Creating Next Steps for 1. New

Use the Next Steps tab to specify one or more steps to follow the current step in the workflow and the conditions that govern the movement of the item from this step to the next. Specifying conditions for a step’s transition governs the choices that appear to users when they complete the step.

For example, the example workflow specifies that all suggestions are to be reviewed by the product manager before they are sent to engineering, while all defects are sent directly to the engineering manager. The logic for the Next Steps dialog box is:

If Type = Suggestion
then Next Step = 2. PM Evaluation
<otherwise> Next Step = 3. EM Processing

If the Type is set to Suggestion, the only possible next step, and the only choice presented to the user, is step 2. For all other values of Type, the only possible next step is step 3.

In this simple example, the next steps could just as easily be specified as:

If Type = Suggestion
then Next Step = 2. PM Evaluation
If Type = Defect
then Next Step = 3. EM Processing

This yields the same result from the user’s perspective. However, if values are ever added to the Type property and corresponding conditions are not added to the workflow step, an item with the new value for Type will not be able to transition from this step to any other.

So, it is not necessary to specify an <otherwise>, or default, condition for the transition if the values of the conditional property are accounted for. However, specifying an <otherwise> condition safeguards against the possibility of an item becoming stranded in a step.

We recommend that you specify a next step for the <otherwise> condition. If you do not specify an <otherwise> condition, we recommend that you set a duration limit for the step so that an exception will be raised if the step does not transition within the specified duration. Duration is set on the General tab.

If the steps specified as next steps have not yet been drawn, Workflow Designer draws rectangular objects in the workspace to represent these steps automatically. Workflow Designer deposits the graphical steps in the upper left corner of the workspace, one on top of another. You can move the steps manually or select Layout > Automatic Layout to rearrange them.

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