Creating a Workflow

When you create a new workflow, you need to select (and, if necessary, log on to) the server configuration that will store the new workflow. Workflow Designer displays the Workflow Properties dialog so you can set properties for the new workflow. After you provide the required information, Workflow Designer automatically creates the entry step in the top left corner of the Workflow Designer workspace.

1. Click File > New. The New dialog box appears.
2. Select a server configuration. If the Log On dialog box appears, log on using a valid user name and password. Click New. The New Workflow Properties dialog box displays.
3. In the Item Type list, select the item type on which the workflow is based. You can create a workflow for the following item types: file, change request, requirement, task, and topic.
4. In the Workflow Responsibility list, select the item property that indicates responsibility for a step. If you are creating a workflow for change requests, the default is Responsibility. You may change this, for example, if you have created a custom property to track responsibility or choose to use another user ID field.
5. From the Workflow Control Property list, select the item type’s property that will control the workflow. This property is always an enumerated type. It may be a custom property or an existing application property that is customizable. If you are creating a workflow for change requests and have created a custom property with the internal name Usr_StarFlowStatus, the list defaults to that property’s display name (usually Workflow Status).
6. From the Entry Step list, select the name of the enumerated value from the workflow control property that will be the name of the entry step, the step at which each item enters the workflow. The entry step is usually named “0. Entered”. Steps with that specific name define the constraints for an item as it is initially created.

7. Click OK.

   Workflow Designer displays the workspace and the entry step. That step, represented in the workspace by a rectangle has the name of the enumerated value you selected from the Entry Step list. The name is in green. Other step’s names will be black. This makes it easy to distinguish the entry step. All links created from the entry step must be directed towards other steps. No links can be directed to the entry step. Normally, there is only one unconditional link from the entry step to the second step. If and when you save the new workflow, it will be checked into the selected server configuration’s StarFlow Extensions project.

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