Introduction to KnowledgeTree Workflows | Document Management Software

A document management system Workflow is a task and process management tool that applies an automatic, predefined life-cycle to selected documents in the system.

Workflows allow you to automate certain business processes. For example, an invoice is created, distributed, then paid; a report may be created, reviewed, edited, and then published.

Each workflow describes a series of tasks that must be performed on a document in the workflow, and it specifies the user/s responsible for these tasks. At the end of each task, the document is moved to the next stage in the workflow, and the workflow engine alerts the responsible user for the start of the next task.

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Transition - defines the move from task to task in the Workflow. At the end of each task, a document in a workflow 'transitions' to a new 'state'. For example, in an Invoice Workflow, a transition called 'payment received' may move the document to the workflow state called 'Paid'. Each state may have one or more transitions, depending on the workflow topography.

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State - defines a position in the workflow between tasks. Workflows begin with starting states, and are complete at an 'end state'. KnowledgeTree also allows you to configure workflows that loop, in which, at the end of a particular state, the document automatically moves back to the starting state.

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Action - defines document actions that may be disabled or enabled in certain workflow states. For example, let's say you have defined a 'Publication' workflow that defines the life cycle of a document from a starting state of 'Draft', through one or more intermediate edit and review states, ending in the 'Published' state, and you want to prevent the document from being checked out for further editing after it has reached the 'Published' state, then you could disable 'check out' once the document reaches the workflow state 'Published'.

•	Trigger - defines a condition that must be met before a workflow may transition to another state. A trigger can also be a task that the system must perform when a transition is made, such as moving the document to another folder.

Workflow Example:

Starting state: Invoice created

transition: Send to client

New State: Distributed

transition: Await payment

End state: Paid

KnowledgeTree workflows are configurable to various levels of granularity. States and Transitions may be arranged in any order, depending on the complexity of the workflow.

Permissions assigned through a Workflow override existing folder permissions - you may assign additional permissions or remove a user's existing folder permissions. Workflows are the only subtractive permissions tool in KnowledgeTree.

KnowledgeTree permissions are typically assigned to groups and roles, only on folders. Within a Workflow, permissions are assigned to users who are in a group or role that is part of the workflow, on folders and on documents in the workflow.

Note: When configuring Workflows, it is important to remember that the permissions you set up in a Workflow (security by state) can override the permissions you set up on your folder structure. This is especially important where you have pre-configured a complex folder permissions system before adding Workflows.