Workflows

A workflow is an electronic form that allows you and your coworkers to initiate and track procedures, gather data as work is completed, and automatically route tasks to the users responsible for each step in the process. Qualtrax stores the information gathered through these forms as a database record called a Workflow Instance, with the appropriate users given access to necessary information at the required times.

How a workflow instance behaves depends on the Workflow Definition it's based on. Most general users will not have access to workflow definitions, but it may help to think of them as master templates, blank forms of which each workflow instance is a copy. To understand how workflows function, you should know these basic terms.

•	State: One step of a workflow assigned to a single user or set of users. When you're working with an instance, you will see the current State as a single page of the electronic form you're processing.

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Field: A place for entering information or making selections on an electronic form. Fields can be blank text boxes, drop down menus, personnel trees, and so on. The workflow Administrator may flag certain fields as Required to complete a transition, and may also limit View and Edit Security to individual fields.

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Transition: Any action that processes the workflow to a subsequent State. Transitions appear at the bottom of each electronic form as Transition Buttons. Some workflows have only one possible transition from each state, while more complex workflows may have several, each of which will take you to a different form appropriate to your situation.

•	Responsible Parties: The users responsible for filling fields and enacting transitions to subsequent states. Responsible parties may be individual users or groups of users, and transitions may require processing by all of the responsible parties or by only one.

•	Initiator: The user who starts a new instance of the workflow. By definition, this user must be a Responsible Party for the first State.

Mouse over Workflows in the Left Navigation Menu. If you are a Responsible Party for the first state of any workflows, they will appear in a pop-out menu similar to the one shown below. In this example, we are using Observation/Suggestion, a simple form that allows employees to make suggestions and forward them to a manager. Click the desired workflow.

2.	A new workflow instance opens in the View Frame. The header at the top of the form provides basic information about the instance.

•	ID: The unique identification number for the instance. Instances have their own ID numbers, even if they are

3.	Fill fields. The workflow administrator may have set some of these fields as Required for each transition. In the example below, each field is marked as Required for the Report transition.

4.	To save what you've entered so far and return to the form at a later time, click Save Changes.

5.	To generate an HTML version of the form and open it in a separate browser window, click View Printable Version.

6.	When you're ready to send the workflow to the next state, click the transition button at the bottom of the screen.

7.	A dialog box appears as the workflow is processed to the next state. If you are the next Responsible Party, you will be taken to the next state and may continue processing. If not, you will be returned to my Qualtrax, and the workflow will continue to the next Responsible Party.

1.	If you are the responsible party for the current state of an active workflow, it will appear under the appropriate heading and state subheading in My Qualtrax. Click the link to begin processing.

2.	The workflow instance opens to the current state. A new workflow instance opens in the View Frame. The header at the top of the form provides basic information about the instance.

•	ID: The unique identification number for the instance. Instances have their own ID numbers, even if they are

•	[Transition] by: The date and user name for previous transitions are listed here. In this example, the last transition was called Report.

•	Needs to be processed by: Lists the Responsible Parties who must enact the transition before the workflow instance can proceed to the next State.

3.	Fields for the Current State appear above the page break. Fill at least fields marked as Required for the transition you want to perform. In the example below, the Comment field is required for the review transition.

Fields from previous States appear below the page break. These are fields that were filled by other users before the workflow arrived in the workflow section of your My Qualtrax, and are usually provided for reference. Some, however, may still be editable in the current state, allowing you to make notes, correct mistakes, or provide additional information.

5.	To save what you've entered so far and return to the form at a later time, click Save Changes.

6.	To generate an HTML version of the form and open it in a separate browser window, click View Printable Version.

7.	When you're ready to send the workflow to the next state, click the transition button in the middle of the screen. In this case, the transition button is Review.

8.	If everything was entered correctly, the Please Wait dialog box appears while the workflow transitions to the next state and is sent to the next Responsible Party. Once all Responsible Parties have completed the required transitions, the workflow is complete, and no further processing is required.

1.	If you have the appropriate security access, enter the instance ID in the Search Box in the upper right corner of your screen.

2.	The instance ID opens in the View Frame. Any fields you have permission to change appear in editable mode, as shown below. Simply make the desired changes, then and click Save Changes.