Approval Workflow: An introduction
In any organization, certain policies and restrictions exist , some SOPs are needed to be followed. For example, the accounts department may not be allowed to release the funds for procurement, if the amount exceeds a threshold limit. When this happens, the approval of higher authorities becomes mandatory.
Similarly, Codeless ONE offers its users the option to approve the workflow. Whenever a new record is created for the relevant entities, it is sent to the selected stakeholders for approval, depending upon the conditions set in the workflow.
This article introduces key concepts related to the Approval Workflow. The actual process of creating one is discussed in a separate article here.
The Approval Workflow feature can be accessed through the App Settings. However, depending upon the access rights of a user, The Approval Workflow option may be enabled, hidden or read-only.
The Approval Workflow window can be divided into three parts:
- Header
- Process
- Condition
The Heeader has only 4 controls:
- Workflow Name
- Description
- Checkbox (to make the current flow as a sub-flow)
- Timezone
If the checkbox is selected, the workflow becomes a sub-flow, which can then be used for branching out, in other regular flows.
In the Process section, the by control can have individual roles, as well as groups.
In the Process section, the is control depicts when this process is created; either when the relevant record is created or updated.
In the Process section, the when control depicts which entity’s record is created.
The combination of these three controls translates to “When a record of the selected entity is created (or updated) by the selected role(s) (or group(s))….”
The Condition section deals with whom to send the workflow for approval, in case the above condition becomes true. The workflow may be configured to get approval from the selected roles only or all the roles to whom it is sent for approval.
When All users must submit toggle button is enabled, State and Next Flow controls disappear from the dialogue box.
Users can add conditions to the workflow using the Add Condition button.
In case multiple conditions are being fulfilled in a workflow, then only the first condition would be executed and the rest won’t be executed. In such a case, if a user wants the workflow to execute a particular condition, then they need to define that condition comprehensively, using the AND clause(s) in the condition. Another workaround in this case is to write the most likely (or desired) condition at the top and define other conditions subsequently in the dialogue box.
By default, two actions exist in a workflow. Their names and colors can be edited using the relevant controls.
Additional actions can be added using the Add Action button.
For each action, comments can be required, optional or not required.
Whenever the condition is met in an Approval Workflow, an approval request is generated. It can be accessed through My Approvals.
Record Pending value 0 denotes that the current user is not allowed to approve, although they may be a stakeholder. On the contrary, if a user sees value 1, then it means that he is required to give the approval (or reject).
Once inside the approval, the approver can approve or reject the approval, to complete the Approval Workflow process.
