Workflows and the Screen Designer

Use Screen Designer to add a workflow button to a tab.

The workflow button allows users to initiate a scheduled workflow for a particular Info Center record or a web service workflow for a particular project plan in Planning or an expense report in Time & Expense.

When you click a workflow button that has been added to a tab, Vision starts the workflow for the record that you have open. For example, assume you create a scheduled workflow called Validate Address, which has a web service action that validates a contact’s address through a mapping web site. You add a workflow button to the General tab of the Contacts Info Center for the Validate Address scheduled workflow. When a user enters a contact’s address on the General tab in the Contact Info Center and clicks the Validate Address workflow button, the workflow process is started and the address is validated.

In Screen Designer, you add a workflow button to a tab by clicking the New Workflow Button icon on the Screen Designer toolbar. Then you select a scheduled workflow for the button in the Workflow field in the Properties pane in Screen Designer. Only scheduled workflows that are associated with the application to which you are adding a workflow button display in the drop-down list in the Workflow field.

You do not need to schedule a scheduled workflow to make it work when you click a workflow button.

The Workflow Screen Designer feature does not apply to the Activities Manager.

Caution: If you use an approval workflow for expense reports and you add workflow buttons to the General tab in Expense Report with Screen Designer, be sure to read important information in the following topic to prevent the approval workflow from failing: Expense Report Approvals and Workflows Added With Screen Designer

How the Workflow Button Works

  • After a user clicks a created workflow button, Vision displays a message in the status bar to indicate that the workflow has started. The user can continue to work in Vision while the workflow is processed.
  • The record must still satisfy the conditions of the workflow. If the workflow does not meet the workflow conditions for that record, Vision displays an error message to inform the user.
  • You must save changes to the record before you initiate the workflow. If you do not, Vision displays a message to say that you must save your changes.
  • If the workflow no longer exists, Vision displays an error message.