To specify how work will progress from one step to the next, you define routes between the steps in a workflow definition. With the exception of the last step on the map, every step has one or more routes leading from it.
Always true |
TIP If you define a condition for the only route from a step, if the condition does not evaluate to true when the step completes, the workflow—or the specific branch of the workflow—will stop. |
Route condition |
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Take all true routes |
When you specify the 'take all true routes' option (known as an AND-split), the work splits into multiple child work items. In the illustration at left, the route to Graphics is always true, and either route A or route B can be true, so at runtime there are two separate work items: one for Graphics, and one for either ReviewA or ReviewB. To create a valid map, you must define a collector step as shown at the Edit step that brings the work back into a single path at the end of all the true routes. Note that the processing will wait just before the collector step (Edit) until all of the child processes—in this case, two—reach this stage. |
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In the illustration at left, Submap1 contains an AND-split at the StartStep to produce two separate work items.
To avoid waiting for the Archive step to complete, the ProcessA step is defined as the collector step. This specifies the work item on the ProcessA path as the parent (which will continue), and releases the child work item (the Archive path) that ends at the TerminateBranch step. NOTE If either the Archive or the TerminateBranch step is defined as the collector step, both the ProcessA work item and the Archive work item will continue after the submap completes—there will be two work items at ReviewDocs and continuing for the rest of the workflow. |
For step-by-step procedures, choose the appropriate topic:
How do I ...? |
See: |
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Define routes between steps |
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Indicate that a route is "always true" |
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Specify possible responses for a step |
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Indicate that taking a route is based on a response |
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Specify a conditional expression for a route |
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Indicate whether work following a step follows one path only |
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Designate a step as a collector step |
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Ensure that the workflow map is valid |