This article documents the list of changes and new features for Workflow 9.0
Overview
Workflow 9.0 is a major release that introduces business processes: workflows that can be started from Laserfiche client applications and have extensive reporting capabilities. Additionally, new activities let you retrieve information from Laserfiche Forms, set entry ownership, and interact with shortcuts. Other new features include the ability to configure parameters that can be passed between workflows and to test workflows directly from the Workflow Designer.
New Features
- Business Process Options (Properties Pane) These properties let you turn a workflow into a business process and determine whether the business process will be accessible from the Laserfiche Client and Web Access.
- Business Process Rule: Like a starting rule, a business process rule is a set of conditions that are assigned to a published business process. These conditions define when the business process is allowed to be started by users in the Laserfiche client applications.
- Business Process Options dialog box: This dialog box, access from the Business Process Options property box, allows you to configure business process defaults and what reporting information that will be available for each instance of the business process.
- Business Process Search Types: Business process instances can be search for based on nine new search options, including status, instance name, and steps.
- Details tab: Located in the instance details, this tab provides general statistics and information about a specific time a workflow ran.
- Business Process tab: Located in the instance details, this tab shows the steps, statuses, and participants of a business process instance.
- Run Current Workflow: This feature lets you run a workflow or a business process directly from the Workflow Designer. Particularly useful when testing designs, you can specify a starting entry, initiator, and parameter values for the instance you want to run.
- Workflow Parameters: Workflows that are invoked by other workflows, or run directly from the Workflow Designer, can be configured with input and output parameters. Input parameters are ways of specifying what information a workflow needs either from an invoking workflow or from the person who is starting the workflow. Output parameters delineate which information the workflow will provide, when it finishes running, to the workflow that invoked it.
- Token Functions This feature lets you edit token values with pre-configured operations.
New activities
- Set Entry Owner: Set or remove owners from entries; entry owners automatically have security permissions to that entry.
- Retrieve Shortcuts: Collects all the shortcuts linking to a specified entry.
- Delete Shortcuts: Deletes all shortcuts linking to a specified entry.
- Retrieve Laserfiche Forms Content: Retrieves the field values and other information from a Laserfiche Forms business process instance.
- For Each File: Runs its contained activities on each file in a collection.
- Business Process Step: Defines and reports on an individual step in a business process.
- Update Business Process: Updates the business process instance name, and/or updates its status in the Laserfiche Client and Web Access.
- Update Participants: Updates the trustee involved in a business process step.
- Associate Entries: Associates or dissociates an entry from a business process instance.
Updated activities
- Search Repository: Now has advanced searching options.
- Add Text Box Text box color is now customizable.
- Repeat: Infinite loop protection is now on by default.
- Invoke Workflow: Workflows can transfer data to their invoked or invoking workflows via parameters.
- Copy Metadata Documentation has been significantly augmented to discuss newer options.
New Workflow Administration Console features:
- The main menu contains the Manage business process instances tool for dissociating and deleting business process instances from the Laserfiche Server and repository.
- Server Timers node: Use this new node to create Workflow notifications that send e-mails to business process participants when they have pending work, work at risk of being overdue, and/or overdue work.
- Workflow Web Services node: Use this new node to configure a Workflow Web Services location that lets Laserfiche client applications connect to the Workflow Server. This feature lets a Laserfiche repository display business process information.
- Waiting Parent Instances node: This new node lets you view information about, and override, workflows that are waiting for invoked workflows to finish (i.e., parent workflows).
See the following list of fixes in Workflow 9.0
- The summaries for the Parent Folder: Parent Contents, Parent Folder: Parent Contents (recursive), Folder: Contents, and Folder: Contents (recursive) conditions now correctly indicate that the conditions apply to any entry in the parent folder or folder. (79476)
- If you copy and paste multiple starting rules from one workflow into another workflow all the starting rules will retain thier conditions, not just the first one. (82215)
- If a Routing Decision activity is running as a task and none of the conditions on its branches are met, the activity will now be skipped as expected. (86186)
- The Date Token Calculator activity now lets you insert an hour greater than 12 or less than 1 when 24 hours is selected as the time type. (85994)
Release and Hotfix Information for Laserfiche Workflow.
Release Notes for Laserfiche Workflow 9.0