If Actions and Else Actions

In addition to the Execution Options of a workflow action, which determine when the workflow starts, you can use a Run If Qualification to further determine whether the workflow should run, and if so, whether a certain set of actions will occur, based on the conditions tested by the qualification.

When the workflow starts, AR System server evaluates the Run If Qualification. If the qualification is true, the If Actions occur. If the qualification is not true, the Else Actions, if any, occur. If there is no qualification, the If Actions occur. If the qualification is not true and there are no Else Actions, the workflow stops.

Related topic

Specifying-workflow-actions

You can include any action type in the If Actions or Else Actions of a workflow object. For active links and filters, the If Actions and Else Actions act on the current request. For escalations, the If Actions run on all the matching requests in the form. Escalation Else Actions run once with no associated request. In this case all fields are NULL when the escalation starts.

For any active link, filter, or escalation, you must define at least one If Action. Else Actions are optional. You can define a maximum of 25 If Actions and 25 Else Actions in any workflow object. On the If Actions and Else Actions panel headings, the number in parentheses shows how many actions are defined. For example, the following figure shows three If Actions and no Else Actions defined in an active link.

Execution conditions and qualifications are always either true or false, so you cannot run a combination of If and Else actions together in the same active link, filter, or escalation.

If Actions and Else Actions panel headings

221_DS-ALactioncounts.png

Tip

To maximize the workflow editor window when working on an active link, filter, or escalation, double-click the tab for the workflow item. To return to the main Developer Studio view, double-click the tab again.

Use case scenarios

If actions execute when the qualification is met as can be seen in the following use case scenarios:

  • An active link qualification checks for membership in an access control group for the user name in the Submitter field. If the user is a member of the group, the If action allows access to a field.
  • A filter qualification looks for "hardware" in the Problem Type field and, if found, the If action assigns the request to a hardware support person.
  • An escalation qualification looks for any requests more than two hours old that have "New" in the Status field and if found, the If action assigns the matching requests to a manager.

Else actions are optional. They execute when the qualification is not met as can be seen in the following use case scenarios:

  • An active link qualification checks for membership in an access control group for the user name in the Submitter field and, if not found, the Else action denies access to a field.
  • A filter qualification looks for "hardware" in the Problem Type field, and, if not present, the Else action assigns the request to a software support person.
  • An escalation qualification looks for any requests more than two hours old that have "New" in the Status field. If none are found, the Else action sends an email notification reporting this fact to a shared status log account.

 

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