Workflow Designer
Design is accomplished through an intuitive and easy to use graphical environment, which allows free-format placement and linking of workflow nodes. Very large workflow designs may be constructed on a 2000 x 2000 pixel virtual canvas. The design depicted below occupies only about a tenth of the available virtual space.
The designer may be used either through a local area network or across the Internet to design or modify workflow processes, in exactly the same form - workflows may be maintained remotely with the same ease as users local to the Vault server. Remote maintenance is not subjected to any delays, as the distributed nature of the database underlying the workflow designer provides a user experience indistinguishable between local and remote users. The designer is fully groupware enabled, and changes at one design interface are duplicated on all other active interfaces within seconds.
Workflow Attributes
Each workflow allows multiple attributes to be defined. Variables of all important data types (numeric, string, date, time and other) may be defined for manipulation in the workflow process. User lists may be defined for controlling targets of documents, messages and forms. A pro-forma document may be linked to the workflow. These and other attributes allow control and direction of the workflow process.
Conditional Links
Workflow processing is directed via links between workflow nodes. These links are directional, and define a path from the workflow start to workflow termination.
Optionally, the designer may at any junction define a conditional link which can test for one or more workflow variables with potentially complex logic. In this case, the link is only followed if the condition is met. This system allows more flexibility than the conventional yes/no routing of a conditional node - vastly more powerful, conditional links allow any range of conditions to be tested on completion of a node through any number of conditional links. In addition, conditional links may be combined with unconditional links at the exit of a node to allow for any imaginable set of circumstances.
The red links in the example above are conditional links.
Workflow Functionality
The majority of the Workflow functionality is provided through a set of workflow node types, each providing specific features. The example above shows most of these node types, recognizable through the individual icons.
Start / Terminate Nodes
These nodes delimit the workflow, and provide definitive commencement and completion for the process.
Calculator Nodes
Multiple calculation entries may be sequenced, allowing assignment between variables and calculation or construction of both numeric and text items
Document Process Nodes
Provision for delivering documents from the Vault for view or edit, as well as the capability of accepting a document from the user for transmission to the Vault.
Message Nodes
Messages including variable values may be defined for delivery either via the integrated (and instantaneous) Vault message system, or via E-mail. Vault messages are controlled by the workflow system, and allow user response (accept, reject) to be returned to a workflow variable.
Event Nodes
In addition to detailed system events logged to the Workflow event log during workflow execution, the designer may configure event nodes to add information to the log which may include workflow variables.
Trigger Nodes
Allows the triggering of any workflow during the execution of a workflow process. All necessary workflow parameters including the workflow document can be specified.
Pause Nodes
In order to provide synchronization facilities, pause nodes allow workflow variables and timer elements to be combined through a list of conditions which halt workflow execution until nominated criteria are met.
Timer Nodes
Where a simple delay is required, timer nodes may be inserted to provide a programmed delay either relative to arrival or to an absolute calculated date and time
Form Nodes
The workflow can both inform and allow input from the user through form nodes which provide for display and entry of workflow variables of all types. Combination of form nodes and calculator nodes allow very wide flexibility in variable manipulation.
LavaStream Procedure Nodes
To avoid any form of limitation to the capabilities of a workflow, LavaStream nodes allow coded procedures of arbitrary complexity and size - from a few lines of LavaStream code to entire programs of thousands of lines - to be integrated into a workflow. The LavaStream programming language is an extremely powerful and unlimited means of constructing algorithms or interfaces to both the Lava database and any other third-party database. LavaStream procedures can also easily interact with workflow variables, with both extraction and assertion facilities provided. Facilities are also provided to interact with the Document Vault, allowing extraction or insertion of documents or files.
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