Specifying workflow start conditions
You can specify the start conditions for a workflow by editing its definition in the Workflow Designer. The start conditions determine which operations cause the workflow to start.
For step-by-step instructions, see Configuring workflow start conditions earlier in this chapter.
Example Suppose you want the creation of user accounts in a certain organizational unit to require approval. You can implement this scenario by configuring the workflow start conditions as follows:
- Set type of operation to 'Create'.
- Set type of object to 'User'.
- Set initiator to 'Any User'.
- Set container by selecting the organizational unit you want.
As a result of these conditions, the workflow will start whenever Active Roles is used to create a user account in that organizational unit.
Specifying approvers
When constructing an approval workflow, you add one or more approval activities to the workflow definition, thereby creating approval rules, and then configure those activities to define approvers for each rule. The entities that can be designated as approvers include manager of operation requestor, manager of operation target object, and manager of container that holds operation target object. It is also possible to select any particular user or group of users for the role of approver.
Example: Extending the previous example, suppose you want the creation of user accounts to be approved by the manager of the organizational unit in which the accounts are going to be created. You can implement this scenario by adding an approval activity to the workflow and then using the Properties command on that activity to select the corresponding option on the Approvers Selection page.
For step-by-step instructions, see Configuring an Approval activity earlier in this chapter.
Configuring notification
You can configure approval rules to notify approvers or other interested parties of specific events that may occur in the approval process. For example, an approval rule can be configured so that the approvers defined by the rule receive a notification e-mail whenever an operation is requested that requires their approval. Other events to notify of include the completion of an approval task indicating that an approver has either allowed or denied the requested changes, the completion of the operation indicating that the requested changes have been applied, and the operation failure because of an error condition.
Notification recipients
When configuring notification settings in an approval rule, you choose an event, and specify who you want to receive email notification of that event-notification recipients. A recipient can be any mailbox-enabled user or mail-enabled group. There are also a number of options allowing you to select recipients based on their role, such as operation requestor, approver, manager of operation requestor, or manager of operation target object. A single rule can be configured to notify of one or more events, with an individual list of recipients being defined for each event.