Using Approvals

You can use an Approval as a manual checkpoint in the Workflow's business process—for example, to ensure that the system loaded the correct lab data before generating a report on the data—or as a record that a report output has been reviewed and approved (see Writing Text for Approvals).

In the Notification you specify whether approval is required by one or all of the recipients to proceed to the next Workflow activity. You also specify a timeout period. You can specify a backup group of recipients to receive the Notification if the timeout period expires, plus a timeout period for the backup recipients.

When a user receives an approval-type Notification, it includes two buttons labeled Approve and Reject, respectively, but the approval or rejection is not of the Notification itself. You must make it clear to the recipient in the text what will happen if he or she clicks each button.

You must define two Transitions following a Notification, one for each condition: Success and Failure. The system interprets an approval by the required number of recipients as success, and a rejection or a timeout as a failure.

Success and Failure Conditions: In the Workflow, you must define two Transitions following each Approval Notification, one each for success and failure. The system interprets an approval as a success, and a rejection or a timeout as a failure.