Note: The content in this article refers to single-document workflows, now known as legacy workflows. While existing workflows remain supported and such workflows can continue to be updated and used, legacy workflows will not receive new functionality in future releases. As of the 21R1.2 release, multi-document workflows and object workflows are unified under Admin > Configuration > Workflows.
If your document lifecycle does not have any legacy workflows, the Legacy Workflow tab will not appear on your document lifecycle configuration page. If you require legacy workflow functionality for such a document lifecycle in your Vault during this release period, contact Support.
After the 21R3 release, you cannot create or copy legacy workflows in any Vault. You can continue to refresh or clone Vaults with existing legacy workflows.
Advanced workflow role configuration allows you to define a set of business rules which determine which role should be required, optional, or hidden on the workflow start dialog. This configuration is only available for task assignments that appear as multi-user controls on the start dialog.
Note that your Admin must enable the Advanced Workflow Role Configuration setting for these options to appear in your Vault.
Note: Vault only uses Advanced Workflow Role Configuration rules on the workflow start dialog. When users use the Add Participants action, they can assign hidden and optional roles.
About the Workflow Object
The Workflow object is associated with document lifecycle workflows. Its sole purpose is to support object reference relationships with the Workflow Role Setup object. Once enabled, the Workflow object requires no configuration.
Each Workflow object record corresponds to an active workflow (custom or standard) in your Vault. When a new workflow is created and made active, a corresponding Workflow object record is automatically created.
Vault names the object records as {Lifecycle Name}.{Workflow Name} and assigns each a unique ID and External ID value.
The object record values cannot be edited as they are retrieved from the workflows themselves. Deleting a workflow automatically deletes its corresponding object record. These cannot be deleted if the object record is being referenced by another object.
About the Application Role Object
The Application Role object maps lifecycle roles to a higher “application-level” role.
The Application Role object does not have any special functionality by itself. However, various other features utilize it, including Workflow Role Setup and Dynamic Access Control for documents and object records. Review and update these role mappings
About the Workflow Role Setup Object
The Workflow Role Setup object controls the fields and values that will be used when setting a particular role to required or hidden in the start workflow dialog.
The object includes the following standard fields:
- Participation Requirement: Picklist field which controls whether a role is required or hidden when starting a workflow.
- Role (Application Role): Object field pointing to a document role.
- Workflow: Object field pointing to a document workflow.
You can add up to 4 custom object and picklist fields to the object which can be available as rule criteria. These typically include one or more of the following objects:
- Country
- Product
- Document Type
When creating workflow participant rules, the Workflow field and any custom fields can be selected as rule criteria.
About Workflow Participant Rules
Workflow participant rules control which document fields will force the selected role to be required or hidden in the workflow start dialog.
Creating display rules requires a security profile that grants the Admin: Document Lifecycle: Edit permission.
To create workflow participant rules:
- Go Admin > Configuration > Document Lifecycles > [Lifecycle] > Roles.
- Click into a role and go to the Workflow Participant Rules tab.
- Click Create and enter a Label for the rule.
- Optional: Edit the Name and/or enter a Description.
- Under Rule Criteria, select one or more fields defining the rule.
- Click Save. You can create up to 25 different rules per lifecycle role.
The available options under Rule Criteria include all Workflow Role Setup fields which have corresponding document fields. For example:
- Documents include fields for workflow, document type, and country.
- Workflow Role Setup includes a field for workflow and can be configured with fields for document type and country.
By selecting all three fields, a rule will be established making the role required when a document workflow, type, and country match specific values.
Rules can also be configured that make the role optional when given fields match specific values. However, for a selected role to be optional, all workflow tasks associated with the role must also be optional.
The rules apply to all documents in the selected lifecycle. The details controlling which workflow (Start Review, Start Approval, etc.) and which document field values cause a rule to take effect are configured in the Workflow Role Setup object records.
To modify a rule, return to the Workflow Participant Rules tab and select one of the following options from the Actions menu to the right of the label:
- Click Edit to change the label, name, description, or criteria.
- Click Delete to permanently remove the rule.
How to Create Workflow Role Setup Records
Workflow Role Setup object records control when a workflow participant rule takes effect and whether the role is required or hidden in the workflow’s start dialog.
To create Workflow Role Setup object records:
- Go Business Admin > Objects > Workflow Role Setup.
- Click Create and fill in the details for the object record. These vary based on what Admins have set up for the object. Note that you cannot edit the Name field because it is system managed.
- Click Save.
Example: Hide a Specific Role in the Start Workflow Dialog
When Sara initiates a workflow to review a document, she sees the Viewer role display as optional in the workflow start dialog. Sara wants to define a specific rule which hides the Viewer role in the start workflow dialog whenever the United States is selected as a country. Sara will need to utilize Advanced Workflow Configuration to hide the Viewer role instead of making it optional.
First, you need to configure the Workflow Role Setup object. Because Sara wants to define a rule that hides the Viewer role when the United States is selected, she must create a new field for the Country object type. Creating this field is necessary so it can be selected as rule criteria in Workflow Participant Rules. Go into the Workflow Role Setup object configuration and add the Country object field.
Next, you will need to create a workflow participant rule for the Viewer role. Workflow Participant Rules control which document fields will force the selected role to be required or hidden in the start workflow dialog. In this example, Sara would create a Workflow Participant Rule with the Workflow and Country options selected under Rule Criteria.
Lastly, you must create a Workflow Role Setup object record to control when the workflow participant rule for the Viewer role will take effect. In this example, Sara would complete the fields below as follows:
- Status: Active
- Workflow: General Lifecycle > Review
- Role: Viewer
- Hidden in the Participation Requirement field, and United States in the Country field. This will establish the rule to make the Viewer role hidden when the workflow field and country match those specific values.
Special Considerations
There are a couple of items of note regarding this feature:
- If there is only one User Control configured in the start step, the User Control will always appear as required in the workflow start dialog.
- If assigning a User Control to a role without any user tasks, the User Control appears as required in the workflow start dialog.
Admin: How to Enable
Contact Veeva Support to expose the Advanced Workflow Role Configuration setting in desired Vaults.
Once available, an Admin must enable this feature from Admin > Settings by selecting the Advanced Workflow Role Configuration checkbox. Once enabled, an Admin can configure the following Vault objects to support this configuration:
- Workflow
- Application Role
- Workflow Role Setup
Note: This action cannot be undone. You cannot disable this feature after enabling it.