Assignment

Use the Assignment tab to:

• Assign a workflow step to a to a user, role(s) or an email address.

• CC a notification to any additional user(s) who should also know the flow is on this step.

• Customize the Task Notification email message that is sent when the generated task for that step is put on the user's Task List. This email informs the recipients that there is a task that requires their attention.

Assign a Workflow Step to a User, Role(s) or Email Address

Users are given the highest priority at runtime followed by roles and then any email address.

• When you add a user to the Assign to User field, the Assign to Role and Assign to Email(No login required) fields become disabled. You cannot add Role(s) or an Email Address.

• When you add a role to the Assign to Role(s) field, the Assign to Email(No login required) field becomes disabled but the Assign to User field remains enabled. 

  • If you add a specific User then the Assign to Role(s) field becomes disabled, and will be ignored at runtime.

  • If you add a dynamic User (using a template), the step will reroute to the Role(s) only if the template resolves to null at run time.

• If you only add an Email Address, the Assign to User and Roles(s) fields remain enabled. If you add a User or a Role(s), the Email Address field becomes disabled and will be ignored at runtime.

User

This field allows the designer to assign a workflow step to a specific user. Clicking the

shows the first 10 users in your tenant in alphabetical order, followed by the first 10 fields in your flow in curly braces, making it a Control Template.

• You can enter a

  user id. Begin typing in the user id and a list of user names matching the text displays. Use the Enter key, the Up/Down arrows or click an option with your mouse to select a user.

• You can only enter a single username in this field. Ex: nancy. Setting the user property to a comma separated list of usernames, Ex: nancy, prajakta, will not work. This will be treated as a single username.

• This field can use templatized strings for dynamic content. For example, in a Vacation Request workflow, the first step is to be completed by an employee but the second (approval) step must be performed by the employee's manager. i.e. it can contain "{ManagerId}" where ManagerId is the name of a field in a form from a prior step.

   will resolve the ManagerId string using the actual value of the ManagerId control and generate a task targeted at that specific user.

• To enter a Control Template, type the opening curly brace - {followed by the control name into the Assign to User field. A list of fields from your flow displays surrounded by curly brackets). Selecting an option enters the control name into the field with the closing curly brace.
  
  

Do NOT use accented characters in the User property field.

Refer to the workflow topic sending a workflow step to a specific user for an example.

You may want to route a step in a workflow to the user's manager. 

provides a built-in template that is available for every transaction. Simply type the template {subject.reports.to} in the User property for that step in your flow. The workflow will then be routed to the user who is specified in the Reports To field on the User's configuration screen

Role

Roles are created by your tenant administrator or automatically imported from your LDAP or Active Directory server. When a role is selected, the step in question can only be performed by users belonging to that role. For example, if you have a Purchase Request workflow where the first step is to be completed by any employee but the second (approval) step must be performed by someone with the "Manager" role, you can select the Manager role for the second step. When an employee uses the workflow, completes the first step and clicks Continue,

 will generate a task and place it on the task list for users with the Manager role and display the Pending Msg to the employee.

• You can enter one or more

  roles. Begin typing in the role name and a list of roles in your tenant matching the text displays. Use the Enter key, the Up/Down arrows or click an option with your mouse to select a role.

• Repeat these actions to select additional roles i.e.Manager, HR 

• This field can use templatized strings to dynamically determine a role at runtime.  For example, you may have a workflow where the first step is a Purchase Order or a Loan Request and the second step is an approval; however the approval must be performed by a Manager if the amount is less than $1000 and a Supervisor otherwise. You will need a control in your form that is populated with the role that you want the flow to navigate to - in this case, Manager or Supervisor. To enter a Control Template, type the opening curly brace - {followed by the name of the control into the Assign to Role(s) field. A list of fields from your flow displays surrounded by curly braces. Selecting an option enters the control name into the field with the closing curly brace. Repeat these actions for the steps in your flow that are going to use the role entered for routing e.g. {ApproveRole}. At runtime.

   will resolve the target role using the data in the ApproveRole control and will route the workflow to that specific role. See the workflow example topic determining the role at run-time.

Partial templates with prefixes and suffixes can be used to create a complex role such as floor-manager for workflow routing.

Email Address(No login required)

Use this field to assign a step in your workflow that is going to be performed by an anonymous user. This is a user who will not need to log into your

tenant to perform their step. Let's say you have a Purchase Order workflow, where the Order Details are completed by someone in your company and one of the steps is routed to the customer for approval and signature.

• Edit the Purchase Order workflow in the Flows Designer.

• Click on the step(s) anonymous users will perform. Click the

  Edit Step Properties icon on the step then click on the Assignment tab or click the
  Edit Step Properties from the Assignment section in the Properties Navigator. This takes you directly to the Assignment tab.

• Enter a valid email address into the Assign to Email Address(No login required) field.

• will check if the address is entered in the correct format and notify the user if it is not.

• Only one email address is allowed.

• This field can use templatized strings to dynamically determine an email address at runtime. To enter a Control Template, type the opening curly brace - {followed by the name of the control that will contain the email address into the field. A list of fields from your flow displays surrounded by curly braces). Selecting an option enters the control name into the field with the closing curly brace. Repeat these actions for additional steps in your flow that are going to be performed by anonymous users.

• The flow can be rejected to a task performed by anonymous user.

• Tenant/flow admins can reassign the anonymous step to a different email address.

• The Task Assignment can be CC'd to another user so that in case the link is lost, there is another way to access the task, reassign or resend it. Be aware that first user to click the link will lock the task, so to ensure the intended user performs the task, consider including in the email message a warning such as "A copy of this message has been sent to your manager. Managers should not click the task link."

• 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.

• The Who can start the flow permission does not need to be set to Public. The Anonymous step will work with any of the Flow Visibility choices.

• The Anonymous step uses the {task.perform.url} template in the Task Notification email Message by default. If the anonymous user submits their step of the flow then goes back into the email and re-clicks on the link, the following message displays:
  
  

Refer to the Anonymous Participant topic or the Flow Tutorial for an example.

Please review the Planning for v9.0 for important information about converting workflows with an Email/Anonymous step to take advantage of this feature.

Workflow Task Design Considerations

The designer defines task boundaries by setting assignments (user, role or email address), so each flow step with an assignment is considered a new task. Any subsequent flow steps without assignment are considered part of screen flow of the same task. If the next step is a new task and the current user is eligible to perform it, the user will be provided with a link to continue the flow in the same screen. When the user clicks the link to continue the flow execution, the flow will continue like a screenflow but a new task will be created behind the scenes. 

Here is a diagram that explains how step assignments define tasks:

Having an assignment to a flow step strictly enforces the task boundary and it is applicable for the first step of flow as well. This means to create a task for the first step simply configure the first step with an assignment. Designers can also define flow level Access Control by selecting Custom in the Who can start the flow property and entering user(s) or role(s).

Invalid Task Assignment

For workflows created in v9.0.x and later, when a task that is routed to templatized user, role, or email resolves to null or empty string, the task will be assigned to the "invalid-task-assignment" userId and a notification with be sent to flow admin users (or tenant admin user if no flow admin is configured.) This will enable flow admin users to easily search mis-routed tasks assigned to the "invalid-task-assignment" userId and re-assign to valid user.

One exception to this is when you have both a templatized user and a role assigned, the step will reroute to the Role(s) if the template resolves to null at run time. If the templatized user is valid, Role will be ignored.

Workflows created in v8.x and prior will not inherit the new "invalid-task-assignment" behavior if a templatized user, role or email resolves to null. Instead, they will retain the previous behavior of morphing into a screenflow.

Anonymous Steps and the Audit Trail

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.

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

Setup Task Notification Email

When

 generates a task and places it on a user's task list, a notification email is generated.  The email informs the user that there is something on their Task List that requires their attention. A clickable link to the task or the Task List depending on the template that you choose, is included in the email.

You can specify your own email subject and message. The message body can contain HTML and CSS, giving you the ability to generate nicely formatted emails. Form data values can be added to the message subject and body using control template names or flow/special templates provided by

.

The designer can also specify email address(es), user(s), and role(s) to receive a CC: of the task notification message. For tasks assigned to an Email Address (No login required), the task will be locked by the first user who clicks the {task.perform.url} link. Designers can help ensure only the intended recipient picks up the task by configuring a warning into the email message such as "A copy of this notification has been sent to your manager. Managers should not click the link above."

Access the Assignment tab for that step to customize the subject and message of the email the user receives.

Email notification is optional. Each user can configure their own email notification preference in their User Profile using the My Account link on their applications page. If the Email option is turned off, they will not receive Task Notification emails.

• You can enter any text you want for in the Subject and Message fields. Clicking on the DEFAULT button, shows "New Task" as the default subject and "You can access your task by clicking <a href="{task.perform.url}">this link</a>" for the default message.

• Clicking on the

  down arrow, show a list of templatized fields from your flow, flow/special templates provided by

  and Task Templates that you can use in the body of your email.

  • Type the opening curly brace - {- followed by the control name to enter a field from your flow as a template. Selecting an option enters the control name into the field with the closing curly brace
    
    

  • Built-in flow templates

    • {flow.id} - The unique flow instance id. This id is unique for each flow submission.

    • {flow.type.id} - The unique id associated with a given flow. See Sharing Forms

    • {flow.extid} - Client defined extId passed in the formtype Url parameter.

    • {flow.name} - The name of the flow.

    • {flow.description} - Description of the flow. 

    • {flow.activity.id} - The Id of the current workflow step.

    • {flow.activity.name} - The name of the current workflow step

    • {flow.activity.reject.reason} - The reason a workflow step is rejected

  • Built-in special templates

    • {subject.id} - logged in user's username. 

    • {subject.roles} - A list of all the roles for the logged in user 

    • subject.email - logged in users's email address

    • {subject.first.name} - logged in users's First Name

    • {subject.last.name} - logged in users's Last Name

    • {subject.reports.to} - the user id of the person the logged in user Reports To - configured in the user profile by the Tenant Admin. Typically used to designate a manager/supervisor.

    • {tn.id} - the Tenant ID where a form/flow is located

    • {tn.name} - the Tenant Name where a form/flow is located

    • {user.id} - Owner of form/flow and user folder name in the filesystem 

    • {app.id} - The unique id associated with a given application. See Sharing Forms

    • {app.name} - The unique name associated with a given application.

 

Built-in data templates for forms (form.id, form.name, etc.) may be used in Workflow Step Properties Settings, Messages, and Quick Approval tabs.

 

Task Notification Email Links

There are two built-in frevvo templates that can be used to generate a link in the task notification email: {task.list.url} and {task.perform.url}.  To make any of these clickable links in your task notification emails, wrap them in an HTML <a> tag like this:

{task.list.url} - The special template {task.list.url} can be used in the email body to generate a clickable link to the user's 

server task list. Users will be taken to their Task List in your tenant after logging into

. Users will be directed to the Task List in your space if a default space is set for the tenant. Use the directions for Space Specific URL to direct these links to any space other than the default.

Here is an example of the hyperlink generated in the email:

{task.perform.url} - This is a URL template to the specific task in question (popupform URL).  This is the default.
Clicking this link from the email on a desktop, shows the form/workflow rendered in an iframe (similar to clicking Test). Clicking this link on a mobile device shows the mobile rendering (no iframe). Users will be directed to the form/workflow rendered in your space if a default space is set for the tenant. Use the directions for Space Specific URL to direct these links to any space other than the default.
Clicking a link in an email created with this template satisfies the Perform By or Perform Within requirement when setting up #Escalations.

Here is an example of the hyperlink generated in the email:

Consider an Employee On Boarding flow where the manager receives a task notification email to approve or reject the screen flow submitted by the new employee. If this built in template is used, the manager step in the flow displays when the link is clicked without having to access it from the Task List.

Space Specific URL

If you are using the

 space feature it is more likely you might want to return to the user's task list in the space. To do this - modify the task notification email  to use a space specific URL. Change the default Task List special template to a space specific URL which will return you to the user's Task List embedded in your chosen space. Create a space specific URL by supplying a URL to the Task List with the space/spaceID/tasklist appended to it.

In this example, the url is the space URL with /tasklist appended to it. Users must be logged in for this URL to take them directly to their Task List in your space. On mobile, you will see a Back button rendered to take you back to the space. In both cases, the top browser URL is redirected to the appropriate menu item for your task list so the user will not have to click on the Task List menu tab to display it. If you do not have a task list menu item in your space, you'll end up at the space home page.

See the Email Integration topic for information on setting up email notifications for form and flow submissions. This function uses a similar notification wizard.

The tenant admin can configure the from email address for task notification emails on the admin's Edit Tenant page.

If you are using tomcat, emails sent are tracked in the <frevvo-home>\tomcat\logs\frevvo.log file when the INFO  log level is enabled. In-house customers can search for an entry like "Sending email to <email address> with subject <the subject of your email>. If an error occurs when sending, the message "Could not send email to <email address> with subject <the subject of your email> including the actual exception that caused the problem.

Messages

Setup Task Information, Pending Messages and History Messages on the Messages tab.

• You can display the Messages tab in three ways:

  • Click on the step of the workflow, then click the

    Edit Step Properties icon then click on the Messages tab.

  • Click anywhere in the Messages section in the Properties Navigator. This takes you directly to the Messages tab.

  • Click the

    inside the Messages section in the Properties Navigator. This takes you directly to the Messages tab.

• Enter your customized text for each message in the appropriate field.

• Clicking on the 

  down arrow shows a list of templatized fields from your flow, flow/special templates provided by 

   and Task Templates that you can use in the messages.

  • Type the opening curly brace - {- followed by the control name to enter a field from your flow as a template. Selecting an option enters the control name into the field with the closing curly brace

• Click the Submit button to save the changes or navigate to another tab.
  
  

Remember, if you navigate to another tab without clicking the Submit button, changes will NOT be saved.

Task Info

When you save a partially filled flow to continue it later or when 

 puts a task on your task list as part of a workflow, the task is accessed via your task list. This field controls the text that gets displayed in the user's task list. For more details, see the Using the Task List. This information gives the user(s) more details about the task that is waiting on their Task List. It also helps you to quickly find a particular task if you have a lot of tasks on your Task List.

This field can use templatized strings  for dynamic content, e.g. the Task Info can contain "Vacation Request for {FirstName} {LastName}" where FirstName and LastName are the names of fields in a form from a prior step in the flow. Before putting the task on a user's task list, 

 will resolve the Task Info string using the actual values of the FirstName and LastName fields e.g. "Vacation Request for Tom Smith". 

 will truncate the Task Info data to 250 characters.

You access your Task List from your applications home page or from a

 Space. You use the Task list to perform tasks assigned to you, to view a task's history, or search for tasks you've participated in — a tenant admin can also search for other users' tasks.

If the Task Information is the same for all the steps of your workflow, you can set it up on the flow level. If you want the Task Info to show something different on a flow step, select the step, select the Messages tab and set up your customized Task Information there. The Task Information on individual flow steps overrides the default Task Info for the flow for this step only.

Pending Msg

Use this property to display different customized messages for each step of your workflow. Pending messages can be setup at the flow or flow step level. Setting this property at the flow step level, overrides any default Pending Msg that is set up on the flow level for all the flow steps.

Designers may want to display different messages to the users submitting each step of the flow. Templates can be used in the messages to provide dynamic content. The Pending Message is best explained with an example.

History Msg

You can use the History Msg property to type a message e.g. {EFullName} requested leave starting {StartDate} for {NumberOfDays} days.  At runtime,

will resolve this message using the data from the form and save it in the audit trail. The names in the {} must exactly match the names of the respective controls.

Use the Save on Navigation feature and the history message to log a new submission entry in the Audit Trail every time the workflow navigates to a new step, even if the current user has permissions (the correct role) required to immediately execute that step.

Configure a History Message on the step before the task to be performed by the anonymous user, 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.

Rejection

Use the Rejection tab to:

• Specify if a user can reject a step in a workflow or if the step can be rejected to by other users or both.

• Customize the Reject button label on workflow steps that are configured to show one.

• Customize the Subject and Message for the email users receive when a task is rejected.

• You can display the Rejection tab in three ways:

  • Click on the step of the workflow, then click the

    Edit Step Properties icon then click on the Rejection tab.

  • Click anywhere in the Rejection section in the Properties Navigator. This takes you directly to the Rejection tab.

  • Click the

    inside the Rejection section in the Properties Navigator. This takes you directly to the Rejection tab.

• Check Reject to Here if the flow may be rejected/reset TO this step.

• Check Reject from Here if the flow may be rejected/reset FROM this step.

• If Reject from here is checked, When selected, sections to customize the rejection email will appear.

• Clicking the Submit button to save your changes.

Rejecting a Workflow

There are three types of rejection scenarios for

workflows:

• Reject to Revise - The form is sent back to a prior flow step for correction/more information. This is the Reject to Revise (Easy Reject) feature described below and is built into

  .

• Submit as Disapproved - When a user disapproves the request from an Approval control, the workflow skips all subsequent steps and completes. A submission is saved into the Submission Repository. You may want to implement some custom business rules that run when the "disapprove" option is selected, such as display a message to communicate the status to the user. 

• Abort a Task - crumple the form up and toss it into the trash can. Only the Tenant Admin, users who have been granted the Flow Admin privilege for the workflow and the designer who created the workflow have the capability to abort a workflow task. When a task is aborted, all subsequent flow steps are skipped and the form is not saved in the Submission Repository. The Abort feature is built into

  .

Reject to Revise (Easy Reject)

Steps in a workflow that are routed to different non-admin users other than the person originally performing the step can be rejected (sent back) to a previous step by clicking on the Reject button. The designer can specify which steps display a Reject button and the steps the reject button can reset to. To take full advantage of this feature, make sure email is selected as the notification method for participating users. In-house customers should also make sure email is correctly configured. When a task is rejected, the user who it is being sent back to receives an email informing them of the reason for the rejection. The notification subject of this email is defaulted. The notification message and task history message are set to the specified reason provided by the person rejecting the task. The email shows task information specified by the designer.

Users designated as flow admins can reject a task using the Reject button if configured or the Modify Task icon.

Rejecting to a step that has a signed section will clear the signature on that section, requiring the user to re-sign before submitting that step again.

Configure the Reject button

To configure the Reject button on an step of a workflow, follow these steps:

1. Click on the step in your flow where you want to configure the Rejection feature.

2. The Reject to Here checkbox is checked by default. Leave it checked if the flow can be rejected/reset to this step. Check Reject to Here if the flow may be rejected/reset TO this step. This

3. The Reject From Here checkbox is checked by default. Leave it checked if the flow can be rejected/reset from this step.

4. If Reject from Here is checked, you can customize the label of the Reject button and the Rejection email. This is the label used for the Reject button displayed in the form at this step. You can use a template to dynamically set the label.

5. Clicking on the 

   down arrow shows a list of templatized fields from your flow, flow/special templates provided by 

    and Task Templates that you can use in the rejection email Subject and Message.

   • Type the opening curly brace - {- followed by the control name to enter a field from your flow as a template. Selecting an option enters the control name into the field with the closing curly brace

6. Click the Submit button to save the changes or navigate to another tab. Remember, if you navigate to another tab without clicking the Submit button, changes will NOT be saved.

7. Repeat these steps for each step of your workflow.

Configuring a Reject button on the first step of a workflow or for the steps in a multipage form/screen flow (steps fill out by the same user) serves no purpose. It is possible to reject to a step with a precondition, provided that step was executed and the precondition still holds.

When a user clicks the reject button, an embedded rejection page replaces the task form on the right side of the task list. This will happen on a desktop or mobile devices. To reject a task, the user selects the user/step that they want to send the flow back to from the To:dropdown. and provides a reason for the rejection. Note the list contains prior flow steps and the first and last names of the users who performed them. 

If a task is accessed from an email that uses the task.perform.url, the user will be taken directly to the task. If the task is then rejected on the desktop, the display rejection popup displays instead of the embedded rejection page.

Configuring Reject for Steps performed by Anonymous Users

Tasks assigned to an Email Address can be rejected from and rejected to, just like any step is the flow performed by a logged in user.

Let's say you have a Purchase Order workflow where the PO is sent to the customer for signature. The designer can configure a Reject button on this step (anonymous) so that the customer can send the PO back to the sender for corrections before signing.

Subsequent workflow steps can be configured to Reject the task back to the customer, if necessary.

Configuring Reject for Screenflows

Steps performed by the same user in a flow are referred to as a screenflow. The steps of the screenflow are considered one task. The reject functionality will allow users to reject only to the beginning of that screenflow. You cannot reject back to steps after step 1 in the screenflow.

Steps performed by the same user that are separated by Anonymous Task steps are considered to be a separate workflow tasks. For example, consider a Purchase Order flow with the following navigation: Step 1 is performed by Sales employee > Step 2 is sent to the customer's Email Address (Anonymous user) > Step 3 is performed by the same Sales employee that performed Step 1. You can configure a Reject button on the Sales step that will show both steps as rejection targets even though Step 1 and 4 were performed by the same user. Refer to the Flow Tutorial for an example.

Customize the Rejection Email

It is possible to customize the subject and email message body that is sent when a workflow task is rejected. You will configure this email on the step you are rejecting from. The customized rejection email will be sent when the Reject button is clicked on that workflow step or Quick Approval screen.

You can choose controls from your form which will be added to the Message as templates or you can use built-in templates as described below. Click on the

down arrow shows the list.

•  {flow.name} - Name of the workflow

•  {subject.first.name} - First name of the user who rejected the task.

•  {subject.last.name} - First name of the user who rejected the task.

•  {flow.activity.name} - The step of the workflow that was being performed when the task was rejected.

•  {flow.activity.reject.reason} - The reason for the rejection.

•  {task.perform.url} - The URL to the rejected task.

Here is the default rejection subject and message. Notice the use of built-in templates to pull the following information into the email:

In-house customers can modify the default subject and message values by changing the text in the

web.xml file. Click here for the details.

Click here for an example showing how the Easy Reject feature works.

The "from" email for a rejection is the tenant "from" email. If no tenant "from" email is set, this will default to the admin user's email address.

Submit as Disapproved (Reject to Discard)

Most often, steps in an Approval workflow can have one of three possible outcomes. They can be:

• Approved

• Sent back to a previous step for corrections/more information (Reject to Revise)

• Disapproved and terminated (Submit as Disapproved)

In the third case, where any approval step that is disapproved should terminate the workflow, we recommend the Submit as Disapproved workflow pattern. This is also know as "Reject to Discard" but it is important to note that this scenario does not use the Rejection feature. Rather, it uses Preconditions to skip the remaining steps in the workflow and submit it. Let's say you have a three-step workflow: