Livelink Workflow An Introduction

Workflows are business processes that follow sequential paths from start to completion,
and automate procedures that have a series of defined steps.
For example, a user can define a workflow that runs each time a user submits an expense
report. During execution of this workflow, Livelink might route the document to a
manager or supervisor for approval, and then to the companys !ccounting department
for payment. Livelink Workflow can create simple or complex workflows, depending on
the business processes a Livelink user wants to automate.
Workflow Steps
Livelink Workflow as featured in Livelink " provided a selection of Workflow
#teps$
%nitiator &his step is to be performed by the initiator of the
workflow
'ser ( )roup &his step is to be performed by the named user or group
#ub Workflow &his step is a link to another workflow
*valuate &his is a step that evaluates a set of values and takes a
path according to the result.
+ilestone &his step represents a point of achievement in your
process
,rocess &his step is an automate process, such as send an email,
update attributes or save an attachment.
&hese workflow steps provide the basis of the system that can be combined to produce a
-map. representing the process, similar to a flow chart or diagram. /ow that you have the
process, you need some people to perform the steps within your Workflow. Livelink
offers two steps types for user interaction, initiator and user. &he first sends the step back
to the Livelink user who initiated that workflow, whereas the latter sends the step to the
Livelink user or group that you have specified. &he evaluate step allows you to add
routing into your workflow, allowing you to take one branch if a condition is met, another
if it is not. For example, if your expenses are under a certain value, then your manager
can approve them, over that threshold then the department manager must approve them
instead !t certain points in your Workflow, you may have reached a point of achievement
0 for example, request re1ected, process completed etc 0 Milestones provide this
functionality. !s a single process can produce a huge workflow map, the subworkflow
step allows the developer of the workflow to break the workflow down into more
manageable sections. &his also allows you to modularise commonly used functions 0 for
example bulk notification activities 0 rather than having them repeated throughout the
main map or even several workflows maps or systems. &his also makes them easier to
manage and maintain. #ubworkflow steps can be very useful to split your main process
into its constituent elements 0 in a large process there is likely to produce a quicker
initiation and processing. Livelink " offers the addition of the process step, this allows
you to perform some simple automated functions, for example update the value of
attributes in your workflow. 2ou can also send an email to one or more users or save an
ob1ect attached to the workflow into the main folder structure of Livelink.