NetResults ProblemTracker
Workflow Transitions

A transition is a path used to move a record from one state to another in the workflow or can be used to assign the record to another user. A transition can include fields called Task Fields that require a user to enter some information into a record before it moves to the next step in the workflow. In some cases a transition may be a loop (a transition which keeps the record in the same state). A loop transition is used when a record simply needs to have information added to a field, but does not move to another state and / or does not move to another assignee.


Defining Transitions for a State

To define the transitions for a state:

  1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
  2. Click on the Admin icon
  3. Click on the Define Workflow button
  4. Click on the Transitions button to the left of the state for which you want to define transitions. Use the steps in the sections below for adding, editing, or deleting a transition.


Adding a New Transition

To add a new transition:

  1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
  2. Click on the Admin icon
  3. Click on the Define Workflow button
  4. Click on the Transitions button to the left of the state for which you want to define transitions
  5. Click on the Add Transition button
  6. Make selections for the properties described below
  7. Click OK to save the transition

Properties of Transitions

The following options will be presented when you add or modify a transition:

Transition Name
Enter a label that will be used as the name of the transition during the Task operation

Order
The order of the transition. This will determine the order in which it appears in the transitions table as well as in the list displayed during the Task operation. Transitions which have the same value specified in the order field will be listed alphabetically.

New State
The state to which the record will be routed when this transition is selected during the Task operation. For this option, you may select one of the following:

New Assignee
The user to whom the record will be assigned when this transition is selected during the Task operation. For this option, you may select one of the following choices listed below:

History Comment

Clone Record

Fast Tasking
Fast Tasking is the process where a transition is chosen and the user clicks on the OK button, the record will immediately be updated because it is set such that there are no task fields and the history comment should not be displayed. If a transition is configured to allow fast tasking and is configured to display alert settings during the task operation, the alert settings will not be displayed during the task operation. The default alert settings for the transition will be used instead.


Editing a Transition

To edit a transition:

  1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
  2. Click on the Admin icon
  3. Click on the Define Workflow button
  4. Click on the Transitions button to the left of the state where the transition is defined
  5. Click on the Edit button to the left of the transition
  6. After making changes to the transition, click OK to save your modifications. For details on the properties of a transition, see the Properties of a Transition section above.


Removing a Transition

To delete a transition:

  1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
  2. Click on the Admin icon
  3. Click on the Define Workflow button
  4. Click on the Transitions button to the left of the state where the transition is configured
  5. Click on the Delete button to the left of the transition
  6. Click OK to confirm, then OK again to complete the operation. The transition will be removed from the transition list.


Defining Fields For the Task Operation

For each transition within a particular state, you can specify which fields should be presented to the user for the Task operation. By only presenting the user with the necessary fields, you can ensure each user will correctly adhere to the workflow process.

To add Task Fields to a transition:

  1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
  2. Click on the Admin icon
  3. Click on the Define Workflow button
  4. Click on the Transitions button to the left of the state where the transition is configured
  5. Click on the Task Fields button to the left of the desired transition
  6. Click on the field in the Not In Use column, then click on the Add button
  7. Click on the Edit button to configure properties for the field when it is presented during the Task operation. The properties are described in the next section below.
  8. Click on the Update button to save your selections
  9. Click on the OK button to return to the Transition list

To edit the properties of a Task Field in a transition:

  1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
  2. Click on the Admin icon
  3. Click on the Define Workflow button
  4. Click on the Transitions button to the left of the state where the transition is configured
  5. Click on the Task Fields button to the left of the desired transition
  6. Click on the field in the In Use column, then click on the Edit button
  7. Make changes to the properties for the field when it is presented during the Task operation. The properties are described in the next section below.
  8. Click on the Update button to save your selections
  9. Click on the OK button to return to the Transition list

To remove Task Fields from a transition:

  1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
  2. Click on the Admin icon
  3. Click on the Define Workflow button
  4. Click on the Transitions button to the left of the state where the transition is configured
  5. Click on the Task Fields button to the left of the desired transition
  6. Click on the field in the In Use column, then click on the Remove button
  7. Click OK to return to the Transition list

Properties for Task Fields

The following properties can be set for Task Fields when they are presented during the Task operation:

Order
The order in which the Task Field will appear on the page during the Task operation relative to the other task fields configured for the same transition. By default, the order will be the order value as listed in the Define Record section. Select an integer value. If multiple task fields have the same value for the order field, the task fields will be listed in alphabetical order.

Type
Specifies whether the field is required, optional, or read only when it appears during the Task operation. Selecting Required indicates that a user will not be able to complete the Task operation until something is entered or a different value selected for the field. For Integer, Float, Text, TextArea, or Date types this means that a blank value will not be allowed. For pulldown fields, this means that the user must select a value other than the initial value displayed on the form. Selecting Optional indicates that the user is not required to enter information into the field to complete the Task operation. Selecting Read Only indicates that the contents of the field will be displayed for the user's reference, but the field cannot be modified.

Initialize (Reset)
For Date fields, this property specifies whether the field should be automatically initialized to the current date/time when it appears on the Task page. You may wish to use a combination of setting the Type to "Read Only" and Initialize (Reset) to "Yes" for date fields. This combination will allow the date field to be set to the current date and time when the Task operation is performed, but the user will not be allowed to modify the date field.

For Text, TextArea, URL, Integer, and Float fields, this property specifies whether the field should be reset to blank. By setting the Initialize (Reset) property to "Yes" and setting the Type property to "Required", you can force a new value to be entered for a Text, TextArea, URL, Integer, or Float field. This property can be useful in combination with the Clone Record option in a Transition as you may find that you would like several fields to be reset when creating a copy (clone) of an existing record.

Note 1: For Float and Integer fields, if you set the Initialize (Reset) property to "Yes" and the Type property to "Read Only", the field value will be set to 0 (or 0.0) because Float and Integer fields must always have a value (blank is not a valid value for Float or Integer).
Note 2: For all field types, if you set the Initialize (Reset) property to "Yes" the existing value (if any) of the field will be overwritten. Any data previously entered in the field will be lost.

For Pulldown fields, this property specifies whether the field should be reset to its default value. By setting the Initialize (Reset) property to "Yes" and setting the Type property to "Required", you can force a user to select a value other than the default.

For Dependent Pulldown fields, if the parent pulldown is set to be initialized, the parent pulldown will be set to its default value. The value of child pulldown menus may be changed to its default relative to value of the parent pulldown if:

If the child pulldown is not present as a task field, it will retain the same value even if the value does not match the value set for the parent pulldown.

For RelNum fields, this property specifies whether each component of the field should be reset to its default value.

For YesNo fields, this property specifies whether the field should be set to "Yes", its default value.


Alerts

Alerts are email notification messages that can be sent automatically by ProblemTracker at a later date and time to remind a user or group about a record. Alert settings can be configured for each transition. When an alert is set for a transition, when the Task operation is performed on a record using this transition, the alert settings will be applied to the record. It is also possible to allow users to be prompted to configure the Alert settings during the Task operation. Information on configuring default Alert settings for a transition can be found in the Administration section for the Alerts feature.