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’ flow palette contains all of the forms you have already created in the Forms tab of the application you are currently editing. These forms are available for you to add as steps of the flow. The palette also contains a new form which lets you create a new form step directly within the flow designer. Additional step types for flow steps are Summary, http and Anonymous Task. The purpose of each is described below.

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  • Click anywhere in the General Setting section in the Properties Navigator on the left. This opens the Settings tab. Change the name of the step from the default to something meaningful in the Name field.
    When you click on any step in the flow,  a series of action icons displays depending on the step type. Creating a flow step by dragging/dropping an existing form or a New Form from the Palette shows these icons:

    • Image Modified - Cog icon - Click this icon to edit Step Properties. This icon is displayed when you select the flow step and in the Properties Navigator on the left side of the designer. 
      • Clicking the Image ModifiedEdit Step Properties icon on a flow step displays tabs to set up Settings, Assignment, Messages, Rejection, Precondition, Escalations, Emails, Web Hook, Quick Approval and Geo Location.
      • Clicking the Image ModifiedEdit Step Properties from the Properties Navigator or simply clicking on a section of the Properties Navigator brings you directly to the tab for immediate editing.
    • Image Modified - Chain link icon - Click this icon to create Linked Steps. Refer to Linked Steps in a Flow for a discussion of this Flow Design pattern and when you should use it.
    • Image Modified - Download Arrow over bar - Use this icon to download the step of the workflow as a standalone form. You may want to do this if you update the step in the flow designer and you want to keep your Forms and Flow libraries in sync.
    • Image Modified -  Pencil icon - Click this icon to make changes to a flow step. The form will open in the Forms Designer inside of the Flow Designer. Remember, the form in the Flow Designer is a copy and any form changes will not automatically sync up with the original form in your Forms library.
    • Image Modified - Minus icon - Use this icon to delete a step in a workflow. You will NOT be asked to confirm the deletion. Once clicked, the deletion is permanent.

Existing Forms 

The palette contains all of the forms that you have already created and which are listed in your current application's forms home page. You can use any form as a step in the flow. Adding an existing form to the flow creates a copy of that form. If you later edit the form from the forms home page,  those changes will not affect the step in the flow. It remains as it was at the time you copied it into the flow. If you want to update the flow to have a new copy of the form, delete the form from the flow and drag it in again. You can also edit the form directly in the flow. Conversely these changes to the form inside the flow do not affect the original form in the form home page.

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  •  Click to select it.
    When you click on any step in the flow,  a series of action icons displays depending on the step type. Creating a flow step by dragging/dropping an existing form or a New Form from the Palette shows these icons:

    • Image Modified - Cog icon - Click this icon to edit Step Properties. This icon is displayed when you select the flow step and in the Properties Navigator on the left side of the designer. 
      • Clicking the Image ModifiedEdit Step Properties icon on a flow step displays property tabs to set up Settings, Assignment, Messages, Rejection, Precondition, Escalations, Emails, Web Hook, Quick Approval and Geo Location.
      • Clicking the Image ModifiedEdit Step Properties from the Properties Navigator or simply clicking on a section of the Properties Navigator brings you directly to the tab for immediate editing.
    • Image Modified - Chain link icon - Click this icon to create Linked Steps. Refer to Linked Steps in a Flow for a discussion of this Flow Design pattern and when you should use it.
    • Image Modified - Download Arrow over bar - Use this icon to download the step of the workflow as a standalone form. You may want to do this if you update the step in the flow designer and you want to keep your Forms and Flow libraries in sync.
    • Image Modified -  Pencil icon - Click this icon to make changes to a flow step. The form will open in the Forms Designer inside of the Flow Designer. Remember, the form in the Flow Designer is a copy and any form changes will not automatically sync up with the original form in your Forms library.
    • Image Modified - Minus icon - Use this icon to delete a step in a workflow. You will NOT be asked to confirm the deletion. Once clicked, the deletion is permanent.

When you add an existing form as a step in your flow:

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Previously completed steps in a workflow can be viewed by all users but editing data is only allowed for the user that initiated the flow. For example, if the Summary step is part of a screenflow performed by the same user, editing is allowed when this user clicks on the Details button. Once the flow navigates to a different user, previous steps are rendered read-only and cannot be edited. Refer to Flow Processing Modes for more information.

The Print button is available on Summary steps by default. Refer to Printing Flows for the details.

When you click on the Summary step, you will see

  • Image Modified - Cog icon - Click this icon to edit Step Properties. This icon is displayed when you select the flow step and in the Properties Navigator on the left side of the designer. Click the Image Modified icon on the Properties Navigator or anywhere in the General Settings section takes you directly to the Settings tab.
  • Image Modified - Minus icon - Use this icon to delete a step in a workflow. You will NOT be asked to confirm the deletion. Once clicked, the deletion is permanent.

The designer can specify a CSS class, a Button label and a Decorator for the Summary step on the Settings property tab.

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The fields that display on the Summary Step are selected by the designer in the Summary wizard.

HTTP

Drag an HTTP step from the Palette and drop it anywhere in your flow. If you are adding it as the first step, drop it into the guide box. You will only see the guide box when adding the first step.

Click to select it.
When you click on any step in the flow,  a series of action icons displays depending on the step type. Creating a flow step by dragging/dropping an HTTP shows these icons:

  • Image Modified - Cog icon - Click this icon to edit Step Properties. This icon is displayed when you select the flow step and in the Properties Navigator on the left side of the designer. 
    • Clicking the Image ModifiedEdit Step Properties icon on a flow step displays tabs to set up Settings, Email and Web Hook properties.
    • Clicking the Image ModifiedEdit Step Properties from the Properties Navigator or simply clicking on a section of the Properties Navigator brings you directly to the tab for immediate editing.
  • Image Modified - Minus icon - Use this icon to delete a step in a workflow. You will NOT be asked to confirm the deletion. Once clicked, the deletion is permanent.

HTTP Wait - Notify

HTTP Wait-Notify is a step, configured with a post url, that can be added to a flow. The flow data is posted to this url when the task is executed. A call back url is included in the post. The flow and task are suspended until the receiver posts back.

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Configure a History Message on the step before the http step if you want to see relevant information in the audit trail.  

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Anonymous Task

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Use of the Anonymous Task step requires that the ACL for "who can use the flow" is set to Public.This is because your flow now contains a step that is performed by a person who is not an authenticated user - someone who is not logged into  

Note: If you want to control who can use the flow, then set a role(s) on the first step of your workflow.

Info

 offers the flow designer many ways to send emails from workflows. You can:

The Anonymous Task in the flow designer palette is ONLY used to route a workflow to someone who does not have a  login (anoymous user). It does send an email to the anonymous user that contains a link to the step in the flow that the anonymous user performs. The anonymous user completes the step and then the workflow is routed back to a user who must login for the workflow to continue. Examples of workflows that would have an anonymous email step would be a request to an outside vendor for a quote, or a Purchase Order that is sent to the customer for approval. Refer to the Flow Tutorial for step by step instructions to implement this feature for a Purchase Order workflow.

Many business scenarios require a step in the workflow to be performed by a person who is not an authenticated user - someone who is not logged into .  

The Anonymous Task step allows the design of a flow where some steps are performed by authenticated users/roles and other steps are performed by an anonymous user. The anonymous user receives an email, clicks on a link in the email and accesses the task without being authenticated, performs the anonymous step, clicks continue, and the flow is routed back to an internal, authenticated user. The flow is suspended (saves the flow to the database), sends an email to the specified email address with a back link. The anonymous user clicks the link email and the flow renders even though he/she is not logged in. 

A typical situation is an employee who submits a request to an outside vendor for a quote, which then needs to be approved by the employee's manager. The Anonymous Task step of the flow sends an email to the vendor, the flow is suspended until the vendor submits his quote, then the flow continues for the manager's approval. The Vendor Quote Workflow Tutorial consists of step by step instructions to completely build/test a workflow that uses the Anonymous task step.

The Vendor Quote workflow, shown in the image, has 4 steps:

  • Step 1 is the Vendor Quote request filled in by someone in the company with the employee role. The Employee role was selected from the role list for this step.
  • Step 2 of the flow sends an email to the vendor. The Anonymous Task step was dragged from the palette and dropped into the flow. This step must have an email address. It can be filled in by the user or populated via a business rule. In this case, the value of the control named VendorEmail will be used to determine the email address to send to. VendorEmail is an example of a template. An email is sent to the email address in the VendorEmail control with the link back to the flow.
  • Step 3 is what the vendor sees when the link inside the email is clicked. The step that goes to the anonymous user cannot have a role, dynamic role or user assigned to it. This step is really a section in the main form that is shown only when step 3 is being performed. The Vendor and Manager sections are shown/hidden using a business rule. The flow is suspended until the vendor completes his section. In a future version of , the amount of time the flow remains suspended can be configured. 
  • Step 4 is the Manager Approval step. After the vendor submits the quote information, the flow proceeds to the manager step and puts the Vendor Quote Task on the Task List of the employee's manager .  The manager can approve/reject the quote. If approved, the flow is completed.

Here is what it looks like when the flow is performed:

When the Vendor clicks on the link, the relevant parts of the flow are shown. The notify URL automatically adds the timezone from the browser.

The manager approve/rejects the flow from his Task List. Any configured Form/Doc actions , such as a display message, will execute. If the manager approves the task, the workflow is complete. Note the Vendor Quote step in the flow is greyed out.

Some Tips about Anonymous Task steps

  • Anonymous Task steps are performed by an anonymous user - the user is not required to sign into .

  • The behavior of workflows consisting of multiple consecutive anonymous steps has changed. Refer to this Multiple clicks on an Anonymous Email link for the details.

  • The Anonymous Task step will show up in the navigation bar for other users as usual; you can assign it a decorator but you cannot click on it.

  • The task will show up in the Audit Trail in the Waiting state when it is waiting for an anonymous recipient. You can search for it, do all the usual things.

  • Users can reject Anonymous Task steps in a flow by clicking the Reject button but a subsequent user cannot reset a flow back to these steps. See the topic below for more information.

  • If the Navigation Toolbar is used to go to previous step, the Anonymous Task step will be skipped. It would get recalled if you reset to a prior step and the flow continues through it's normal flow. 

  • The Navigation Toolbar can be used to navigate to a previous step in a screenflow performed by anonymous users. See Anonymous Screenflows

  • Configure a History Message on the step before the Anonymous Task step if you want to see relevant information in the audit trail. The History Message can be templatized so you can see the email address of the recipient.

  • If you are setting up Escalations on an Anonymous Email step and you choose to send emails to your users to let them know that the deadline for the task is approaching, change the default template {task.perform.url} to the {task.notify.url} template in the body of the Reminder message on the escalation screen. See the Reminder Message Template for Anonymous Task step for the details.

  • Confluence users must set the flow to public and allow anonymous access to your Confluence page. The only way for anonymous users to access the flow task from is to use the built-in {task.notify.url} function.

Anonymous Screenflows

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Flow Setting Properties
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Anonymous Task Properties

When you drag/drop an Anonymous Task step into your flow and click on it, a Properties panel displays. The Name,  Pending Message, Precondition and Decorator properties work exactly like they do on other types of steps. Task Info doed not apply to an Anonymous Task. If you want to set up a History Message you must do so on the step in your flow that the anonymous user is going to see.  Note the envelope decorator to identify the Anonymous Task step in the flow. 

 Step Doc Actions work exactly like they do on other types of steps.
 
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When you click on the step in your flow that is seen by the anonymous user, a Properties pane displays. Several of these properties, do not apply to a task performed by a non-authenticated person and will have no effect. These properties are: Role List, Role, User, Task Info, CSS class, Preconditon, Save Load, Save to Role, and Save to User and . You can customize the button label, history message and select a decorator for this task that will display on the Navigation toolbar. 

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The Task Notification Email  wizard also works exactly like it does on other types of steps except that the default message content is slightly different. It references {task.notify.url} which is the back link URL that the non-authenticated person clicks in the email to perform their step in the workflow. The designer can customize this message however, if you don't include the {task.notify.url} in your email content, the email recipient will never be able to access the task.

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View Tasks when a step is performed by an Anonymous User

 

Imagine a Software Order workflow where Step 1 is filled in by the company Sales Rep who then sends it to the customer for approval/signature via email. The Software Order is waiting for client review/signature and the Sales rep wants to view the details before the client signs and sends it back to Sales rep.

 

If your workflow was created in a version of previous to v8.0, then the step performed by the customer (anonymous user) was designed by dragging an EMail or Anonymous Task step from the Palette and dropping it on the Flow Designer canvas. Workflows designed in this manner will still work in v8.0 but the Audit Trail will show the task in a WAITING state when the Sales Rep clicks on the View icon.

 

In version 8.0, the same flow can be designed by simply assigning the step to an Email Address. When the Sales Rep clicks the View icon, shows the step performed by the customer (anonymous user) in a Pending state and displays the Email address it was sent to.

 

 

In all cases, the Sales Rep will see a read only view of the Software Order that they filled out and sent to the customer.


Resetting a Flow with an Anonymous Task step

 Consider a flow with the following navigation: Step 1 is performed by an Employee > Step 2 is an Anonymous Task step > Step 3 is performed by an Anonymous user > Step 4 is performed by a manager. 

  • Employee starts flow, email gets sent, the anonymous step is performed and a task is generated for manager. If the manager is also a flow admin, they can reset the flow to a previous step
  • A flow cannot be reset to the Anonymous Task step. In this example, only a reset to the employee step is allowed. 
  • The task is returned to the Employee Task List. When the employee performs the step again and clicks Continue. The Anonymous Task step is performed again and another email will go to the anonymous user.

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 The same behavior applies to a flow with an http step. 

Searching Tasks with an Anonymous Task step

Consider a flow with the following navigation: Step 1 is performed by an Employee > Step 2 is an Anonymous Task step > Step 3 is performed by an Anonymous user > Step 4 is performed by a manager.

  • The flow has been started and the notification email has been sent.
  • The flow is now in the WAITING state.
  • The Employee can search for a status of WAITING and view the audit trail. If the employee is also a flow admin, they can reset the flow to a previous step

  • The tenant admin can search for a status of WAITING, reset the flow to a previous step, abort it or view the Audit trail. 

The same behavior applies to a flow with an http step. 

Anonymous Task Steps and the Reject Feature

If a Reject feature is configured for a workflow, non-admin users can send the workflow back to a previous step. For example, a Manager can send the workflow back to an Employee for corrections. If the workflow contains an Anonymous Task step, the anonymous user can reject the task but it is not possible to reject back to the Anonymous Task step from subsequent steps in the workflow.  

Form Viewer Control

The Form Viewer control is used to allow a generated PDF to be viewed as part of a form step in a flow. This control only appears on the Forms palette in the flow designer when you click the icon to edit an step in a flow. 

 

 

 

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