks are also resumed.

Only the workflow owner can access the Pause, Resume, and Reassign actions. Anyone who has been assigned a task (Task Assignee) can use the Complete command in the page Actions menu or toolbar.

If the workflow owner has paused the workflow, then Task Assignees cannot upload or update any deliverables and cannot complete their task.

If the workflow is stopped, all connected tasks are deleted. If the workflow is then restarted, it starts from the beginning task.

Any Task Assignee can upload documents or change deliverables to meet the requirements of a task.

Suspended

Task Assignees cannot upload or remove documents or change any deliverable in this state.

Completed

Task Assignees cannot upload documents or change any deliverable in this state.

When the workflow reaches the completed state, the system sends a notification to the workflow owner that it has been completed.