Skip navigation FileNet logo
Glossary  |  Help Directory  
  Help for Process Designer
  Search  |  Index
Process Reference  
Process Designer
Getting Started
  About defining a workflow
  Start a new workflow definition
  Open a workflow definition
  Save a workflow definition
  Logon issues
  Create a submap
  Display a map
  Specify display options
  Import workflow definition
  Specify print options
  Print
  Process Designer toolbar
  Process Designer menus
  Workflow map area
  Property pane
  Message area
Workflow Properties
Steps
Routes
Validate & Launch
   

Definition process

Analyze the business process to be automated

You define the work to be done, breaking the process into individual activities, identifying necessary data and documents, and determining the logic for routing the work.

Specify the properties of the workflow

Using Process Designer, you create a workflow definition, specifying the items that will be used as workflow properties:

Define each step in the workflow

When you create a new workflow definition, a Launch step is created automatically and placed on the workflow map. You define the instructions for the user who launches the workflow, as well as any attachments, data fields, and responses that the launch user will use.

For each activity you identified in the analysis, you create a step on the workflow map that you assign to one or more participants or to a work queue. For each step, you specify instructions for the participant, attachments and data fields that will be used, responses that the participant can choose, any deadline for completing the work, and step reassignment privileges. You also specify the step processor that will display the step information and process the participant's input when the workflow is running.

Specify the routing logic

On the workflow map, you draw the routes from one step to the next and specify the routing logic that determines the sequence in which step will be performed.

When there is only one possible route from one step to the next step, the work proceeds with no conditions. When the work can be routed to one of several steps, you specify the conditions that determine the routing, such as a response made by a participant or the value of a data field. For example, if a participant can choose from one of three responses in a step, the work can be routed to one of three steps, depending on the response selected.

Validate the workflow

When you finish creating the workflow definition, you check it for errors.

Link the workflow definition to a document class or a specific document

In an object store or library, a user with administrative access rights links one or more specific documents or document classes to the workflow definition.