External Workflow Types

The External Workflow Types feature enables organizations to integration with Objective's Perform application.

To enable this feature, select External Workflow using Objective Perform in the System Options - Features page.

This will enable the following menu items:

  • On the Manage tab, in the Workflow group, External Workflow Types - allows an administrator (or user with Workflow Administrator permission) to set up and modify external workflow types.
  • On the Home tab, in the External Workflow Type group, Start External Workflow - this allows you to select an External Workflow Type and then launch the external workflow engine service to create a new workflow.
  • On the Home tab, in the External Workflow Type group, Initiate an External Workflow - this is similar to Start External Workflow, but requires the user to select a record which becomes the initiating record of the external workflow. If a workflow does not require an iniatting record, then use the Start External Workflow option instead.
  • On the Search tab, in the Workflow group, Find External Workflow - this search option can be used by users to find external workflow using the associated search methods.
  • On the Search tab, in the Workflow group, Find External Workflow Task - this search option can be used by users to find an external workflow task using the associated search methods.

Creating an External Workflow Type

  1. On the Manage tab, in the Workflow group, click External Workflow Types. The External Workflow Types window opens.
  2. Right click in the External Workflow Types window, click New External Workflow Type. The New External Workflow Type dialogue box is displayed.
  3. Complete the New External Workflow Type properties form:
  • General tab:
    • Name - type the name of the external workflow
    • Id - type the ID of the external workflow
    • Icon - from the drop-down list, select the icon to represent the external workflow.
    • Case Record Type - select from the drop-down list, or use the KwikSelect to search for and select, the Record Type to be used as the Case Record Type. This will be used to create the case record. Each external workflow has it's own unique case record in Content Manager.
    • New Document Record Type - select from the drop-down list, or use the KwikSelect to search for and select, the Record Type to be used by documents being created as a part of this external workflow type.
    • Initiating Record Type - select from the drop-down list, or use the KwikSelect to search for and select, the Record Type to be used as the Initiating Record Type.
    • Automatically Initiate - select this option to automatically initiate an external workflow. If a record is created using the Initiating Record Type a new external workflow will be automatically created.
    • Needs an Initiating Record - select this option if the external workflow requires an initiating record to be created before the external workflow can be started.
    • Container - select from the drop-down list, or use the KwikSelect to search for and select, that the case record will be contained within.
  • Server tab:
    • Host Id - type in the unique Perform ID.
    • New Workflow URL (No Record) - type in the Perform WebService URL that will be used when starting a workflow without an initiating record.
    • New Workflow URL (With Record) - type in the Perform WebService URL that will be used when starting a workflow with an initiating record. Insert the string %RECORD% into this URL and it will be automatically replaced with the record URI.
    • Workflow Details URL - type in the Perform WebService URL that will be used when getting the current status of the external workflow to display within Content Manager. Insert the string %SLIPID% into this URL and it will be automatically replaced with the external workflow's unique ID.
    • Workflow Task Details URL - type in the Perform WebService URL that will be used that will be used when getting the current status of the external workflow task to display within Content Manager.

      Insert the string %SLIPID% into this URL and it will be automatically replaced with the external workflow's unique ID.

      Insert the string %TASKID% into this URL and it will be automatically replaced with the external workflow task's unique ID.
  1. Click OK to save the new external workflow type.

Starting an External Workflow

External Workflows are started from the Home tab, in the External Workflow Type group. There are two options for starting an external workflow:

  • Start External Workflow - select this option to start an external workflow that is not associated with a Content Manager record as a starting point.
  • Initiate External Workflow - select this option to start an external workflow from a record. This option is only available if you have a record selected on a search results list window.

When either of these options are selected, the Select from External Workflow Types dialogue box is displayed. Select the External Workflow Type that is to be started and click OK.

Content Manager will pop up a dialogue advising that the External Workflow has been started, click OK.

Searching for External Workflows

There are two search options on the Search tab, in the Workflow group:

  • Find External Workflow
  • Find External Workflow Task

These options can be used to find any external workflows and/or their tasks in Content Manager.