Workflow - Forms



Forms processing is a standard protocol at most businesses. VisualVault allows you to recreate existing forms and then apply workflow rules to the form.

When creating or editing a form template (see How to Create a Form Template) select the Workflow tab while in the Form Template ID Card.

  • Select the sequence (Seq) number and then use the Add/Remove Tasks menu to Add or Delete tasks in the workflow.

  • For each task enter a Description to define the task, select a Due Date, and then select Save.

  • Search for a user and select the user from the User List to assign them to the task.

  • The first task will be predefined, as it is based upon the act of submission of the record during the first save process.

  • Continue adding other tasks until the configuration of the workflow for the form is complete.

For Descriptions, you can insert smart tokens.  A smart token is a form field name enclosed in square brackets.  The data from that field will be inserted into the description where the token was inserted.

For all task sequences after number one you must select a workflow task type (Serial, Parallel or Approval). Task order is the sequencing order in relation to the prior task. Parallel task alerts and assignments will take place simultaneously to the prior serial task. Serial task alerts and assignments will not take place until the prior task has been completed.
When all the workflow sequences have been defined click the Save Changes button in the upper left hand corner and the default workflow routing will be saved for the form template. The form template's workflow routing is initiated each time a user fills in the form. Changing the workflow on the Form Template ID card does not change active workflows that are already in progress. Only newly filled in forms will take on the new workflow.

Users must "Release the Revision" for the new form to be activated with the workflow. For handling the tasks that are created, refer to the following subjects:

How to Complete an Assigned Task
How to Complete a Training Assignment

A common use of forms is to add a web based form to the intranet, extranet or your company website that will be used to gather information and then facilitate a business process. VisualVault can automate tasks such as RFQ's, Customer Surveys and other customer related activities. Set the form security to Public and allow your stakeholder constituency to complete the required information and submit the form for further processing and follow-up. A form published to a company website with a defined workflow will initiate that workflow when the form is filled in from the company website.


Clear Signature Stamps when Workflow Rejected

At times a Signature Stamp may be related with a Workflow Task Sequence. When this relationship is present and users complete their task, the Signature Stamp is signed on the form to show that the user has completed their task. In various circumstances when the workflow follows the rejection path or negative outcome path a business process owner may want to clear the Signature Stamp so the users can re-sign the stamp during any subsequent workflow cycles. In order to configure the Signature Stamp so that it reacts in this manner the Form Template designer needs to check the "Clear Signature Stamp on Approval Reject" box in the Signature Stamp properties.

Signature Stamp Properties View

 

How to Relate a Signature Stamp to a Workflow Task

Designing a form for a business process usually involves developing a workflow that supports the form in the business process. If the Signature Stamp is used prevalently on the form, there is a high probability that the Signature Stamp represents a task sequence in the workflow that has been completed or approved by a VisualVault user. By default a Signature Stamp is not related to any Workflow Task Sequence, but the two can be related to streamline form usage for form based business processes. When the two items are related additional functionality is enabled.

Users can complete tasks through additional methods:

  1. Checking or selecting the Signature Stamp directly on the form.*

  2. Completing the task from the workflow tab of the form.

  3. Completing a workflow task from the Form Dashboard.*

  4. On the Task List.

*Additional locations due to configuration

Only Assigned Users can complete the task.

This configuration puts the form into a mode where only the assigned user can complete the task or check the Signature Stamp. If the user was not assigned to the task, they will be prompted with an error message when they sign the Signature Stamp.

Prerequisites

How to create the relationship

Once the above items are configured individually, users are ready to configure a Signature Stamp so that it relates to a workflow task sequence. In order to do this a user would complete the following steps:

  1. Navigate to the Workflow tab of the form template to be configured.

  2. Verify on the Workflow tab the number of the task sequence you want to associate with a Signature Stamp on the form.

  3. Navigate to the Form Designer and select the Signature Stamp to associate with the workflow task.

  4. On the properties of the Signature Stamp, Check the Assign check box under the Assign Signature Stamp to Workflow section, and select the number of the task sequence from step 2 from the Seq # drop down list.

  5. Save the Form Template.

  6. The form will need to then be released for this change to take effect.

 If the task sequence is in queue mode and the user has not started work on the task, the task will automatically start work on the task and complete the task when the Signature Stamp is selected.

How to Set Up a Form Workflow

A common use of form templates is to add a link to intranets, extranets, and your company website. VisualVault can automate tasks such as RFQ's, Customer Surveys and other customer related activities. Set the form template security to public and allow your stakeholder constituency to complete the required information and submit the form data for further processing and follow-up.

Setting up workflows on a form template helps automate the forms based business process to ensure that the right employees are notified and assigned tasks to complete business.
 
When creating a form template (see How to Create a Form Template) select the Workflow tab while in the form ID Card. Alternatively for a released form, follow the command sequence: Forms - Form Templates - (choose appropriate form template) - View - Workflow.

The first task on a Form Template workflow will be predefined, as it is based upon the act of submitting the form.

To add other workflow steps or sequences complete the following steps:

  1. Select the sequence (Seq) number where you want to insert the task by clicking the '+' button to expand the workflow task.

  2. Click on the Workflow Tasks button to see the list of choices for the task.

  3. Select the appropriate command to Add Task Above, Add Task Below, or Add Task to Bottom. Select Delete selected Task to remove the workflow task.

  4. For each task, select the task type, enter a Description to define the task, select a due date, and select any Users or Groups to assign to the task by using the arrows located in the Task Assignment section. (Depending on the task type selected, options to add an Originator and/or Supervisor may appear as links.)

  5. You may configure Approval, Notification, and Escalation information at this time, as well as options for weighting and queue mode.

  6. For all task sequences after sequence 1, you must select a workflow task type (Serial, Parallel or Approval). Task order is the sequencing order in relation to the prior task. Task notification when a Parallel task is assigned will take place simultaneously to the prior serial task. Serial task assignment notifications take place when the task is assigned.

  7. When all the workflow sequences have been defined click the Save Changes button in the upper left hand corner and the default workflow routing will be saved for the form template. The form template's workflow routing is initiated each time a user fills in a Form.

The template must be released if the workflow is changed on the working version (version being edited) of a form template. If the workflow is modified on a release form template, the change will affect all new entries for the form from the time it was saved. Any workflows that are currently active will not be affected.

An example of a workflow configured might be as follows:

Configured Workflow View

 

Using the Quick Routing Link

The Routing Link control gives you the flexibility of adding a peer to a form workflow on the fly while viewing a Form. This field can be inserted anywhere on the form and the label of the field can be formatted in any way you would like to communicate what the user needs to do. We highly recommend that the link be descriptive enough that users will quickly understand the purpose of the link. After the link is inserted on a Form and the user filling out the form has saved it, the Routing Link will then become available. When the user selects the link, they will get the following screen.

Form Quick Route View

 

The following bullets document the purpose of each field on the screen:

  • Enter Task Description - Description that the assigned user will have when the task is assigned.

  • Select Task Due Date - Date that the task is due.

  • Insert New Task at Location - Where the new task will be inserted.

  • Users Assigned Task - Which Users or Groups will be assigned to the task.

  • Negative Outcome Options - Determines what will happen if the task is rejected (if set to an Approval type).

If you want to know that has happened after a user completes their task, you should insert the task before the current task, unless you are included later on in the workflow.