Working With Schedule Rules

Schedule rules apply to all tasks in the schedule and thus apply rules to groups of tasks. Rules configured in the Schedule dialog box are copied to new schedule tasks.

Available schedule rules:

  • Auto Approve Task: Automatically completes specified approvals only if specified conditions have been met.

    Example of conditions that could apply to this rule include: Attributes have specified values (including calculated attributes).

    When conditions are satisfied, the specified approver levels are marked complete, and workflow progresses to the next approval level, or closes if no additional approval levels exist.

  • Auto Submit Task: Automatically submits a task if specified conditions are met.

    When conditions are satisfied, the Assignee role is marked complete, and workflow progresses to the first Approval level, or closes if no Approval levels exist.

  • Prevent Task Approval: Prevents approval of a task based on attribute values, or other characteristics. This rule runs when the Approver clicks Approve or when the approver clicks Actions > Update.
  • Prevent Task Submission: Prevents submission of a task based on attribute values, or other characteristics. This rule runs when the Assignee clicks Submit or when the assignee clicks Actions > Update.
  • Prevent Task Rejection: Prevents rejection of a task based on attribute values, or other characteristics. This rule runs when the Assignee clicks Submit. This rule runs when the Assignee clicks Submit or when the assignee clicks Actions > Update.
  • Send Email on Update: Runs based on user actions on the task. Hence, you must set the conditions for the rule appropriately. The most common condition is to have a condition with the Status attribute or the Status Detailed attribute:
    • Status attribute: The only valid value that you can select is Closed. Pending, Open, and Error are all statuses that result from automated actions on the task.
    • Status Detailed attribute: The valid statuses are with the approver.

    The rule runs when a user using the task action dialog:

    • Claims, releases, submits, approves, rejects, reopens, force-starts, or force-closes a task
    • Updates an attribute value
    • Answers a question
    • Adds a comment
    • Deletes a comment
    • Adds a reference attachment

To view schedule rules:

  1. On the Home page, click Application, and then click Task Manager.
  2. Click the Schedules tabSchedules tab on the left.
  3. Double-click a schedule.
  4. Click the Rules tab. You can view the following information about the rules that are associated with a template:
    • Order: Order of precedence
    • Rule: Name of the rule
    • Conditions: Conditions that must exist before running the rule
  5. To create or edit a rule, on the Rules tab, click the New icon New icon or select an existing rule and click the Edit icon Edit icon.
  6. On the Properties tab:

    • Rule: Select a rule.

      Note:

      When you make changes to a rule definition, the additional information is added to the audit log. You can view the changes both in the History tab as well as the Audit Report.

    • Description: Optional. Explain why you configured the rule and how it should be used. You can enter a maximum of 255 characters.

    • Run When: Indicates the events associated with the rule.

    • Approver Level: Select All Levels or select the Approver levels.

  7. On the Filter tab:

    • Select Create Filter and populate the conditions section or select Use Saved Filter, and then select a filter. The filter selected and configured for the rule determines the conditions that trigger the rule to apply.

    • Filter Task: Specify for which task the condition should be selected:

      • Current Task
      • Any Predecessor
      • Specific Task: Provide the Task ID

    • Conditions:

      • Use Saved Filter: The Conditions section displays a read-only version of the conditions associated with the saved filter.

      • Create Filter: The Conditions section is enabled and you can click Create Condition or Create Condition Group to specify conditions.

        Conjunction, Source, Attribute, Operator, and Value behave as they do for the existing advanced filter feature.

  8. Enter schedule information on the schedule tabs: