Create Workflows

You can create workflows that connect business-process tasks performed by different users. System tasks, such as automatic posting, can be included as steps in workflows, preceded or followed by user tasks. Requesting and granting approval to create new records are typical workflow steps.

On the Workflow page, you create a workflow by listing the involved steps on the lines. Each step consists of a workflow event moderated by event conditions and a workflow response with response options. You define workflow steps by filling fields on workflow lines from fixed lists of event and response values representing scenarios that are supported by the application code.

When you create workflows, you can copy the steps from existing workflows or from workflow templates. Workflow templates represent non-editable workflows that exist in the generic version of Business Central. The code for workflow templates that are added by Microsoft are prefixed with “MS-“, such as in “MS-PIW”. For more information, see Create Workflows from Workflow Templates.

If your business scenario requires workflow events or responses that are not supported, a Microsoft partner must implement them by customizing the application code.

Note

All notifications about workflow steps are sent through a job queue. Make sure that the job queue in your installation is set up to handle workflow notifications, and that the Start Automatically From NAS check box is selected. For more information, see Use Job Queues to Schedule Tasks.

To create a workflow

Choose the icon, enter Workflows, and then choose the related link.
Choose the New action. The Workflow page opens.
In the Code field, enter a maximum of 20 characters to identify the workflow.
To create the workflow from a workflow template, on the Workflows page, choose the Create Workflow from Template action. For more information, see Create Workflows from Workflow Templates.
In the Description field, describe the workflow.
In the Category field, specify which category the workflow belongs to.
In the When Event field, specify the event that must occur to start the workflow step.

When you choose the field, the Workflow Events page opens where you select from all the workflow events that exist.
In the Condition field, specify one or more conditions that must be met before the event in the When Event field can occur.

When you choose the field, the Event Conditions page opens where you choose from a list of filter fields that are relevant as conditions for the event in question. You can add new filter fields that you want to use as event conditions. You set event condition filters just as you set filters on report request pages.

If the workflow event is the change of a specific field on a record, then the Event Conditions page opens with options to select the field and the type of change.
1. To specify a field change for the event, on the Event Conditions page, in the Field field, select the field that changes.
2. In the Operator field, select either Decreased, Increased, or Changed.
In the Then Response field, specify the response that will follow when the workflow event occurs.

When you choose the field, the Workflow Responses page opens where you select from all workflow responses that exist and set response options for the selected response.

On the Options for the Selected Response FastTab, specify options for the workflow response, by selecting values in the different fields that appear, as follows:

To specify options for a workflow response that involves sending a notification, fill the fields as described in the following table.

Field	Description
Notify Sender	Specify if the approval requestor is notified instead of the approval request recipient. If you select the check box, the Recipient User ID field is disabled because the requestor of the approval, the sender, will be notified instead. The name of the workflow response changes accordingly, to Create Notification for <Sender>. If the check box is not selected, the name of the workflow response is Create Notification for <User>.
Recipient User ID	Specify the user who the notification must be sent to. Note: This option is only available for workflow responses with a placeholder for a specific user. For workflow responses without placeholders for users, the notification recipient is typically defined by the approval user setup.
Notification Entry Type	Specifies if the workflow notification is triggered by a record change, an approval request, or a passed due data.
Link Target Page	Specify another page in Business Central that the link in the notification opens instead of the default page. Note that the page must have the same source table as the record involved.
Custom Link	Specify the URL of a link that is added to the notification in addition to the link to page in Business Central.

To specify options for a workflow response that involves creating an approval request, fill the fields as described in the following table.

Field	Description
Due Date Formula	Specify in how many days the approval request must be resolved from the date when it was sent.
Delegate After	Specify if and when an approval request will automatically be delegated to the relevant substitute. You can select to automatically delegate one, two, or five days after the date when the approval was requested.
Approver Type	Specify who the approver is, according to the setup of approval users and workflow users. The following options exist: - Salesperson/Purchaser specifies that the user who is set up in the Salespers./Purch. Code field on the Approval User Setup page determines the approver. Approval request entries are then created according to the value in the Approver Limit Type field. For more information, see Set Up Approval Users.
Show Confirmation Message	Specify if a confirmation message is shown to users after they request an approval.
Approver Limit Type	Specify how approvers’ approval limits affect when approval request entries are created for them. A qualified approver is an approver whose approval limit is above the value on the request being made. The following options exist: 1. Approver Chain specifies that approval request entries are created for all the requester’s approvers up to and including the first qualified approver. 2. Direct Approver specifies that an approval request entry is only created for the requester’s immediate approver, regardless of the approver’s approval limit. 3. First Qualified Approver specifies that an approval request entry is only created for the requester’s first qualified approver.

To specify options for a workflow response that involves creating journal lines, fill the fields as described in the following table.

Field	Description
General Journal Template Name	Specify the name of the general journal template that the specified journal lines are created in.
General Journal Batch Name	Specify the name of the general journal batch that the specified journal lines are created in.

Choose the Increase Indent and Decrease Indent buttons to indent the event name in the When field to define the step’s position in the workflow.
1. Indicate that the step is the next in the workflow sequence by indenting the event name under the event name of the previous step.
2. Indicate that the step is one of more alternative steps that may start depending on its condition by placing the event name at the same indentation as the other alternative steps. Order such optional steps according to priority by placing the most important step first.
Note

You can only change the indent of a step that does not have a subsequent step.
Repeat steps 7 through 11 to add more workflow steps, either before or after the step that you have just created.
Select the Enabled check box to specify that the workflow will start as soon as the event on the first step of type Entry Point occurs. For more information, see Using Workflows.

Note

Do not enable a workflow until you are sure that the workflow is completed and that the involved workflow steps can start.

Tip

To see relations between tables that are used in workflows, Choose the icon, and then enter Workflow – Table Relations.

Create Workflows

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To create a workflow

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See Also

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