User Initiated Workflow Form

Use this form to create user initiated workflows that automatically trigger actions, such as sending alerts or creating activities, as a result of an event, such as a change that someone makes to an existing Vision record.

Location

To display the form, complete the following steps:

From the Vision Navigation menu, click Configuration > Workflow > User Initiated Workflow.

Contents

Field	Description
Application	Select the application for which you want to create a workflow. Important: Workflows fire only if the event that creates the action takes place from within the application that you select here. There can be more than one "point of entry" from within the Info Centers. When this is the case, you must set up the workflow row for the event from each potential Info Center. For example, on the Opportunities tab of the Contact Info Center form, you click New to add a new opportunity. Vision displays the New Opportunity form, which is actually a part of the Opportunity Info Center. Therefore, if you want to create a workflow that alerts you each time that an opportunity is added to a contact, you need to create two workflow rows: one for the Contacts Info Center and one for the Opportunity Info Center. You cannot create workflows on the Contact tab of the Client Info Center, due to mapping constraints. Equipment Info Center workflows fire when you save a new equipment item in the Equipment Info Center or when an equipment item is created automatically when you final print a purchase order. Approval Workflows Approval Workflow is a choice in the Application field only if you have the Purchasing or Accounting module activated. Select this option to view each step of an approval workflow that was entered in Configuration > Workflow > Approval Workflows. You can see the details on how the workflow progresses from step to step. This can be helpful for administrators who are troubleshooting any issues with an approval workflow. Although you can view approval workflows from User Initiated Workflow Configuration, you must create the approval workflows in Approval Workflows Configuration. In User Initiated Workflow Configuration, you can also add advanced actions, such as stored procedures, functions, custom methods, and web services to the steps of approval workflows, which you cannot do in Approval Configuration. However, when you do this, if you ever need to edit the workflow steps again in Approval Workflows Configuration, you must complete additional steps to prevent the advanced actions from getting out of order and behaving in unexpected ways. For additional information, see Edit an Approval Workflow That Has Advanced Actions Added to It
Approval Name	This field displays only when you select Approval Workflow in the Application field. From the drop-down list in this field select the name of an approval workflow that you want to view or add advanced steps to. The approval workflows are created in Approval Workflows Configuration.

Workflows Grid

In this grid, enter one or more workflows that apply for the application that you specified in the Application field. Each row in the grid represents a separate workflow. The order in which multiple workflows display in the grid determines the order in which they are executed.

For each workflow that you enter in the grid, you choose a record (field) from the application, a workflow type, and conditions that together identify the workflow event and conditions that will trigger the workflow actions.

To enter or view the actions for a workflow, click a workflow row in the Workflows grid to select it, and then enter or view actions for it in the Actions grid.

When you select Approval Workflow in the Application field and select an approval workflow in the Approval Name field, the rows in this grid prefill with steps from the approval workflow that you entered in Approval Workflows Configuration. You can view the information for the approval workflow steps, but you cannot edit them.

Workflows Grid Toolbar

Field	Description
Workflows Drop-down	Click the drop-down arrow on a grid header to complete any of the following actions: To print grid data, click Print. On the Print Preview form, click File > Print to send the grid data to your default printer. To export grid data to an Excel spreadsheet, click Export to Excel. When Microsoft Excel opens, use its features to modify, print, or email the grid data, or to save the spreadsheet file locally. To turn on grouping for a grid, click Enable Grouping. When a field displays with the instruction: "Drag a column header here to group by that column," drag and drop column headers into the field, in the sequence that you want them to display. Not all options are available on all grids.
Insert	Click this option to create a new workflow.
Copy	To copy an existing workflow to create a new one, select the workflow in the grid that you want to copy and click this option. The new workflow displays below the existing one in the grid. Edit the new workflow and save it. For Change and Delete/Remove type workflows, the new workflow will have the same workflow type as the one you copied. You cannot change the workflow type. If you are planning to create an Insert/Associate type workflow and a Change type workflow that are similar, you should first create the Insert/Associate workflow. Then test it before you copy it to create a Change type workflow. If you create them the other way around, you will not be able to copy the Change type workflow. You would then need to manually re-create the conditions and actions for the Insert/Associate type workflow or contact Deltek Consulting Services for assistance. When you copy an Insert/Associate type workflow, you have the following additional options to choose from in the Copy drop-down menu: Create Change Workflow — This copies the selected workflow and creates a new one that is a Change workflow type. Create Insert/Associate Change Workflow — This copies the selected workflow and creates a new one that is an Insert/Associate workflow type. Create Delete/Remove Change Workflow — This copies the selected workflow and creates a new one that is a Delete/Remove workflow type. To create a new Insert/Associate type workflow from a Change type workflow, contact the Deltek Vision Consulting group. They can provide you with assistance on a time and materials basis.
Delete	Select the workflow that you want to delete and click this option. To disable a workflow temporarily but not delete it, click Unschedule.
Move Up	Select a workflow in the grid, and click this option to move the workflow up in the grid. The order in which the workflows display in the grid determines the order in which they are executed. If a workflow fails to finish because of an error, subsequent workflows with the same conditions are not executed.
Move Down	Select a workflow in the grid, and click this option to move the workflow down in the grid. The order in which the workflows display in the grid determines the order in which they are executed. If a workflow fails to finish because of an error, subsequent workflows with the same conditions are not executed.

Workflows Grid Fields

Field	Description
Workflow Table	From the drop-down list in this field, select the entire record or select a specific table/grid for which to create a workflow. Entire records appear in brackets, such as [Employee Record] and consist of both standard and user-defined fields. The tables in this field are from the application that you selected in the Application field. If your company uses user-defined grids, these grids display in this field with underscores, for example, Employee_Profile. When you select Approval Workflow in the Application field and select an approval workflow in the Approval Name field: The Workflow Table field displays ApprovalItem.
Workflow Type	Select the type of workflow for which you want to generate an action. You have the following choices: Change — Vision generates an action when a change (other than an Insert or Delete) occurs in an existing record. For example, if a client address changes or the status of a client changes from Active to Inactive, an action occurs. Insert/Associate — Vision generates an action when new information is added to the specified workflow table entered above. For example, if a team member is associated with a project or a new project record is added, an action occurs. Delete/Remove — Vision generates an action when information is deleted from the specified workflow table. For example, if an employee address is deleted or a project record is deleted, an action occurs. When you select Approval Workflow in the Application field and select an approval workflow in the Approval Name field: The Workflow Type field displays Approval.
Level	The Level field only applies to the Project Info Center. This field allows you to specify at what WBS level the workflow event should execute. Your options are All, Project (Level 1), Phase (Level 2), and Task (Level 3). For example, assume that an administrator wants to be notified only when a new project is inserted (not a phase or task). If you select Project (Level 1) from the Level field, the administrator is only notified if the record inserted is a project. When an option other than All is selected, the workflow executes only at that level. If you select All, the workflow executes for any record that is being edited in the Project Info Center. The WBS level can be set for both the workflow event and the action. Therefore, Vision looks at the workflow event level first. If the record does not pass the requirement set for the level at the event level, none of the actions for that event are considered.
Active	Select this option to enable the workflow; clear this option to disable it. This feature allows you to disable the workflow temporarily without deleting it.
Description	Enter a description for the workflow, such as Send Email to Director. When you select Approval Workflow in the Application field and select an approval workflow in the Approval Name field: The Description field displays the description for the approval workflow step entered in Approval Workflows Configuration.
Conditions	Enter one or more conditions for which you want actions to take place when the workflow event conditions are met. To do this, click Ellipsis in the Conditions field, and enter field information on the Conditions dialog box, as described below. Vision looks at the conditions in the order in which you specify them on this form. Use the Move Up and Move Down arrows to arrange them in the correct order. Column — This field lists all the fields on the Info Center that you selected. Select the column to which you want to apply the workflow. Operator — Select the appropriate operator to set the conditions of the workflow. For example, to create a workflow for employees' tenth anniversary events, select equals in this field and then enter 10 in the Value field. Or, if you want to be alerted when empty fields now contain information, select not empty. Value — Use this field in conjunction with the Operator field to set the condition. The popup that this field displays depends on the column you select. For example, if you select HireDate in the Column field, this field displays a calendar from which you can select a date. If you select EM.Vendor, this field contains the Vendor lookup. In some cases, you enter the information directly in this field. If you select empty, not empty, has changed, or has not changed in the Operator field, this field is not applicable. AND/OR — This field allows you to define the conditions further. Deltek recommends that you select either all ANDs or all ORs in these fields.

Actions Grid

Use the Actions grid to create the actions that apply for the workflow that you currently have selected in the Workflows grid. The actions will occur when the conditions that are specified for the workflow in the Workflow grid are met.

When you select Approval Workflow in the Application field and select an approval workflow in the Approval Name field:

• The rows in this grid prefill with all the alerts for the approval workflow steps that you select in the Workflows grid, excluding the past due alerts, the supervisor escalation alerts, and the reminder alerts. You can view those alerts in Scheduled Workflows Configuration.
• Although you can make some changes to the alert information that was originally entered in Approval Workflows Configuration, Deltek recommends that you do not do this. Make any changes to approval workflow alerts directly in Approval Workflows Configuration. When you make edits in User Initiated Workflows Configuration to rows that were originally entered in Approval Workflows Configuration, although these changes are implemented in Vision, the edits are not updated and displayed in Approval Workflows Configuration.
• You can use Insert on the Actions grid toolbar to add advanced actions, such as stored procedures, functions, custom methods, and web services to the approval workflow that you cannot add in Approval Workflows Configuration.

Actions Grid Toolbar

Field	Description
Actions Drop-down	Click the drop-down arrow on a grid header to complete any of the following actions: To print grid data, click Print. On the Print Preview form, click File > Print to send the grid data to your default printer. To export grid data to an Excel spreadsheet, click Export to Excel. When Microsoft Excel opens, use its features to modify, print, or email the grid data, or to save the spreadsheet file locally. To turn on grouping for a grid, click Enable Grouping. When a field displays with the instruction: "Drag a column header here to group by that column," drag and drop column headers into the field, in the sequence that you want them to display. Not all options are available on all grids.
Insert	Click this option to insert an action.
Copy	Highlight an action on the grid and click this option to copy and create a new action.
Delete	Highlight an action on the grid and click this option to remove the action from the grid.
Move Up	Select an action on the grid, and click this option to move an action up in the grid. In general, the order in which the actions display in the grid determines the order in which they occur. The exception is that email and Dashboard alert actions are always sent last so that users do not receive notifications before the workflow event finishes or if the workflow event does not finish because of an error.
Move Down	Select an action on the grid, and click this option to move an action down in the grid. In general, the order in which the actions display in the grid determines the order in which they occur. The exception is that email and Dashboard alert actions are always sent last so that users do not receive notifications before the workflow event finishes or if the workflow event does not finish because of an error.

Actions Grid Fields

Field	Description
Action	This field displays the name of the selected action. For example, when a workflow that requires a change is triggered, you can specify that Vision first make the change, then send an email message to the manager. When you select Approval Workflow in the Application field, and select an approval workflow in the Approval Name field: The Action field prefills based on the actions that you entered for an approval workflow in Approval Workflows Configuration.
Level	This field only applies to the Project Info Center. This field allows you to specify at what WBS level the action executes. Your options are: All Project Phase Task For example, an administrator wants to be notified only when a new project is inserted (not a phase or task). If you select Project in the Level field, the administrator is only notified if the record inserted is a project. When an option other than All is selected, the workflow action executes only at that level. If you select All, the workflow action executes for any record that is edited in the Project Info Center. The WBS level can be set for both the event and the action. Therefore, Vision looks at the event level first. If the record does not pass the requirement set for this level, no actions are considered.
Active	Select this option to enable the action or clear the option to disable it. This feature allows you to disable the action temporarily but not delete it.
Description	You must enter a description for the action, such as Send Email to Supervisors. If you selected Validate Error or Validate Warning for the action, information entered in this field displays to the user on a dialog box.
Conditions	Enter one or more conditions for which you want actions to takes place when the conditions are met. To do this, click Ellipses in the Conditions field and enter field information on the Conditions dialog box as described below. Vision looks at the conditions in the order in which you specify them on this form. Use the Move Up and Move Down arrows to arrange them in the correct order. Column —This field lists all the fields in the Info Center that you selected. Select the column to which you want to apply the workflow. Operator — Select the appropriate operator to set the conditions of the workflow. For example, to create a workflow for employees' tenth anniversary events, select equals in this field and then enter 10 in the Value field. Or, if you want to be alerted when empty fields now contain information, select not empty. Value — Use this field in conjunction with the Operator field to set the condition. The popup that this field displays depends on the column you select. For example, if you select HireDate in the Column field, this field displays a calendar from which you can select a date. Or, if you select EM.Vendor, this field contains the Vendor lookup list. In some cases, you enter the information directly in this field. If you select empty, not empty, has changed, or has not changed in the Operator field, this field is not applicable. AND/OR — This field allows you to define the conditions further. Deltek recommends that you select either all ANDs or all ORs in these fields.
Language	Click Ellipses to use the Languages dialog box to select the language to use with this action. Employees within the specified role or group with the selected language receive the action in their language. If an email address is entered for an alert action, the employee receives the alert whether or not the language matches.