Defining a workflow action

About this task

You can connect two stages with one action, for example, an action that represents an approval. The line between the two stages is shown with one arrowhead. When you click the line, the properties for the action are displayed in the property panel.

You can also connect two stages with two actions, for example, an action that represents an approval and one that represents a rejection. Draw the first action in one direction, and then draw the second action in the opposite direction. The result is a single line with two arrowheads. When you click an arrowhead, the properties for the selected action are displayed in the property panel. Use the property panel to verify that the correct action is selected.

In Validations and Operations you can add one or more validations and one or more operations. They are performed in the order given. Drag the validations and operations up or down to place them in the correct order for processing.

Procedure

Click > Solution Configuration > Workflows.
Click the workflow that you want to edit.
The GRC Workflow Designer opens.
To create an action, click the stage where the action starts. Four points are activated on the stage. Grab a point and pull a line to the stage where the action ends.
In the New Action window, keep the default or give the action a Name and click Create.

Name is an internal name and it cannot be changed later. The name must be unique within a stage. In the next step, you can define a label.

Allowed characters are A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore, hyphen, and spaces. Special characters are not allowed.

The Action Properties panel opens.
In Label enter a label for the action. The default is the Name.

Allowed characters are A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore, hyphen, and spaces. Special characters are not allowed.

The Name is populated to labels for other languages. Click Edit and overwrite the labels if the workflow is used in multiple locales.

If it is displayed, click to populate translated values to languages. For more information, see IBM Watson Language Translator.

Workflow labels are displayed on the dashboard, My Tasks tab, Subscription Tasks tab, and Oversight Tasks tab.

Action labels are displayed as options under Actions.

Keep the action labels short, for example, Submit for review, Reject, Send for approval, Reject approval, and Approve and close.
In Status, enter a status that is assigned to the next stage in the workflow. The value is populated to all languages. Alternatively, choose a language and enter a value for that language. You can enter values for multiple languages.

If it is displayed, click to populate translated values to languages. For more information, see IBM Watson Language Translator.

Statuses are usually displayed in the workflow information card as stage label [status label], for example, In Review [Rejected]. However, for the action to the end stage, the status of the end stage is not displayed in the information card.

There is no automatic link between the Status field on a workflow and any status fields that can exist on an object, for example, the Business Continuity Plan status field (BC-Plan:Status). Use a set fields operation on an action to control the value in object status fields as objects move through a workflow.
In Comment you can control how the action handles a user-entered comment. Options are:
- None - no comment is allowed and a comment window is not displayed.
- Optional - a comment window is displayed and a user can enter a comment. However, the comment is not required for the action to complete.
- Required - a comment window is displayed and a user must enter a comment for the action to complete.
The Comment setting is hidden for the initial action in a workflow (from the start stage to the first standard stage).
In Override workflow action text provide text that displays on the confirmation window that users interact with. For more information, see Confirm the selected action.
Set Run in Background to True if the action is expected to take a long time.
If the action doesn't end with an end stage, the Email properties section is displayed. Expand the Email section, and set the following options to True to send email notifications when the action completes:
- Notify Assignees
  When you set Notify Assignees to True, the Customize link is displayed so that you can customize the assignee subject and body templates for email notifications.
- Notify Subscribers
  When you set Notify Subscribers to True, the Customize link is displayed so that you can customize the subscriber subject and body templates for email notifications.
For more information about customizing email notifications, see Customizing email notification templates in workflows.

If Run in Background is set to True, email notifications that are related to the completion of the action are not impacted by the settings for emails that are sent to Assignees and Subscribers.
Expand Conditions and click New Condition. The Conditions panel opens.

Conditions control whether an action is visible or hidden on the Actions button. Conditions provide a means for you to restrict options available to users and hide the workflow and its complexity.

You can add one or more conditions. For each condition, you build a comparison statement with two fields and an operator.

All conditions must be met for the action on the Actions button to display.

To override this rule, define Advanced Logic to combine the conditions in a specific way.
1. In Compare, you define the first field in the comparison statement. You can choose:
  - A field in the current object
    Select an Object Field.
  - A field in a related object
    - Select Direct Child, Direct Parent, Ancestor, or Descendant in Relationship Type.
    - Select an object type in Related Object Type.
    - Select a field in Related Object Field.
    - Select a path in Relationship Paths (displays only if Relationship Type is Ancestor or Descendant).
    - Add Filter By conditions (optional).
    - Set Primary Parent Only (displays only if Relationship Type is Direct Parent or Ancestor) (optional).
  - A field in a Preference object
    Select a Preference Object Field. You can add Filter By conditions.
  - End User
    An End User condition checks whether the signed on end user is a specified user and whether the user is in a specified user group. The second field in the comparison statement is a specified value, an expression, or an actor field on an object.
2. In Using, choose an Operator. The list of operators depends on the field type of the field you chose in Compare.
3. In To, you define the second field in the comparison statement. You can choose:
  - A specified value
    The value that you can provide depends on the field type of the field you chose in Compare.
  - An expression
    Enter a single field or variable from the list in Using variables, functions, and fields. All of the variables and fields listed there can be used in an expression. The field or variable must be in the given format. It can, however, be part of a longer string, for example, a file name like Evidence_[$Parent:SOXRisk/System Fields:Name$].pdf if you want to validate that the parent object has a specific PDF attachment.
  - A field in the current object
    Select an Object Field.
  - A field in a related object
    - Select Direct Child, Direct Parent, Ancestor, or Descendant in Relationship Type.
    - Select an object type in Related Object Type.
    - Select a field in Related Object Field.
    - Select a path in Relationship Paths (displays only if Relationship Type is Ancestor or Descendant).
    - Add Filter By conditions (optional).
    - Set Primary Parent Only (displays only if Relationship Type is Direct Parent or Ancestor) (optional).
  - A field in a Preference object
    Select a Preference Object Field. You can add Filter By conditions.
  Note: An object's system comment field (System Fields:Comment) cannot be used in a field comparison in a condition.
4. If you chose a date field in Compare, you can define an offset in Adjust Date By .
  - A specified value and enter Number of Days.
  - A field in the current object
  - A field in a related object
    - Select Direct Child, Direct Parent, Ancestor, or Descendant in Relationship Type.
    - Select an object type in Related Object Type.
    - Select a field in Related Object Field.
    - Select a path in Relationship Paths (displays only if Relationship Type is Ancestor or Descendant).
    - Add Filter By conditions (optional).
    - Set Primary Parent Only (displays only if Relationship Type is Direct Parent or Ancestor) (optional).
  - A field in the Preference object
    You can add Filter By conditions.
5. Click Done.
  The condition is saved and assigned a number. Conditions are numbered consecutively in the order they are defined.
6. Optional: Add more conditions.
7. Optional: Set Advanced Logic to true to override the default rule that all conditions must be met. Write a statement in Logic. Use the condition numbers together with the operators and, or, not, and parentheses.
  The order of operations is: () then NOT then AND then OR.
  For example:
  - 1 or 2 or 3
  - 1 and (2 or 3)
  - 1 not (2 or 3)
Expand Validations and Operations and click New Validation to define a validation. The Validations panel opens.

Validations check that an object has specific attributes for the action to complete. If the validation fails, an error is displayed and the user must take corrective steps.

All validations must be met for the action to complete. For each validation you build a comparison statement with two fields and an operator.
1. In Compare, you define the first field in the comparison statement. You can choose:
  - A field in the current object
    Select an Object Field.
  - A field in a related object
    - Select Direct Child, Direct Parent, Ancestor, or Descendant in Relationship Type.
    - Select an object type in Related Object Type.
    - Select a field in Related Object Field.
    - Select a path in Relationship Paths (displays only if Relationship Type is Ancestor or Descendant).
    - Add Filter By conditions (optional).
    - Set Primary Parent Only (displays only if Relationship Type is Direct Parent or Ancestor) (optional).
  - A field in a Preference object
    Select a Preference Object Field. You can add Filter By conditions.
  - End User
    An End User condition checks whether the signed on end user is a specified user and whether the user is in a specified user group. The second field in the comparison statement is a specified value, an expression, or an actor field on an object.
2. In Using, choose an Operator. The list of operators depends on the field type of the field you chose in Compare.
3. In To, you define the second field in the comparison statement. You can choose:
  - A specified value
    The value that you can provide depends on the field type of the field you chose in Compare.
  - An expression
    Enter a single field or variable from the list in Using variables, functions, and fields. All of the variables and fields listed there can be used in an expression. The field or variable must be in the given format. It can, however, be part of a longer string, for example, a file name like Evidence_[$Parent:SOXRisk/System Fields:Name$].pdf if you want to validate that the parent object has a specific PDF attachment.
  - A field in the current object
    Select an Object Field.
  - A field in a related object
    - Select Direct Child, Direct Parent, Ancestor, or Descendant in Relationship Type.
    - Select an object type in Related Object Type.
    - Select a field in Related Object Field.
    - Select a path in Relationship Paths (displays only if Relationship Type is Ancestor or Descendant).
    - Add Filter By conditions (optional).
    - Set Primary Parent Only (displays only if Relationship Type is Direct Parent or Ancestor) (optional).
  - A field in a Preference object
    Select a Preference Object Field. You can add Filter By conditions.
  Note: An object's system comment field (System Fields:Comment) cannot be used in a field comparison in a condition.
4. If you chose a date field in Compare, you can define an offset in Adjust Date By .
  - A specified value and enter Number of Days.
  - A field in the current object
  - A field in a related object
    - Select Direct Child, Direct Parent, Ancestor, or Descendant in Relationship Type.
    - Select an object type in Related Object Type.
    - Select a field in Related Object Field.
    - Select a path in Relationship Paths (displays only if Relationship Type is Ancestor or Descendant).
    - Add Filter By conditions (optional).
    - Set Primary Parent Only (displays only if Relationship Type is Direct Parent or Ancestor) (optional).
  - A field in the Preference object
    You can add Filter By conditions.
5. Click Done.
  The condition is saved and assigned a number. Conditions are numbered consecutively in the order they are defined.
6. Optional: Add more conditions.
7. Optional: Set Advanced Logic to true to override the default rule that all conditions must be met. Write a statement in Logic. Use the condition numbers together with the operators and, or, not, and parentheses.
  The order of operations is: () then NOT then AND then OR.
  For example:
  - 1 or 2 or 3
  - 1 and (2 or 3)
  - 1 not (2 or 3)
Expand Validations and Operations and click New Operation to define an operation. The Operations panel opens.

Operations define what is done when the action completes.

If you provide multiple operations, all operations are performed.
1. In Operation choose an operation type. Valid values are:
  - Create objects
  - Custom action
  - Lock or unlock objects
  - Set fields
  - Start a workflow
  The fields on the Operations panel change depending on the operation type you choose.
2. Follow the instructions for the operation type. For more information see:
If you provide multiple validations or operations, review the order. Validations and operations are executed in the order given.

What to do next

Depending on the workflow, you might need to define an action back to the previous stage.

Repeat the step of creating an action but in the reverse direction. The result is a single line with two arrowheads. When you click an arrowhead, the properties for the selected action are displayed in the property panel. Use the property panel to verify that you have the correct action selected.