Article published on the 1st of March, 2023.
Contents
1. Introduction
3. Examples
3.1. Provide justification if high budget
3.1.1. Configuration
3.1.2. Execution
3.2. Putting a process on hold
3.2.1. Configuration
3.2.2. Execution
1. Introduction
Step execution rules make it possible to control the execution of a specific step in a given WorkPoint Automate process.
It can e.g. be used to configure that a specific step should be skipped based on one or more conditions.
It can also be used to evaluate a condition in the process and put it on hold based on the result. The user can then go back to a previous step and resolve whatever input resulted in the on-hold result.
Step execution rules work by checking a specified condition before the the execution of a step, as illustrated in the following image:
In this article we will go through how to configure step execution rules, as well as give a couple of examples of use.
2. Configuration
Step execution rules are configured in the "Rules" tab of WorkPoint Automate steps.
This tab always displays options for "Pre-evaluation title" and "Pre-evaluation message", as well as a button for configuring execution rules for the specific step:
The pre-evaluation title and pre-evaluation message fields are always available in the "Rules" tab of any step. In these fields, you can type in a title and a descriptive message to indicate to users that this step has an execution condition, even before the step has been reached in the process. The title and the message are displayed when clicking the information-icon next to the step in the process overview when the process is run:
The pre-evaluation title and message are displayed in the information box before the rule has been evaluated. The system can be configured to display a different title and message after the step execution rule has been evaluated.
Clicking the "+ Before execution" button adds a new "Before execution" rule for the step:
- Clicking the header of the execution rule expands or collapses the rule options.
- Clicking the recycle bin removes the specific execution rule.
- The title of the execution rule is used for differentiating rules from one another and is not shown to the user.
- In the "Type" field, you can select the type of execution rule. Currently, only the "Before execution" type is available.
- In the "Action" field, you can select what the action of this rule should be. Options are:
- Skip: If the condition(s) of the rule is met, the step will be skipped.
- Hold: If the condition(s) of the rule is met, the step will display the text in the "Response title" and "Response message" to the user, and disallow them to continue. The user can click their way back to the previous step to resolve eventual issues.
- Cancel: If the condition(s) of the rule is met, the process status will be set to "Canceled". The user can close the process afterwards.
- Fail: If the condition(s) of the rule is met, the process status will be set to "Failed". The user can close the process afterwards.
- In the "Condition(s)" field, you can configure one or more conditions for the execution rule. If these conditions are met, the action configured for the rule will be enforced. An example could be a condition which checks if a company being created is of a specific size, or a specific type. Depending on the evaluation outcome, the action of the rule can be enforced. Multiple conditions can be configured for each rule and joined using either AND or OR.
- In the "Response title" and "Response message" fields, you can type in a title and message which will be shown after the evaluation/enforcement of the execution rule. This message is shown both in the main section of the process (if process is canceled or failed), and in the information box in the process overview:
3. Examples
3.1. Provide justification if high budget
3.1.1. Configuration
In this example we will use step execution rules to ensure that users creating a new project provide a budget justification if the budget exceeds a certain value.
For this purpose, in a process titled "New project", we will use an entity form in which users can provide project meta data. We will then use a custom form for providing a budget justification and a budget signee, but only if the budget exceeds 25000. We will then finish the process off with a Create entity step which creates the final project entity and site.
Note that these steps will be titled "Project information", "Budget justification", and "Create project" in the process.
In the Entity form, titled "Project information", we are using the following options:
In the "Fields" tab, we have hidden the "Budget justification" and "Budget signee" fields, and made the "Budget" field required. The "Project ID field is set to hidden because it is automatically generated by a Numerator Service:
In the Custom form, titled "Budget justification", we have created three custom fields; "Budget", "Budget justification", and "Budget signee":
The "Budget" field is a read-only field which displays the budget that was set in the Project information form. The "Budget justification" field is a "Note" field in which the user can provide a justification for the budget. The "Budget signee" is a User field in which the user can assign a person who has to sign off on the budget.
In the "Rules" tab of the Budget justification form we have configured the following options:
- In the "Pre-evaluation title" and "Pre-evaluation" message fields we have types in some information about the check that is going to be made when moving to the Budget justification form. In this case, we inform the user that if the project's budget exceeds 25000, they will need to provide a justification.
- We title the execution rule "Budget check".
- For "Type", we select "Before execution".
- In this instance, we want to skip the Budget justification form if the budget provided for the project is below or equal to 25000. We therefore select the "Skip" action.
- In the "Condition(s)" section, we have configured the following condition:
In the condition we check if the number in the "wpBudget" field from the Project information form is less than or equal to 25000. This condition is represented in the execution rule as "ProjectInformationForm.wpBudget <= 25000":
- In the "Response title" and "Response message" fields we also provide some post-evaluation information about the execution rule.
3.1.2. Execution
When we execute the previously configured "New project" process, we first get the opportunity to input all necessary meta data for a new project:
- If we click on the information icon next to the "Budget justification" step in the process overview, we see the Pre-execution title and message from the step execution on that step.
- In the Project information form, we have input a budget of 50000. This number is of course larger than 25000, and will therefore require a budget justification.
- To proceed, we click the "Continue" button.
Since the budget exceeds 25000, we are taken to the "Budget justification" step:
- In the Budget justification form we type in a justification and assign a signee.
- To proceed to the "Create project" step, we click "Continue".
Our project is now being created:
Once created, our project can be found in our Projects list:
Let's create another project with a budget below 25000:
- For this project, the budget is set to 10000.
- To proceed, we click "Continue".
This time, the "Budget justification" step is skipped, and our project is simply created:
- Note that after the Budget justification execution rule has been processed, the information pop-up now displays the response title and message from the execution rule.
3.2. Putting a process on hold
In this example, we will use the "Hold" action type for a step execution rule.
We will build upon the previous process example and use the "Hold" action so that users cannot create a new project with the name "MASTER". We will create a message for the user that that name is reserved (in this case for the master site of the Projects business module). The user will be able to return to the Entity form and use a different name for the project.
3.2.1. Configuration
As mentioned, we will build upon the previously configured "New project" process, specifically on the "Create project" step:
- In the "Rules" tab of the "Create project" step, we type in a pre-evaluation title and message to display to the user before the step execution rule is evaluated. We inform the user that the title "MASTER" is reserved.
- We then add an execution rule and title it "Check project title".
- For "Type", we select "Before execution" because we want to check the project title and act on it before creating the new project entity.
- For "Action", we select "Hold". This action makes it possible for us to stop the user from creating the project and display a message to them. After this, they can return to a previous step.
- Since we want to out the process step on hold if the user has selected the title "MASTER" for their project, we create the following conditions to check for that (note that we also check for lowercase spelling):
- In the response title and message, we give the user some information about why the step is put on hold, should they have chosen the title "MASTER" or "master" for their project. In this case, we let them know that the title is reserved, and that they should try a different title for their project. Note that we are using the title provided in the "Project information" form in the response message.
With this configuration, users who use the "New project" process should be prevented from using the title "MASTER" or "master".
3.2.2. Execution
When we execute the previously configured "New project" process, we first get the opportunity to input all necessary meta data for a new project. In this case, we use the title "MASTER":
When we proceed to the "Create project" step, we are met with the following window:
- The process is put on hold on the "Create project" step and in the information pop-up we can see the response title and message. In this case, the message informs us that the name "MASTER" is reserved and that we should try a different title for our project.
- Next, let's click the "Go back" button.
- We are returned to the Project information form in which we can type in a different title for the project. In this case, we select the title "Project Black".
- We click "Continue" and try to create the project again.
This time the process succeeds:
And the project is created and available in our Projects list:
