The basic workflow contains, in addition to its Start and End steps, at least one step consisting of at least one task. The tasks may be manual tasks performed by a PPM user or automatic tasks performed by the system.
Note: You define steps and associated tasks using the Diagram Editor. It is from the Diagram Editor that you create a workflow diagram and access the Step and Task tabs mentioned in this and subsequent topics. For more information about the Workflow Diagram Editor, refer to Workflow Diagram Editor.
Overview of Steps
These are the types of steps from which you can design a workflow:
- Tasks step
- Manual Decision step
- Category-based Decision step
- Parallel step
You assign each step a name and description, and you select for each step a scope and manager, if either is to be different from those you select for the whole workflow. You also select the way the step is to be handled if it encounters an error. For more information about how to enter step properties, refer to Entering Properties in the Workflow Step Tab.
Overview of Tasks
There are manual tasks which are performed by PPM users and system tasks which are automatically implemented by the PPM system.
You can assign each task a name and description, and you can define its scope. For each manual task, you must designate a performer and select the Sign off method the performer will use when completing the task. Also, each task, whether a manual task or system task, has its own unique properties which must be defined per task.
You can define multiple tasks for a Tasks step but only one task for a Manual Decision or Category-based Decision step. A Parallel step consists of two to five tracks with one or more tasks steps positioned within each track. You can specify a name for each task along with other properties that can also vary depending on the type of step and task.
When a workflow is run, steps in the workflow are run in chronologic order, while all tasks within a step run when the step runs.
The topics below provide an explanation of each type of step, the type of tasks or task that you can define for each type of step, and the use of tracks for a Parallel step.