Types of workflow components

Following are the workflow components in AR System:

• Active link—An active link is an action or group of actions performed on the browser. Active links are triggered by user actions in a form. They can be used to perform a variety of tasks, such as giving quick responses during data entry and auto-filling fields. For example, an active link can verify a value entered in the Employee ID field of a request and then pull information from a supporting People form to fill in other fields on the request, such as Requestor Name, Department, and Phone Number, dramatically reducing the time required for support staff to fill out a request.
• Filter—A filter is an action or group of actions performed on the AR System. Filters are used to enforce business rules and to ensure system and data integrity. As the server processes a request, the filters associated with that form and action evaluate the data in the request. For example, you can verify the values in a completed form by using a filter to compare them against your business rules and return an error if the request violates any of those rules.
• Escalation—An escalation is an action or group of actions performed on the server at specified times or time intervals. Basically, an escalation is an automated, time-based process that searches for requests that match certain criteria at specified times and takes actions based on the results of the search. For example, an escalation can trigger AR System to notify the next level of management if a problem is not assigned to a technician within one hour of submission.

This following example illustrates how the workflow objects work together with other AR System application components. In the example, when Ramona entered her telephone number into the Telephone # field, the following sequence occurred, as illustrated in the following figure:

1. An active link searched the Employee form to retrieve the name, configuration, and location associated with the telephone number.
2. After Ramona finished entering information into the form and submitted it, filters triggered an external paging system integrated with AR System to notify Becky that Ramona's printer was not working.
3. Becky fixed the problem.
4. Becky changed the status of the request, and a filter notified Ramona that her problem was solved.

Example of an automated workflow

If the situation had been flagged as an emergency and no one was assigned to the request within an hour, an escalation would have notified all required support personnel, and a filter would have sent Ramona an email message informing her of the status of her request.

Collections of workflow components

You can collect active links and filters and run them as procedures. These collections are called active link guides and filter guides.

The workflow components in guides are organized in a processing sequence. Using guides enables you to give a name to a set of workflow operations that accomplish a specific task.

In addition, interactive or navigational active link guides can interact with users by requesting information and then waiting for input. This enables you to create tasks that guide users through application processes in a way similar to wizards.

An active link guide is a group of active links. Because active link guides run on a browser, they can augment training by leading users through the steps necessary to fill in one or more forms to accomplish a specific task. For example, when an employee clicks a Request Business Cards button on a human resources form, an active link guide might open a business cards form and then display field-by-field input instructions until the card request is complete and ready to submit. Active link guides can also be used as subroutines to accomplish common tasks.

A filter guide is a group of filters that can be used as a subroutine in workflow. Because filter guides run on the server, they cannot be used like active link guides to lead users through a form.

This table summarizes how and where you use filters, active links, and escalations:

Workflow based on events versus time

Filters and active links are triggered by events, such as a user action or a change in the state of some data. Escalations implement time-based business rules.  For example, a filter can notify a support manager whenever a request is submitted with a priority of High or Critical. The submission of the request is the event. Other events that can trigger filters are updating, deleting, and retrieving requests. Actions that can trigger active links include opening or closing a window, displaying a request, clicking a button on a form, pressing Enter when the cursor is in a field, or selecting a menu item.

Escalations are triggered by the passage of time. The trigger (or execution option) can be absolute time (such as "every day at 2:00 p.m.") or a time interval (such as "one hour between escalation runs"). For example, an escalation can warn a group of users that in one hour their manager will be notified that a problem has been unsolved for too long.

Workflow running on clients versus servers

Active links are executed on the client side in response to actions that users perform in forms. Filters and escalations are executed on the server.  For example, active links can change how a form looks or behaves, validate data entered by users, or use data in a form to find other data for the form. Unless an active link queries the AR System server for information or runs a process on the server, it can complete its operation without sending a request to the server. This capability helps decrease overall network traffic and improves the performance of an application.

Filters and escalations implement business rules by examining newly created or changed requests and taking actions based on the new data and the business rules. For example, if your business wants to avoid handling purchase orders that are not properly approved, you can create a filter that stops AR System from processing such purchase orders after they are submitted to the server and then notifies the requester accordingly.

Actions associated with filters and escalations take place after the transaction is transferred to the server for processing. Then, processing can return to the browser, where more active link actions can take place.

API calls to the server trigger filters but not active links. If a business rule must be run on any input (including user input and input from an integrated process using an API), the business logic must be in an active link and a filter.