Task

A task is a workflow step that requires a user to perform an action. To incorporate a task into the workflow, use drag & drop to move the task from the left-hand sidebar into the flow diagram on the right-hand side. This opens a dialog in which a wizard takes you through the steps for defining the task. First, in the General step, specify properties such as name, description, and stamping behavior, then enter notifications for collaborators and specify the decisions to be made within the task. Finally, specify deadlines for the task in the escalation levels.

General

Task name

The name is shown in the node of the task in the flowchart view.
You can use the following characters for the names of the tasks: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _, and the space character. If an invalid character is entered, the frame around the name field turns red and the OK button is disabled.

Task description (optional)

If you wish to describe the task in more detail e.g. in order to differentiate it from a similar task, you can do this here. This description is then displayed to users if they click on a workflow task in Web Client.

Stamps: If the employee should stamp the document for a decision (e.g. with "approved" in the case of an invoice), you can set this up here.

If decisions are made using a form, a stamp is automatically set.

Enable this option if a decision is made in a form and if a stamp should additionally be set automatically as clear proof that the document has been processed.

In the lower area, specify which information receives a stamp and how it is set up.

Notification

To inform the user of the new task automatically by email, arrange it here.

Send email

To use the email notification function, first enable this option.

Subject

Enter the subject here, e.g. "You have a new workflow task." If you want to insert a workflow variable, click Edit.

Body

Enter the text here that should be included in the email. If you want to insert a workflow variable, click Edit.

Attach document to email

Enable this option if you want to attach to the email a document belonging to the task. This option is available whether or not you inserted a link to the document in the subject line.

Decisions

In this step, define which decisions the responsible user should make within a task and how this should be done. The tab in the wizard's navigation bar shows you the number of previously defined decisions after the "Decisions" name. Underneath, the dialog is divided into the sidebar with two columns on the left where all decisions are listed and an area on the right for settings. As soon as you add a decision, the settings are displayed in the right-hand area.

In order to move a decision within a list, navigate the cursor over the decision and click on the double arrow that appears.

The areas in which you define the decisions in more detail are displayed on the right:

General

In addition to the name, the general settings of a decision include:

Description: Here you describe which decision options the person who is processing the task should have, e.g. accepting or rejecting an incoming invoice. This description is then displayed to the user if he clicks the info button for the relevant decision in Web Client.

Color: The color setting applies to the output of the task in the flowchart.

Default decision: The decision is displayed by default to the editor of the task. This means the decision will not need to be reselected each time.

Dialog

The dialog displayed to the editor for making a decision can contain the following elements:

• Field

• Index table

• Link:

• Description:

Properties of the Field dialog element

If the editor should enter data for a decision in a dialog, e.g. a cost center, specify here which input fields should be available for this. The available options are text, number, decimal, date, date/time, keyword, user, role, substitution rule.

Field name

Enter the field name as it should appear for the user in the dialog. You can use the following characters for dialog field names: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _, and the space character. It is possible to enter additional characters.

The name must be unique across all decisions in a task.

Type

Your data type selection specifies which control elements should be displayed in Web Client workflow tasks and which characters can be entered there.

For more information, see the

To expand the dialog for field settings, click the Edit icon on the right. The available options are differentiated based on file type: Here is some information about the most important settings.

Write-protected

A write-protected specification can make sense if, for example, the user needs to know which amount has been approved when editing an invoice.

Predefined entry

You set different parameters depending on the source. See the "Sources" overview for details of which sources are available for selection with which parameters.

Select list

Choose a select list from the drop-down list. The default select lists for file cabinets cannot be used.

The workflow engine works independently of the DocuWare system. It is therefore necessary to create external select lists to access file cabinet data if index metadata should be available to the user as select lists.

Select list only

If this option is enabled, users will only be able to enter values from the select list.

Properties of the Index Table dialog element

The Index Table  option is only displayed if at least one index table has been set up for the file cabinet linked to the workflow: DocuWare Configuration > File Cabinets.

In the dialog, the name of the index table is automatically adopted as the field name. Click a table column to edit the following options in addition to the properties described in the "Field" section:

Calculate sum

Select whether the sum of a decimal column should be calculated and displayed at the bottom of the workflow form. The sum option is useful, for example, for invoice amounts, but not for article numbers.

Fill with balance

This option is also only available for columns of type Decimal or Numeric. This will automatically enter the difference from a total amount that you define in the Total Amount option. For example, "300" is entered as a partial amount in the first of two lines in an invoice, and the total amount is "1000." The balance of "700" is automatically entered in the second line.

Pre-fill entire tables

You can also pre-fill entire index tables with the index table contents from documents that have already been stored. This is helpful, for example, in general accounting, when the same data from archived documents is constantly required for recurring billing.
To do this, select Pre-fill index table with data from another index table in the field properties and then choose whether the pre-filled data should be appended to existing data in the table or whether the pre-filled data should replace the existing data. Then specify the source index table, which can be in the same file cabinet or in a different one. You specify the document from which data is to be used via an SQL query. If there are multiple results, only the first result is used. Only the available columns are displayed for column selection of the destination table.

The inserted table data is initially visible only to the user of the task in the Web Client. Only when the user confirms with Apply is the data written to the archive. In contrast, table manipulations with an Assign Data activity automatically write the data to the file cabinet.

You can add columns to a table field even if there are active instances. The instances of workflows that use this index table will continue to work. The new column is displayed in the user interface but is disabled. For new instances, configure the new columns so that they are not write-protected and have all the required properties. These changes are only applied to new instances of the workflow. The new columns are not displayed in the workflow history of existing instances.

Properties of the Link dialog element

Add links to third-party programs, for example, in the workflow dialog for the user. You can also take a link directly from a data source. For this purpose, the following options are available under Fill address with: Index data of the document, File cabinet, Workflow system variable, Workflow global variable, Fixed entry, and Local data connection (DocuWare Cloud)/External data (DocuWare On-premises).

Properties of the Description dialog element

In the properties under Predefined entry, enter a text that provides the user with information for making the decision. Also within the descriptions, you have the option to use index fields, links, system variables, and global workflow variables, among other things, to provide further information.

Validation

The inputs of a task can be validated before the task is completed. For example, for an invoice approval, it is possible to check whether the sum of the approved partial amounts correspond to the total amount in a completed split posting. If the validation reveals that the values don't match, the user will get a message.

Enter an arithmetic expression. The arithmetic expression can use variables and values from index and workflow fields from the current decision.

It is applied when the user confirms the task. If the validation returns an error, the user will get a message, which you can also specify here.

To validate user input in the workflow dialog, use the elements listed on the Workflow Fields tab.

Assigning Data

If data from a defined source is to be written to a particular destination, you can configure this here.

For more information on automatic data assignment, read the chapter on the Assigning Data activity. The available functions here are the same as in the dialog for the Assign data activity.

The only difference is that here—with automatic data assignment within a task—the Workflow Fields entry type is available. This means that, for example, when an invoice is rejected, the specified rejection reason can be entered and written into the "Comment" index field.

Assign To

In this step you determine whether, and if so, to which users, roles, substitution rules or variables the task should be assigned. You have three options for this:

Assigning a task

• No reassignment

• Assign by workflow field

• Assign directly to: Proceed in the usual way for assigning a task.

Escalation Levels

In this step, specify two escalation levels for a task using the reminder settings and due date settings.

1. In the first escalation level, the task is highlighted in color in the task list and a reminder is sent by email if necessary.

2. The second escalation level is reached when a particular time period has elapsed (timeout). This time period can be minutes, hours, or days.

The default setting for working time is Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. You can also define an automatic reassignment for cases where these escalation levels are reached. If, for example, a person has to approve or reject an invoice and does not do this within three working days, the task is automatically assigned to another user and the department head.

Reminder settings

If a task has reached this level, it is displayed with a yellow flag in the Web Client workflow tasks. A deadline of three working days is set by default. You can also specify that the employee is sent an automatic email reminder about the task when the first escalation level occurs.

Due date settings

An overdue task is indicated with a red flag in the workflow task list in the Web Client.

Or the task is redirected by a timeout output and is reassigned. Reassignment can then occur based on user, role and substitution rules. You can also specify that the employee is sent an automatic email reminder that the task is overdue when the second escalation level occurs.

If you set the time for a reminder of a task using a variable in the reminder settings, the variable selected will be used as a reference date for the due date. Then the due date is 5 working days after the reminder date, for instance, if you have created the setting of Overdue after 5 working days.

Automatic reassignment

A task can be reassigned automatically if the employee to whom the task was assigned is out of the office.

Automatic reassignment is only available if the task is assigned to a substitution rule. The task is then assigned to the next employee in the sequence of substitutes. If the task is assigned to a role and the user who selects the task (and therefore blocks it for other users) has the "Absent" status, the task is then made available again for all users to whom this role is assigned.

You specify substitution rules in DocuWare Administration.

The automatic reassignment of a task is noted in the workflow history.

You specify which days and times apply as general working hours for the organization in the DocuWare Configuration under Organization settings > General > Time and language.