Workflows and the Screen Designer

Use Screen Designer in the desktop application to add a workflow button to a tab.

A workflow button allows users to initiate a scheduled workflow for a particular hub record or a web service workflow for a particular project plan or an expense report.

When you click a workflow button that has been added to a tab, DPS starts the workflow for the record that you have open. For example, assume you create a scheduled workflow called Validate Address, which has a web service action that validates a contact’s address through a mapping web site. You add a workflow button to the General tab of the Contacts hub for the Validate Address scheduled workflow. When a user enters a contact’s address on the General tab in the Contacts hub and clicks the Validate Address workflow button, the workflow process is started and the address is validated.

In Screen Designer in the desktop application, you add a workflow button to a tab by clicking the New Workflow Button icon on the Screen Designer toolbar. Then you select a scheduled workflow for the button in the Workflow field in the Properties pane in Screen Designer. Only scheduled workflows that are associated with the application to which you are adding a workflow button display in the drop-down list in the Workflow field.

You do not need to schedule a scheduled workflow to make it work when you click a workflow button.

How the Workflow Button Works

  • After a user clicks a workflow button, DPS displays a message in the status bar to indicate that the workflow has started. The user can continue to work in DPS while the workflow is processed.
  • The record must still satisfy the conditions of the workflow. If the workflow does not meet the workflow conditions for that record, the user received an error message.
  • You must save changes to the record before you initiate the workflow. If you do not, a message displays to inform you that you must save your changes.
  • If the workflow no longer exists, an error message displays.