The steps in a workflow represent either a specific business
task or a system activity. A business task can be performed by an
individual user, by a group of users, or by an automated application.
There are several different step types:
- A launch step is the first step on the main map of a workflow.
- A general step can be either a participant step, a work queue
step, or an unassigned step:
- A participant step has an associated user or collection of users,
all of whom must process the item to complete the step. The identity
of these users can be defined at run time by using workflow groups;
thus a single workflow definition can exhibit different behavior depending
on the value of the user identities that are contained in the workflow
groups that are defined for that specific workflow.
- A work queue step routes work to a specified work queue for processing
by a participant from a pool of participants or by an automated application.
- An unassigned step is one that is not assigned to a participant
or a work queue. These steps are processed immediately by the system.
- A system step identifies one or more system functions that provide
specific functionality within a workflow. Examples of such functionality
include setting time limits for certain activities, assigning data
field values, creating new workflow instances, and suspending the
workflow for a specified time or until a specified condition is met.
- A submap step calls another workflow map. An individual submap
can be referenced multiple times within a workflow definition, and
multiple levels of nesting (for example, submaps within submaps) are
supported.
- A start step is the first step on a submap.
- A component step executes operations in an external program, also
referred to as a component.