Workflow tasks (legacy)

This article applies to the legacy workflow feature. For more information on the data-driven workflow feature introduced in version 2023.1 of Semarchy xDM, see Data-driven workflows.

A workflow task is one step in the workflow, assigned to a user to author or review data, using a given stepper.

Events occurring on a task may trigger email notifications. The stepper used for the task may also trigger data changes or raise validation issues to the user.

Add a task to a workflow

To add a task from the diagram:

  1. In the Workflow diagram, select the Add Workflow Task tool in the Palette.

  2. Click the diagram. The Create New Task wizard appears.

  3. In the Create New Task wizard, check the Auto Fill option and then enter the following values:

    • Name: Internal name of the task.

    • Label: User-friendly label for this task. Since the Auto Fill checkbox is selected, the Label field is automatically filled in. Modifying this label is optional.

    • Assigned to Role: Select the role to which this task is automatically assigned. It is the role required for the performer of this task.

    • Select the authoring method for this workflow task, that is one Entity and one Authoring Stepper from that entity. This authoring stepper is used when the task is started.

  4. Click Finish to create the task.

The new task appears in the diagram, with a transition automatically created to the Cancel built-in task. If it is the first task added to this workflow, it is linked from the start event.

Configure a task

A task selected in the workflow is configured from the Properties view.

You can configure the following properties:

  • In the Name and Definition section:

    • The Name, Label, Description, Assigned to Role, Entity and Authoring Stepper properties, configured when created the task, can be modified.

    • Assigner Role defines the role required for a user to be able to assign to a user a task pending with the Assigned to Role. A user who has the workflow Administrator Role is also able to perform the same operation.

  • In the Task Management section:

    • Allow Unassign enables the task assignee to release the task to the task’s Assign To Role.

    • Allow Reassign enables the task assignee to assign the task to a different user who has the Assign To Role.

    • Max Pending Duration (min) define the time after which a notification is sent when the task is left assigned to the role and not to a user.

    • Max Running Duration (min) define the time after which a notification is sent when the task is left assigned to a user.

    • Max Total Duration (min) define the time after which a notification is sent when the workflow remains on the task.

  • In the Email Notifications section, define the email notifications sent on task triggers.

Configure email notifications

When an event occurs in a task, it can trigger an email notification sent to a list of recipients.

To configure an email notification in a task:

  • Select the Email Notifications section of the workflow task properties. This table section shows the list of notifications for this task.

  • Click the Add Notification button Add Notification button in the properties panel toolbar. A new notification is added to the list.

  • Click the Name cell for this notification and edit this notification’s name.

  • Click the Subject cell and then the edit expression button Edit Expression button to edit the email subject. The subject supports Notification variables (legacy) that return contextual information about the workflow.

  • Click the Message cell and then the edit expression button Edit Expression button to edit the email body. the body supports Notification variables (legacy) as well as plain text or the Markdown syntax for rich text.

  • Click the Triggers cell to configure the event that should trigger this notification.
    A notification may be triggered when the task starts, finishes, is assigned/unassigned/reassigned, or when the max durations defined on the task are reached.

  • Click the Recipient cell to configure the recipients for this notification.
    Recipients are contextual to the current task/workflow, or to a Select Task in the workflow. You can also define a list of emails in the Other Recipients.

Configure triggers, enrichers, and validations

A task of a workflow provides interactive feedback to the user according to the stepper selected for the task.

The triggers, enrichers and validations defined in the steps are executed, but the stepper-level Triggers and Validations, running at the end of the stepper, are not executed. They are replaced in workflows by the transitions triggers and validations.

Configure Submit and Cancel tasks

The Submit and Cancel built-in tasks are specific corresponding to the workflow’s possible ends.

  • Cancel does not require configuration other than a transition pointing to it.

  • Submit supports only configuring email notifications with one single type of trigger called Job Completes. This trigger runs the notification when the submit job of the workflow completes.