Performing workflow actions

"Workflow" is a term used to describe a sequence of procedural steps within a business process. In Alloy Navigator Express, these steps typically relate directly to the lifecycle of an object, where the beginning of an object lifecycle is its creation, and the end is its completion. Within each object's lifecycle, its lifecycle phases relate to the object's statuses.

Workflow actions are capable of applying templates, obtaining user input through pop-up forms or wizard pages, performing various operations, and sending e-mail notifications.

There are two types of interactive actions:

• Actions that enable you to create new objects. For details, see Adding records.

• Actions that are used on existing objects for the purpose of performing steps of a business process. These steps may be used to further an object's lifecycle or to perform general tasks such as adding notes. These workflow actions for processing existing records are accessible both from open object records and grids. In grids, you can perform an action either for a single record or for a group of records.

  NOTE: The availability of actions are controlled by your Alloy Navigator Express administrator.

Actions menu and Action Bar

Workflow actions appear on the Module menu bar in the Actions sub-menu. This menuis contextual, meaning Alloy Navigator Express adjusts its content for the current selection in the grid or for the current object.You can also access Actions by clicking the Actions menu icon in the leftmost column of the grid.

In the object details window, Actions are also available on the Action Bar. The Action Bar shows all Actions that are available to the technician. Note that all Actions unavailable for the current stage or object status are hidden from the menu.

To perform a workflow action from an open record:

1. Open the target object record.

2. Click the desired action in the Action Bar on the right. Typically, actions are grouped by categories (e.g. General, Communications, Relationships, Integrations, etc.).

3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

   If the action brings up an Action Form, fill it out and click SUBMIT to save your changes. If the action starts a wizard, complete that wizard.

   TIP: Some fields can be mandatory, they are marked with the asterisk (*). Fill out the mandatory fields, otherwise the action cannot be completed.

To perform a workflow action from a grid:

1. Select the target object record in the grid.

2. On the Module menu, click the Actions sub-menu and then select the desired action. Typically, actions are grouped by categories (e.g. General, Communications, Relationships, Integrations, etc.).

   Alternatively, you can click the Actions menu icon in the leftmost column of the grid and select the desired action from the drop-down menu.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

   If the action brings up an action form, fill it out and click SUBMIT to save your changes. If the action starts a wizard, complete the wizard.

   TIP: Some fields can be mandatory, they are marked with the asterisk (*). Fill out the mandatory fields, otherwise the action cannot be completed.

Performing workflow actions on multiple records

Some workflow actions can be performed on a group of records selected in a grid.

To run an action on multiple records:

1. Select the target records in the grid. For details, see Selecting multiple records.

2. On the Module menu, click the Actions sub-menu and then select the desired action. Typically, actions are grouped by categories (e.g. General, Communications, Relationships, Integrations, etc.).

3. If the action brings up an action form, fill it out and click SUBMIT to save your changes. If the action starts a wizard, complete that wizard.

   Typically, the action form or wizard pages do not display the current values of record fields; all fields are shown blank. Mandatory fields are marked with the asterisk (*). Read-only fields are not displayed at all because you cannot change them anyway.

   The green tick icon next to a field indicates that the specified field value will be applied to all target records. When the tick icon is missing, this means that the existing values of the field in all target records will not be touched.

   • To specify the same field value for all target records, enter this value into that field. After you proceed to a next field, the green tick icon will appear.

   • To clear a field in all target records, enter any value into that field and then clear it using the DELETE key on the keyboard. The green tick icon next to a field will remain.

     TIP: If you need to cancel your changes in all target records, click the green tick icon . The field will be cleared, and the tick icon will disappear.

   • To keep the existing field values in all target records, leave the field blank. The field will not have the tick icon next to it.

     NOTE: Fields that are used in the business logic always have the tick icon next to them, which cannot be removed. This means that those fields will certainly get new values in all target records — either the values you would enter now, or the default values specified by the business logic.

Related Information:

Adding records

Action Bar

Using the HTML editor

Installing Alloy Integration Launcher