Building Advanced Workflows

Advanced workflows are customizable processes that control the life cycle of a record within an application or questionnaire. An application or questionnaire can have only 1 advanced workflow, and a leveled application can have only 1 advanced workflow per level. Only system administrators and configuration administrators can create advanced workflows.

Note: Users can only complete a step in an advanced workflow to which they are assigned if they have access rights to the associated records. For information on access roles, see Access Roles.

On this page

Before you begin

Plan your advanced workflow.

Task 1: Enable advanced workflow in the application or questionnaire

Go to the Advanced Workflow tab of the application or questionnaire.
Click .

Task 2: Determine when and how records are enrolled

You have 3 options for enrolling records in advanced workflow:

New records: Each newly created record is enrolled in the advanced workflow process.

Note about enrolling new questionnaire records

Note: If you are creating an advanced workflow for a questionnaire, keep in mind that questionnaire records are first saved when a user clicks Apply after selecting the target of the assessment (or when the campaign creates and assigns the assessments). If you choose to enroll new records, this means that the record would be enrolled in advanced workflow before the record is first presented to the user. Keep this in mind in the further design of the questionnaire and workflow. For example, if you have any required fields in the questionnaire, and the workflow proceeds through an Update Content node immediately upon enrollment, the advanced workflow job will enter an error state (unless the required fields have been populated by the workflow). If the workflow design requires the use of required fields, 1 option is to place the workflow into an Evaluate Content. Wait for Update loop, which can hold the record in that state until a user has populated the fields. Another option is to use a different advanced workflow enrollment option.

Updated records: Records are enrolled in the advanced workflow process after they are updated and saved.
User initiated: A record is enrolled in a workflow only if the user clicks a specific button. You can define the conditions under which the record can be enrolled (for example, if Values List Field A contains value B) and you can set permissions to determine which users or groups have access to the button in the UI to enroll the record (for example, only a Record Creator can enroll the record).

Note: Records can also be enrolled into an advanced workflow in bulk through either an on-demand or scheduled bulk action.

In the Process Properties panel, in the Content Enrollment section, select an enrollment option or options.
If you selected Updated Records or User Initiated and you want to allow records to be able to go through the workflow more than once, in the Settings section, select Allow Re-enrollment.

Note: If you choose New Records and User Initiated, the button identified in User Initiated does not appear on the record page until the record completes the advanced workflow process at least once and re-enrollment is enabled.

If you selected User Initiated, do the following:
1. Enter a label for the record enrollment button in the Button Text field.
2. If you want to limit who can push the button and under what conditions, configure rules and permissions.
  - To configure rules, do the following:
    1. In the Rule section, click .
    2. Enter a name and description for the rule, and in the Status field, ensure that Active is selected.
    3. In the Criteria section, select which field to evaluate, an operator, the value or values to match, and (if applicable) the relationship to the subsequent row of filter criteria. Each row represents 1 set of filter criteria. For example, [].
    4. (Optional) To add additional rows for specifying more filter criteria, click Add New.
    5. Click Save.

Task 3: Set general properties

If you plan to use Advanced Workflow to send notifications or create tasks for users, click the General tab of the application, and in the Options section, do the following:
- To enable notifications, select the Notifications checkbox.
- To enable tasks, select the Task Management checkbox.
If you want the system to record advanced workflow audit information in a history log field and display a workflow tracker of previous, current, and next user action nodes in the workflow, in the Audit Settings section of the Properties Panel, select Enable Workflow Auditing.

The workflow tracker displays if there is a user action on at least 1 user action node. The workflow tracker displays up to 4 nodes on a page. Only user action nodes are displayed.

user action node tracker

Users can view node details by hovering over the node or can view the details for all nodes by clicking Details. The following details are displayed for each user action node:

Node name/node title
Action taken by the user
Name of who performed the action
Date on which the action was performed

Note: If you disable Enable Workflow Auditing, the advanced workflow audit information is deleted from the history log, but not immediately. The information is deleted the next time the ContentWorkflowAuditCleanup job runs.

If you enabled workflow auditing and want to set a retention policy, do the following:
1. Select Enable Retention Policy.
2. Select the method of retention and value.
  - By Days stores the auditing information for a selected number of days.
  - By Jobs stores the auditing information for to a selected number of workflow jobs.

Task 4: Add and configure nodes and transitions

A node represents a step in your advanced workflow process. Archer offers different node types for different types of actions, for example, updating record content or sending notifications.

Save your work as you create and update your advanced workflow in the workflow designer.

With the exception of the Start and Stop nodes, you can add any of the following nodes your business process requires and in any order necessary.

The maximum number of transitions that can be added from any given node is 10. You cannot create or save a workflow if the following conditions apply:

If you attempt to add more than 10 transitions from a given node
If a node does not contain at least 1 incoming or outgoing transition

A rule condition that evaluates a Text field with the Display Control set to Text Area may result in inconsistencies due to rich text markup when an operator other than Contains or Does Not Contain is used.

Add a Start node

In the Standard section of the Modeler Toolbox, click Start.
In the grid, double-click where you want to place the node.
Add the next node in your process, and then connect the 2 nodes with a transition.

Add a Stop node

Note: All nodes except for the stop node require outgoing transitions before you can save the advanced workflow. As you configure other node types, you can create outgoing transitions from those nodes to a stop node, which allows you to save your work in progress.

In the Standard section of the Modeler Toolbox, click Stop.
In the grid, double-click where you want to place the stop node.
Draw an incoming transition from the previous node.
To validate your workflow, and save your changes, click .

Add an Update Content node

The Update Content node updates values in content record fields. The Update Content node supports text, numeric, date, values list, and User/Group fields.

Note: When an advanced workflow updates a record field, it can update Apply Conditional Layout and Filter Values List Items data-driven event (DDE) actions. It cannot update Set Values List Selection or Set Date actions.

In the General section of the Modeler Toolbox, click Update Content.
In the grid, double-click where you want to place the node.
In the Node Properties panel, in the Name field, enter a unique name that reflects the step in your business process that the node represents.
Note: Assigning unique names for each node (across all advanced workflows) allows you to search and report against the current node name.
To update Text, Numeric, Date, and Values List fields, do the following:
Important: If an Update Content node is configured to set a Values List field, and a data driven event is also configured to set the same Values List field, the advanced workflow settings take precedence. Additionally, if you configure the Update Content node to update a Text field, all text added by a user will be overwritten by the advanced workflow settings.
1. In the section for the field type that you want to add, click .
2. From the Field list, select a field.
3. Enter or select a value for the field.
4. (Optional) To add additional fields of the same type, select the Add Another checkbox.
5. Click Add.
6. If you selected to add another field repeat steps b, c, and e.
To update User/Groups fields, do the following:
1. In the User/Groups Fields section, click .
2. From the Field list, select a field.
3. Under the Available section, expand Users or Groups and select the applicable user or group.
  Note: You can also use the Find field to search for a specific user or group.
4. (Optional) To add additional fields, select the Add Another checkbox.
5. Click Add.
6. If you selected to add another field, repeat steps b,c, and e.
After you have added the next node in your process, draw an outgoing transition from your Update Content node.
By default, the transition type is Successful. If you want the process to always move to the next node, regardless of whether the content is successfully updated, select Always Complete instead. If you want to create an error path in your process, see "Create error paths" in Advanced Workflow Troubleshooting.
To validate your workflow and save your changes, click .

Add a Send Notification node

Important: The Send Notification node requires an on-demand notification template that is associated with the application or questionnaire in which you are creating an advanced workflow. If you do not already have an on-demand notification template associated with the application or questionnaire, you must first create 1. For information on notifications, see Notifications.

If you have not already enabled notifications for the application or questionnaire, do the following:
1. Click .
2. Click the General tab.
3. In the Options section, select the Notifications checkbox.
4. Click Apply.
If necessary, create an On-Demand notification template. The template should define the subject and content of the notification that the node generates, as well as who should receive it.
In the General section of the Modeler Toolbox, click Send Notification.
In the grid, double-click where you want to place the node.
In the Send Notification section, in the Name field, enter a name that reflects the step in your business process that the node represents.
Assigning unique names for each node (across all advanced workflows) allows you to search and report against the current node name.
In the Settings section, select the notification that you want to use.
After you have added the next node in your process, draw an outgoing transition from your Notification node.
By default, the transition type is Successful. If you want the process to always move to the next node, regardless of whether the notification is successfully delivered, select Always Complete instead. If you want to create an error path in your process, see "Create error paths" in Advanced Workflow Troubleshooting.
To validate your workflow, and save your changes, click .

Add a User Action node

The User Action node waits for a user to click an action button in the record and follows the corresponding transition. For example, you might create 2 possible transitions out of a User Action Node: Approve and Reject. When the user clicks either Approve or Reject in the record, that choice determines which transition to follow. For each transition, you can configure a rule that defines the conditions under which that transition can be followed (for example, if a date field contains a date prior to the current date) and you can set permissions to determine which users or groups have access to the action buttons in the UI that transition the record (for example, only a Finding Reviewer should be allowed to see the Approve or Reject buttons in a finding).

You can also configure an activated User Action node to create user tasks. The assigned user can use the to see all assigned tasks.

Note: If you plan to use the create tasks option, the application must have at least 1 user/groups field.

If you plan to create tasks and have not already enabled task management for this application, do the following:
1. Click .
2. Click the General tab.
3. In the Options section, select the Task Management checkbox.
4. Click Apply.
5. Click the Advanced Workflow tab.
In the General section of the Modeler Toolbox, click User Action.
In the grid, double-click where you want to place the node.
In the Node Properties panel, in the Name field, enter a unique name that reflects the step in your business process that the node represents.
Assigning unique names for each node (across all advanced workflows) allows you to search and report against the current node name.
In the Layout section, do 1 of the following:
- To assign an existing layout, select the layout from the Layouts list.
- To create a new layout, click . For more information, see Adding Additional Layouts.
  Note: You cannot add new fields or update existing fields in a layout created from the Workflow Process Designer. You can only add or remove existing objects to or from the layout and arrange existing objects. If you wish to modify field attributes or add new fields, you must do this from the Layouts tab in the application or questionnaire.
If you want the node to create tasks, do the following:
1. In the Tasks section, select the Create Task checkbox.
2. In Assign to Field(s), click .
3. In Due Date, select the field that you want to use from the list.
4. In Subject, choose a subject line for the task. Do either of the following:
  - To use the value of an existing field as the subject, select Choose Field, and select the field from the list.
  - To enter your own subject text, select Enter Text, and enter your text.
5. In Priority, assign a priority level to the task.
6. In Description, provide a description for the task. Do either of the following:
  - To use the value of an existing field as the description, select Choose Field, and select the field from the list.
  - To enter your own descriptive text, select Enter Text, and enter your text.
7. In Resolution, choose a resolution for the task. Do either of the following:
  - To use the value of an existing field as the resolution, select Choose Field, and select the field from the list.
  - To enter your own resolution, select Enter Text, and enter your text.
To enable advanced workflow actions by email, go to the Advanced Workflow Actions by Email section and do the following:
1. Select the checkbox for Advanced Workflow Actions by Email.
2. Select the notification template you want associated with the user action node.
Important: To use Advanced Workflow Actions by Email, you must have a user account with Advanced Workflow Actions by Email enabled. For more information, see Adding User Accounts or Updating User Accounts. You must also ensure that Advanced Workflow Actions by Email is enabled in all applicable applications, questionnaires, notification templates, and advanced workflows.
After you have added the next node or nodes in your process, add outgoing transitions from your User Action node. Each transition displays as an action button on the record page. Configure each transition.
1. (Optional) To create an error path in your process, see "Create error paths" in Advanced Workflow Troubleshooting. By default, the transition type is Successful.
2. Enter a unique name. Archer uses this value as a label for the action button displayed with the record.
3. (Optional) To modify the display order of action buttons on the record page, change the number in the Order field. By default, Archer displays action buttons in the order the transitions were added.
4. (Optional) Choose a layout to display when action is complete.
(Optional) Configure rules.
1. Select an outgoing transition from the User Action node
2. In the Rule section, click . The Manage Rule: (New) window appears.
3. In the General Information section, enter a name and description for the rule.
4. In the Status field, ensure that Active is selected.
5. In the Rule Validation Message section, enter a custom validation message. The message displays when the user attempts to continue the workflow without meeting the rule defined in the Criteria section.
  Note: This message is limited to 1000 characters.
6. In the Criteria section, select which field to evaluate, an operator, the value or values to match, and (if applicable) the relationship to the subsequent row of filter criteria. Each row represents 1 set of filter criteria.
7. (Optional) To add additional rows for specifying more filter criteria, click Add New.
  The system automatically renumbers the criteria rows, but you may need to modify any advanced operator logic accordingly.
8. Click Save.
9. For each additional outgoing transition from the User Action node that you want to create a rule for, repeat steps a - g.
Note: A rule can be edited or deleted by hovering over the corresponding icons next to the rule name. Only adding or deleting a rule enables the Save Workflow button; other changes, such as editing the rule properties, do not.
(Optional) Configure permissions.
1. Select an outgoing transition from the User Action node.
2. In the Permission section, click .
3. In the Available list, expand the Fields, Groups, or Users tree and click the users or groups you want to assign.
  Note: To search for a specific user or group, enter the name in the Find field and, if applicable, select the type from the adjacent list. Click . The results of your search appear in the Available list in the Search Results node.
4. Click Add.
Note: You can edit or delete permissions by hovering over the corresponding icon next to the permission name. Only adding, deleting, or changing the permissions name enables the Save Workflow button; other changes, such as editing the permissions properties, do not.
(Optional) Configure signatures. When interacting with content, you can add another layer of security by enabling electronic signatures. Electronic signatures allow users to authenticate who they are before interacting with content.

Note: Signatures can only be configured on the outgoing transition from a User Action node.

Select an outgoing transition from the User Action node.
Create a new signature.

Note: Editing an existing signature uses the same process.
1. Click New Signature.
2. In the Manage Signature window, enter a name and description for the signature.
3. Choose an Authentication Type from the drop-down.
  - User Name / Password
  - 1-time PIN via Email
    1-time PIN conditions are set in security parameters. For more information, see Adding Security Parameters.
    Note: The system removes expired 1-time PINs. For more information, see the topic on "Job Types" in the Archer Control Panel Help.
  - SAML
    When SAML is configured, this option appears in the drop-down. For more information, see "Configuring an Instance for Single Sign-on" in the Archer Control Panel Help.
    If you want your users to re-enter their credentials, you need to connect to an Identity Provider (IDP) with Force Authentication turned on. Contact your Archer Control Panel Administrator to learn more about your IDP configuration.
    Note: Using SAML requires the user to enter details.
  Note: Here are some reasons why authentication can fail:
  - The user account is locked out or inactivated.
  - The user requests authentication during Dates Disallowed or Days Disallowed.
  - The session has timed out.
4. Configure the attachment.
  1. Choose an existing Attachment field from the drop-down. For more information, see Adding Attachment Fields.
  2. From the drop-down, choose a File type.
5. Click Save and Close.

Note: File types are the same as export.

Note: Attachment field rules apply. For more information see "Configuring an Instance for Trusted and Untrusted Files" in the Archer Control Panel Help and Adding History Log Fields.

In the Signatures drop-down, select a signature.

Important: When a signature is selected, the User Action node icon becomes Signature user action node and the transition becomes bolded.

To remove a signature from the workflow, select Choose Signature from the Signature field dropdown.

Note: When a signature is removed, the User Action node and transition return to their original design.

Note: To view completed signatures, see Viewing Record History.

To validate your workflow and save your changes, click .

Add an Evaluate Content node

The Evaluate Content node evaluates the content in the record against transition rules that you create and follows the matching transition. The node determines which transition to follow based on the first rule to match, and if there are no matches, follows the default transition.

Note: The Evaluate Content node evaluates rules from the order in which nodes are listed in the Node Properties pane. After a rule is evaluated to True, Advanced Workflow stops evaluating any remaining rules in the list.

In the General section of the Modeler Toolbox, click Evaluate Content.
In the grid, double-click where you want to place the node.
In the Node Properties panel, in the Name field, enter a unique name that reflects the step in your business process that the node represents.
Assigning unique names for each node (across all advanced workflows) allows you to search and report against the current node name.
After you have added the next node(s) in your process, add outgoing transitions. Enter a unique name for each transition.
Important: You must add outgoing transitions before you can define the rules associated with those transitions.
By default, the transition type is Successful. If you want to create an error path, see "Create error paths" in Troubleshooting Advanced Workflows.
Define the rules to govern which transition the node should take. Do the following:
1. Click the Evaluate Content node, and in the Rules section, click .
2. From the Transition list, select a transition.
3. Click Add Rule.
4. In the General Information section, enter a name and description for the rule.
5. In the Status field, ensure that Active is selected.
6. In the Criteria section, select which field to evaluate, an operator, the value or values to match, and (if applicable) the relationship to the subsequent row of filter criteria. Each row represents 1 set of filter criteria.
7. (Optional) To add additional rows for specifying more filter criteria, click Add New.
  Note: The system automatically renumbers the criteria rows, but you may need to modify any advanced operator logic accordingly.
Select a transition for the node to follow if all the rules governing outgoing transitions evaluate to false. Do 1 of the following:
- Add a Wait for Content Update node.
  1. Draw a transition from the evaluate content node to the new content change delay node.
  2. Click the Evaluate Content node.
  3. From the Default Transition list, select the transition that you created.
- From the Default Transition list, select an existing transition.
To validate your workflow, and save your changes, click .

Add a Launch Event Node

In the General section of the Modeler Toolbox, click Launch Event.
In the grid, double-click where you want to place the node.
In the Node Properties panel, in the Name field, enter a unique name that reflects the step in your business process that the node represents.
Note: Assigning unique names for each node (across all advanced workflows) allows you to search and report against the current node name.
In the Settings section, click Select Data Feed.
In the Select Data Feed to Launch dialog, select a data feed from the Data feed dropdown.

Note: This dropdown shows only active data feeds.
Click Select.
After you have added the next node or nodes in your process, add outgoing transitions from your Launch Event node. Each transition displays as an action button on the record page.

Note: This node does not allow self-looping transitions.
To validate your workflow and save your changes, click .

Task 5: Add a Wait for Content Update node.

A Wait for Content Update node is intended to be used with an Evaluate Content node. If none of the rules in the Evaluate Content node are met, you can configure the default transition to go to a Wait for Content Update node, and you can assign it a layout that prompts the user to make necessary updates in the record. The job stays on the Wait for Content Update node until content is saved by the user or the delay timeout is reached, at which point it follows the outgoing transition. Configure the outgoing transition to the originating Evaluate Content node. This creates a loop.

In the General section of the Modeler Toolbox, click Wait for Content Update.
In the grid, double-click where you want to place the node.
In the Node Properties panel, in the Name field, enter a unique name that reflects the step in your business process that the node represents.
Assigning unique names for each node (across all advanced workflows) allows you to search and report against the current node name.
In the Layout section, do 1 of the following:
- To assign an existing layout, select the layout from the Layouts list.
- To create a new layout, click . For more information about configuring layouts, see Layouts.
In the Delay Timeout section, do 1 of the following:
- Select the Enable Timeout checkbox to set the maximum amount of time that should be allowed before the Wait for Content Update node closes and moves to the next node, if the user does not make edits to and save the content within that time.
- Clear the Enable Timeout checkbox to use a default value of no delay. (Recommended)
After you have added the next node(s) in your process, draw an outgoing transition from your Wait for Content Update node.
By default, the transition type is Always Complete, and cannot be changed. The outgoing transition should return to the previous Evaluate Content node.
Note: Your Wait for Content Update node can not have more than 1 outgoing transition.

To validate your workflow, and save your changes, click Save Workflow .

(Optional) Task 6: Create looping transitions

A looping (upstream) transition (indicated by a dashed line) allows you to point back to a node that has already been processed. This is useful if you have steps in a workflow that need to be repeated. For example, if a record in an Evaluate Content node does not meet the criteria needed advance to the next step in the workflow, you can create a loop that sends the record back to a previous stage so the user can update the content.

In most cases you do not need to do anything to change a transition into a looping transition. As you build an advanced workflow, the system attempts to detect loops and automatically convert transitions to looping transitions as necessary. However, in some cases the system may not detect that you have drawn a loop, particularly if you delete and redraw a looping transition. In this case, you need to manually change the transition to a looping transition.

Select the transition.
In the Transition Properties panel, in the Looping transition field, select Yes.
To validate the looping transition and save changes, click .
The transition becomes a dashed line.

Task 7: Activate the workflow

Once you have built your entire workflow and you are ready for records to start being enrolled in the workflow, you must activate it.

At the top of the Workflow Process Designer, click Activate.
Click .
Click Save or Apply.
- Click Save to save and exit.
- Click Apply to apply the changes and continue working.

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