Use these fields and options to create user initiated workflows that automatically trigger actions.
Field | Description |
Application
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Select the application for which you want to create a workflow.
Important: Workflows fire only if the event that creates the action takes place from within the application that you select here. There can be more than one "point of entry" from within the hubs. When this is the case, you must set up the workflow row for the event from each potential hub.
For example, on the Associations tab of the
Contacts form, you add a new
opportunity.
DPS displays the New
Opportunity form, which is actually a part of the
Opportunities hub. Therefore, if you want to create a workflow that alerts you each time that an
opportunity is added to a
contact, you need to create two workflow rows: one for the
Contacts hub and one for the
Opportunities hub.
Equipment hub workflows fire when you save a new
equipment item in that hub or when an
equipment item is created automatically when you final print a purchase order.
Approval Workflows
Approval Workflow is a choice in the
Application field only if you have the Purchasing or Accounting application activated. Select this option to view each step of an approval workflow that was entered in
. You can see the details on how the workflow progresses from step to step. This can be helpful for administrators who are troubleshooting any issues with an approval workflow. Although you can view approval workflows from User Initiated Workflow Settings, you must create the approval workflows in Approval Workflows Settings.
In User Initiated Workflow Settings, you can also add advanced actions, such as stored procedures, functions, custom methods, and web services to the steps of approval workflows, which you cannot do in Approval Settings. However, when you do this, if you ever need to edit the workflow steps again in Approval Workflows Settings, you must complete additional steps to prevent the advanced actions from getting out of order and behaving in unexpected ways.
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Approval Name
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This field displays only when you select
Approval Workflow in the
Application field. Select the name of an approval workflow that you want to view or add advanced steps to. The approval workflows are created in Approval Workflows Settings.
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Workflows Grid
In this grid, enter one or more workflows that apply for the application that you specified in the
Application field. Each row in the grid represents a separate workflow. The order in which multiple workflows display in the grid determines the order in which they are executed.
For each workflow that you enter in the grid, you choose a record (field) from the application, a workflow type, and conditions that together identify the workflow event and conditions that will trigger the workflow actions.
To enter or view the actions for a workflow, click a workflow row in the Workflows grid to select it, and then enter or view actions for it in the Actions grid.
When you select
Approval Workflow in the
Application field and select an approval workflow in the
Approval Name field, the rows in this grid prefill with steps from the approval workflow that you entered in Approval Workflows Settings. You can view the information for the approval workflow steps, but you cannot edit them.
Workflows Grid Toolbar
Field | Description |
Workflows Drop-down
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Click the drop-down arrow on a grid header to complete any of the following actions:
- To print grid data, click
Print. On the Print Preview form, click
to send the grid data to your default printer.
- To export grid data to an Excel spreadsheet, click
Export to Excel. When Microsoft Excel opens, use its features to modify, print, or email the grid data, or to save the spreadsheet file locally.
- To turn on grouping for a grid, click
Enable Grouping. When a field displays with the instruction: "Drag a column header here to group by that column," drag and drop column headers into the field, in the sequence that you want them to display.
Not all options are available on all grids.
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Insert
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Click this option to create a new workflow.
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Copy
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To copy an existing workflow to create a new one, select the workflow in the grid that you want to copy and click this option. The new workflow displays below the existing one in the grid. Edit the new workflow and save it. For Change and Delete/Remove type workflows, the new workflow will have the same workflow type as the one you copied. You cannot change the workflow type.
If you are planning to create an Insert/Associate type workflow and a Change type workflow that are similar, you should first create the Insert/Associate workflow. Then test it before you copy it to create a Change type workflow. If you create them the other way around, you will not be able to copy the Change type workflow. You would then need to manually re-create the conditions and actions for the Insert/Associate type workflow or
contact Deltek Consulting Services for assistance.
When you copy an Insert/Associate type workflow, you have the following additional options to choose from in the
Copy drop-down menu:
- Create Change Workflow: This copies the selected workflow and creates a new one that is a Change workflow type.
- Create Insert/Associate Change Workflow: This copies the selected workflow and creates a new one that is an Insert/Associate workflow type.
- Create Delete/Remove Change Workflow: This copies the selected workflow and creates a new one that is a Delete/Remove workflow type.
To create a new Insert/Associate type workflow from a Change type workflow,
contact the Deltek Consulting group. They can provide you with assistance on a time and materials basis.
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Delete
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Select the workflow that you want to delete and click this option. To disable a workflow temporarily but not delete it, click
Unschedule.
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Move Up
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Select a workflow in the grid, and click this option to move the workflow up in the grid. The order in which the workflows display in the grid determines the order in which they are executed. If a workflow fails to finish because of an error, subsequent workflows with the same conditions are not executed.
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Move Down
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Select a workflow in the grid, and click this option to move the workflow down in the grid. The order in which the workflows display in the grid determines the order in which they are executed. If a workflow fails to finish because of an error, subsequent workflows with the same conditions are not executed.
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Workflows Grid Fields
Field | Description |
Workflow Table
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From the drop-down list in this field, select the entire record or select a specific table/grid for which to create a workflow. Entire records appear in brackets, such as [Employee Record] and consist of both standard and user-defined fields. The tables in this field are from the application that you selected in the
Application field. If your company uses user-defined grids, these grids display in this field with underscores, for example, Employee_Profile.
When you select
Approval Workflow in the
Application field and select an approval workflow in the
Approval Name field: The
Workflow Table field displays
ApprovalItem.
|
Workflow Type
|
Select the type of workflow for which you want to generate an action:
-
Change:
DPS generates an action when a change (other than an Insert or Delete) occurs in an existing record. For example, if a
client address changes or the status of a
client changes from Active to Inactive, an action occurs.
-
Insert/Associate:
DPS generates an action when new information is added to the specified workflow table entered above. For example, if a team member is associated with a
project or a new
project record is added, an action occurs.
-
Delete/Remove:
DPS generates an action when information is deleted from the specified workflow table. For example, if an
employee address is deleted or a
project record is deleted, an action occurs.
When you select
Approval Workflow in the
Application field and select an approval workflow in the
Approval Name field: The
Workflow Type field displays
Approval.
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Level
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This field only applies to the
Projects hub. This field allows you to specify at what WBS level the workflow event should execute. Your options are
All,
Project (Level 1),
Phase (Level 2), and
Task (Level 3).
For example, assume that an administrator wants to be notified only when a new
project is inserted (not a
phase or
task). If you select
Project (Level 1) in the
Level field, the administrator is only notified if the record inserted is a
project.
When an option other than
All is selected, the workflow executes only at that level. If you select
All, the workflow executes for any record that is being edited in the
Projects hub.
The WBS level can be set for both the workflow event and the action. Therefore,
DPS looks at the workflow event level first. If the record does not pass the requirement set for the level at the event level, none of the actions for that event are considered.
|
Active
|
Select this option to enable the workflow; clear this option to disable it. This feature allows you to disable the workflow temporarily without deleting it.
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Description
|
Enter a description for the workflow, such as
Send Email to Director.
When you select
Approval Workflow in the
Application field and select an approval workflow in the
Approval Name field: The
Description
field displays the description for the approval workflow step entered in Approval Workflows Settings.
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Conditions
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Enter one or more conditions for which you want actions to take place when the workflow event conditions are met. To do this, click
Ellipsis in the
Conditions field, and enter field information on the Conditions dialog box, as described below.
DPS looks at the conditions in the order in which you specify them on this form. Use the
Move Up and
Move Down arrows to arrange them in the correct order.
-
Column: This field lists all the fields on the form in the hub that you selected. Select the column to which you want to apply the workflow.
-
Operator: Select the appropriate operator to set the conditions of the workflow. For example, to create a workflow for
employees' tenth anniversary events, select
equals in this field and then enter
10 in the
Value field. Or, if you want to be alerted when empty fields now contain information, select
not empty.
-
Value: Use this field in conjunction with the
Operator field to set the condition.
- The popup that this field displays depends on the column that you select. For example, if you select
HireDate in the
Column field, this field displays a calendar from which you can select a date. If you select
EM.Vendor, this field contains the
Vendor lookup. In some cases, you enter the information directly in this field.
- If you select
empty,
not empty,
has changed, or
has not changed in the
Operator field, this field is not applicable.
-
AND/OR: This field allows you to define the conditions further. Deltek recommends that you select either all
ANDs or all
ORs in these fields.
|
Actions Grid
Use the Actions grid to create the actions that apply for the workflow that you currently have selected in the Workflows grid. The actions will occur when the conditions that are specified for the workflow in the Workflow grid are met.
When you select
Approval Workflow in the
Application field and select an approval workflow in the
Approval Name field:
- The rows in this grid prefill with all the alerts for the approval workflow steps that you select in the Workflows grid, excluding the past due alerts, the
supervisor escalation alerts, and the reminder alerts. You can view those alerts in Scheduled Workflows Settings.
- Although you can make some changes to the alert information that was originally entered in Approval Workflows Settings, Deltek recommends that you do not do this. Make any changes to approval workflow alerts directly in Approval Workflows Settings. When you make edits in User Initiated Workflows Settings to rows that were originally entered in Approval Workflows Settings, although these changes are implemented, the edits are not updated and displayed in Approval Workflows Settings.
- You can use
Insert on the Actions grid toolbar to add advanced actions, such as stored procedures, functions, custom methods, and web services to the approval workflow that you cannot add in Approval Workflows Settings.
Actions Grid Toolbar
Field | Description |
Actions Drop-down
|
Click the drop-down arrow on a grid header to complete any of the following actions:
- To print grid data, click
Print. On the Print Preview form, click
to send the grid data to your default printer.
- To export grid data to an Excel spreadsheet, click
Export to Excel. When Microsoft Excel opens, use its features to modify, print, or email the grid data, or to save the spreadsheet file locally.
- To turn on grouping for a grid, click
Enable Grouping. When a field displays with the instruction: "Drag a column header here to group by that column," drag and drop column headers into the field, in the sequence that you want them to display.
Not all options are available on all grids.
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Insert
|
Click this option to insert an action.
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Copy
|
Highlight an action on the grid and click this option to copy and create a new action.
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Delete
|
Highlight an action on the grid and click this option to remove the action from the grid.
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Move Up
|
Select an action on the grid, and click this option to move an action up in the grid. In general, the order in which the actions display in the grid determines the order in which they occur. The exception is that email and notification alert actions are always sent last so that users do not receive notifications before the workflow event finishes or if the workflow event does not finish because of an error.
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Move Down
|
Select an action on the grid, and click this option to move an action down in the grid. In general, the order in which the actions display in the grid determines the order in which they occur. The exception is that email and notification alert actions are always sent last so that users do not receive notifications before the workflow event finishes or if the workflow event does not finish because of an error.
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Actions Grid Fields
Field | Description |
Action
|
This field displays the name of the selected action. For example, when a workflow that requires a change is triggered, you can specify that
DPS first make the change, then send an email message to the manager.
When you select
Approval Workflow in the
Application field, and select an approval workflow in the
Approval Name field: The
Action field prefills based on the actions that you entered for an approval workflow in Approval Workflows Settings.
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Level
|
This field only applies to the
Projects hub. Use it to specify the WBS level at which the action executes.
For example, an administrator wants to be notified only when a new
project is inserted (not a
phase or
task). If you select
Project in the
Level field, the administrator is only notified if the record inserted is a
project.
When an option other than
All is selected, the workflow action executes only at that level. If you select
All, the workflow action executes for any record that is edited in the
Projects hub. The WBS level can be set for both the event and the action. Therefore,
DPS looks at the event level first. If the record does not pass the requirement set for this level, no actions are considered.
|
Active
|
Select this option to enable the action or clear the option to disable it. This feature allows you to disable the action temporarily but not delete it.
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Description
|
You must enter a description for the action, such as
Send Email to Supervisors. If you selected
Validate Error or
Validate Warning for the action, information entered in this field displays to the user on a dialog box.
|
Conditions
|
Enter one or more conditions for which you want actions to takes place when the conditions are met. To do this, click
Ellipses in the
Conditions field and enter field information on the Conditions dialog box as described below.
DPS looks at the conditions in the order in which you specify them on this form. Use the
Move Up and
Move Down arrows to arrange them in the correct order.
-
Column: This field lists all the fields on the form in the hub that you selected. Select the column to which you want to apply the workflow.
-
Operator: Select the appropriate operator to set the conditions of the workflow. For example, to create a workflow for
employees' tenth anniversary events, select
equals in this field and then enter 10 in the
Value field. Or, if you want to be alerted when empty fields now contain information, select
not empty.
-
Value: Use this field in conjunction with the
Operator field to set the condition.
- The popup that this field displays depends on the column you select. For example, if you select
HireDate in the
Column field, this field displays a calendar from which you can select a date. Or, if you select
EM.Vendor, this field contains the
Vendor lookup list. In some cases, you enter the information directly in this field.
- If you select
empty,
not empty,
has changed, or
has not changed in the
Operator field, this field is not applicable.
-
AND/OR: This field allows you to define the conditions further. Deltek recommends that you select either all
ANDs or all
ORs in these fields.
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Language
|
Click
Ellipses to use the Languages dialog box to select the language to use with this action.
Employees within the specified role or group with the selected language receive the action in their language. If an email address is entered for an alert action, the
employee receives the alert whether or not the language matches.
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