Getting Started with Flows

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Getting Started with Flows

frevvo In-house Only

If you are using frevvo In-house software installed locally on your own machine, then the 1st step is to login as the admin user and create your 1st tenant. Follow the steps below:

  1. Login as admin@d and type in the default password: admin.  


  2. Click Manage Tenants. 

  3. Click the

    icon to create a new tenant 

     4. Do not check the "Are you creating a tenant for Confluence" checkbox. Leave the Max Concurrent Users and the Security Manager Class blank.

     5. Fill in the rest of the fields for your tenant.  Click Submit.

frevvo In-house and Online

The next steps are for both frevvo In-house and Online tenant users:

  1. Login as the tenant admin user. An example of the tenant admin user id is: admin@mycompany. 


  2. Each tenant has it's own admin user that has permission to create new users, roles and perform other management functions for the tenant. For frevvo In-house software users it is important to note the distinction between the frevvo admin user and the tenant admin user. Next we need to create a few users and roles in this tenant that we'll use in our Leave Approval workflow.

Setup users and roles

This is a one-time setup that will have to be performed by an administrator.

We will need to create three roles for the Leave Approval workflow:

  1. Click Manage Roles. Notice that the role frevvo.designer already exist by default and cannot be deleted. 



  2. Click the 

    icon to create a new role. Add the role name "Employee" and click Submit

  3. Repeat step 2 to add the "Manager" and "HR" roles.

  4. Click the Back to Manage Tenant link. 

  5. Click Manage Users. Notice that the user admin already exists by default and cannot be deleted. 





  6. Click the

    icon each time to create a new user. 

  7. Add the user named "jerry" and assign jerry the role Manager. Remember to click submit for each one. 

  8. Add the user named "tom".  Assign the Employee role to user tom. Since jerry is tom's manager, select jerry from the dropdown list in the Reports to field.



     

  9. Add the user sue and assign sue the role of HR.

  10. Add the user named "designer" and assign the special role of frevvo.designer
     


     

  11. Logoff as the tenant admin.

  12. You now have your tenant setup and ready to create and test a simple Leave Approval workflow.


Creating the Leave Approval Workflow

  1. Logon to your 

     tenant as the designer user i.e.designer@mycompany. Replace mycompany with the name of your

    tenant.


  2. Click the Edit icon for the My Company HR application that you created in the Getting Started with Forms tutorial.




  3. Click the Flows tab. 





  4. Click the

    New icon to create a new flow. Click the

     pencil icon at the top of the Properties Navigator. Change the name of the flow to Leave Approval Workflow. Click the checkmark to save it. Click anywhere in the General Settings section of the Properties Navigator or click the

     Edit Flow Properties icon in the toolbar to launch the Flow Properties wizard. Check the Save PDF checkbox on the Settings tab so that a pdf image of the flow is saved in the 

    submission repository. Click Submit to save.





  5. If you completed the Getting Started with Forms exercise, you should have a Leave Approval Form listed in the palette. Drag the Leave Approval form you just created from the Palette and drop it into the Guide box on the canvas. This creates the first step in the workflow.  It will be named Step XXX. Click on the step. Click the 

     pencil icon at the top of the Properties Navigator. Change the name of the step to Employee. Click the checkmark to save it. 




  6. In our example, we will use the same form three times, once for the Employee, Manager and HR steps. Select the Employee step and click the

    icon twice. This will create two linked steps. A linked step is a copy of the original step. The form cannot be edited from the linked activity but any edits made to the original step (parent form) step are reflected in the linked step.

  7. Click on the first linked step. Click the 

     pencil icon at the top of the Properties Navigator. Change the name of the step to Manager. Click the checkmark to save it. 

  8. Click on the second linked step. Click the 

     pencil icon at the top of the Properties Navigator. Change the name of the step to HR. Click the checkmark to save it. 



Make Changes to the Leave Approval Form

You can edit a form in the Flow designer as well as the Forms designer. 

Be aware that changes made to a form in the Flow Designer are not reflected in the original form in the Forms designer. If you want your changes reflected in both designers, make the changes in the original form in the Forms Designer, then replace the updated form in your workflow in the Flow Designer.

Let's make some changes to the Leave Approval form so we can add a rule to prefill the user name, id, email address and manager's name on each step of our flow. Follow these steps:

  1. Click on the Employee step. Click the 

    Edit icon. This launches the Leave Approval Form in the form designer so you can edit it.





  2. Change the label of the First Name control to Employee Name. Change the Name of the First Name control to EmployeeName (no space). 





  3. Change the label of the Last Name field to Employee Id.

  4. Change the Name of the Last name field to EmployeeId.

  5. Make sure that the Name field of each control is properly set. This is a critical step to ensure that business rules work. The controls are named as shown in the table below. Make sure that the Control Name field is exactly as shown below including case-sensitivity. 

  6. Uncheck the Enabled checkbox for each control. The control values will be automatically filled in by a business rule.  

  7. Click the 

    save and exit icon to save the form.

  8. Click the 

    save and exit icon to save the workflow.

Control Label

Control Name

Description

Control Label

Control Name

Description

Employee Name

EmployeeName

the current user's full name

Employee Id

EmployeeId

the login id of the current user

Manager Id

ManagerId

the login id of the current user's manager

Employee Email

Email

the current user's email address

Setup the steps in your workflow

  1. Edit the Leave Approval Workflow.

  2. Click on the Employee step. Click the

    Edit Step Properties icon. Click on the General Settings tab.  Change the text of the Continue Button label by typing it in the Continue Label field. Ex: Send to Manager.

  3. Click on the Assignment tab. Assign the Employee role to this step by selecting it from the Assign to Role dropdown. Click Submit.

  4. Click on the Manager step. Click the

    Edit Step Properties icon. Click on the General Settings tab. Change the Continue Label to Send to HR. Manager Jerry will click on this button to send the workflow to the HR department.

  5. Click on the Assignment tab. Type a left curly brace followed by Man in the Assign to User field. When you see {ManagerID} in the dropdown, click to select it. {ManagerID}  is an example of a template. At runtime, 

     will evaluate the user id in this field and sent the task to the Employee's manager. The ManagerID field will be populated by a business rule explained below when the flow step loads.

  6. Click on the Messages tab.

  7. Add a customized message in the Pending Message field. Tom will see this message when he clicks the Send to Manager button. Ex: Your request has been forwarded to your manager for approval.

  8. Add some text in the Task Information field so manager Jerry can identify the task when he sees it on the Task List. You can use a template in the message. A template is a control in your form encased in curly brackets.

    will resolve the template at runtime and replace the field in the Task Info with the data that is entered into it. If you want to show the Employee Name in the Task Information, enter Leave Approval for {EmployeeName} in the Task Information field so the approving manager will know who the request is for when it appears on their task list. . 

  9. Click Submit.

  10. Click on the HR step. Click the

    Edit Step Properties icon. Click on the Assignment tab.  Assign the HR role to this step by selecting it from the Assign to Role dropdown

  11. Click on the Messages tab.

  12. Enter "Leave Approval for {EmployeeName}" in the Task Information field.

  13. Enter a Pending Message that Jerry will see when he clicks the Send to HR button. Ex: The Leave Approval for {EmployeeName} has been forwarded to HR.

  14. Click Submit.

  15. Customize the message the HR user will see when the workflow is completed. 

  16. Click on the 

    Edit Flow Settings icon in the toolbar.

  17. Click on the Flow Actions tab. Select the Display Message when user submits flow wizard.

  18. Enter your customized message 





  19. Click Finish.

  20. Click the 

    save and exit icon to save the work your have done so far.
     

Add the Manager Approval Section

  1. Edit the Leave Approval Workflow. Click on the Employee step. Click the

    pencil icon to open the Employee step in the Forms Designer inside the Flow Designer.

  2. Drag and drop a Section control below the Leave Approval Request section. Name the section Manager Approval. 

  3. Drag a text field from the palette and drop it in the section. Type Manager Id as the label and ManagerId2 as the control name. Uncheck the Visible property.

  4. Click on the Style tab and change the width to 6 columns on the grid.

  5. Drop an Email control the the right of the Manager Name control. Type Manager Email as the label and ManagerEmail as the control name.

  6. Add a text area control with 3 lines and name the control Manager Comments.

  7. Select the section by clicking on its header.

  8. In the properties panel, select the Security Tab.

  9. Select Wet signature from the signature dropdown. Check the Must Sign checkbox to require a signature and verify that the Lock checkbox is checked to prevent tampering with the signed data . 

Add the HR Section

  1. Drag and drop a Section control below the Manager Approval section. Name the section HR Approval .

  2. Drag and drop a text control into the HR section. Type HR Id for the label and HRId as the control name.

  3. Click on the Style tab and change the width to 6 columns on the grid.

  4. Drag and drop another text control to the right of the HR Name field in the HR section. Type HR Email for the label and HREmail as the control name.

  5. Add a text area control with 3 lines and name the control HR Comments

  6. As before, in the Security Tab, select Text/Signature Image from the Signature dropdown and check the Must Sign checkbox to make the signature required. 



Add Business Rules

The business rule to display the Certification control if the user checks the sick option in the Type of Leave field should show int the Rules list. We will use the Visual Rule Builder to add five additional rules to Step 1 of the workflow. We will need rules to:

  • Show/Hide the Manager Approval section on the Manager and HR steps

  • Show/Hide the HR Approval section on the HR step

  • Populate the Employee Name, user id, email and manager when the Employee step loads.

  • Populate the manager name and email if the flow is on the Manager Approval step.

  • Populate the HR employee's name and email when the flow is on the HR step.

It is very important to ensure that the Names of the controls in the form exactly match the names used in the rule below and that the names used in a rule are unique across the form.

  1. Click the 

    rules icon in the flow designer toolbar.

  2. Click the 

    plus icon to add a rule.

  3. Show the Manager Approval section on the Manager and HR step

  4. Click the Run Builder button then click Add Condition - this is the Condition wizard

  5. Select the current step from the first dropdown.

  6. Select is on or after from the second dropdown.

  7. Select Manager from the third dropdown.

  8. Click Next  - this is the Action wizard where you set up actions that will happen if the condition is true

  9. Select the Manager Approval section from the first dropdown

  10. Set the property to as visible by selecting it from the second dropdown.

  11. Click Next then click Add Action - this is the else action wizard where you set up actions that will happen if the condition is false

  12. Select the Manager Approval section from the first dropdown

  13. Set the property to as hidden by selecting it from the second dropdown.

  14. Click Finish.
    The rule should look like this:

  15. Click the 

    plus icon to add a rule.

  16. Name the rule Show the HR Approval section on the HR step.

  17. Click the Run Builder button then click Add Condition - this is the Condition wizard.

  18. Select the current step from the first dropdown.

  19. Select is from the second dropdown.

  20. Select HR from the third dropdown.

  21. Click Next - this is the Action wizard where you set up actions that will happen if the condition is true

  22. Select the HR Approval section from the first dropdown

  23. Set the property to as visible by selecting it from the second dropdown.

  24. Click Next then click Add Action - this is the else action wizard where you set up actions that will happen if the condition is false

  25. Select the HR Approval section from the first dropdown

  26. Set the property to as hidden by selecting it from the second dropdown.

  27. Click Finish.
    The rule should look like this:

  28. Click the 

    plus icon to add a rule.

  29. Name the rule Populate the Employee Name, Email, Employee Id and Manager Id when the Employee step loads.

  30. Click the Run Builder button then click Add Condition - this is the Condition wizard

  31. Select the current step from the first dropdown.

  32. Select is from the second dropdown

  33. Select Employee from the third dropdown.

  34. Click Next - this is the Action wizard where you set up actions that will happen if the condition is true

  35. Select EmployeeName from the first dropdown.

  36. Select to from the second dropdown

  37. Begin typing userFullName in the third field then select the userFullName function when it displays in the dropdown. Type in the closing parenthesis. Tab out of the field. This sets up the EmployeeName field to be populated with the Employee Name using the built-in userFullName function.

  38. Click the Add Action button.

  39. Select EmployeeId from the first dropdown.

  40. Select to from the second dropdown

  41. Begin typing userID in the third field then select the userID function when it displays in the dropdown. Type in the closing parenthesis. Tab out of the field. This sets up the EmployeeId field to be populated with the employee's 

    user id using the built-in userID function.

  42. Click the Add Action button.

  43. Select ManagerId from the first dropdown.

  44. Select to from the second dropdown

  45. Begin typing userManagerID in the third field then select the userManagerID function when it displays in the dropdown. Type in the closing parenthesis. Tab out of the field. This sets up the ManagerId field to be populated with the

    user id of the employee's manager using the built-in userManagerID function.

  46. Click the Add Action button.

  47. Select Email from the first dropdown.

  48. Select to from the second dropdown

  49. Begin typing userEmail in the third field then select the userEmail function when it displays in the dropdown. Type in the closing parenthesis. Tab out of the field. This sets up the Email field to be populated with the employee's email address using the built-in userEmail function.

  50. Click Finish
    The rule should look like this:

  51. Click the 

    plus icon to add a rule.

  52. Name the rule Populate the Manager Id and Email on the Manager step

  53. Click the Run Builder button then click Add Condition - this is the Condition wizard

  54. Select the current step from the first dropdown.

  55. Select is from the second dropdown

  56. Select Manager from the third dropdown.

  57. Click Next - this is the Action wizard where you set up actions that will happen if the condition is true

  58. Select ManagerID2 from the first dropdown.

  59. Select to from the second dropdown

  60. Begin typing userManagerID in the third field then select the userManagerId function when it displays in the dropdown. Type in the closing parenthesis. Tab out of the field. This sets up the ManagerId2 field to be populated with the

    user id of the employee's manager using the built-in userManagerID function.

  61. Click the Add Action button.

  62. Select ManagerEmail from the first dropdown.

  63. Select to from the second dropdown

  64. Begin typing userEmail in the third field then select the userEmail function when it displays in the dropdown. Type ManagerId after the opening parenthesis then add the closing parenthesis. Tab out of the field. This sets up the Email field to be populated with the email address of the employee's manager using the built-in userEmail function.

  65. Click Finish
    The rule should look like this:

  66. Click the 

    plus icon to add a rule.

  67. Name the rule Populate the HR Employee Name and Email on the HR step

  68. Click the Run Builder button then click Add Condition - this is the Condition wizard

  69. Select the current step from the first dropdown.

  70. Select is from the second dropdown

  71. Select HR from the third dropdown.

  72. Click Next - this is the Action wizard where you set up actions that will happen if the condition is true

  73. Select HRId from the first dropdown.

  74. Select to from the second dropdown

  75. Begin typing userID in the third field then select the userID function when it displays in the dropdown. Type in the closing parenthesis. Tab out of the field. This sets up the HRId field to be populated with the

    user id of the HR employee using the built-in userID function.

  76. Click the Add Action button.

  77. Select HREmail from the first dropdown.

  78. Select to from the second dropdown