Configuring workflow rules

To create a workflow rule:

1. On the Workflow Rules page, click Create Rule. The Create Workflow Rule page appears.
2. Enter a descriptive name for the rule in the Name field.
   
   For each workflow rule that you create, a workflow action with the same name appears on the Project page, and clicking the workflow action performs the relevant action. If you specify a 'display name', the display name is used to identify the rule rather than the standard name.
3. Optionally, enter an alternative name with which to identify the rule on the Project page in the Display name field.
   
   You may want to specify a display name for a workflow rule if you have set up a number of similar rules with only minor differences. For example, you may have set up two workflow rules called 'Approve Progress', with one applying to the 'Contract' programme type and one applying to the 'Tender' programme type. In this situation, you could give each rule a standard 'name' that indicates the programme type to which it relates, and give both workflow rules a display name of 'Approve Progress'. This would mean that users would see the workflow rules identified on the Project page simply as 'Approve Progress', regardless of the programme type to which they referred, but administrator users would be able to use the standard 'name' to differentiate between the rules.
4. Specify the action that you want the workflow rule to perform in the Rule type field:
   • Select 'Programme Status Change' to specify that the rule should change the status of a programme to a particular value.
   • Select 'Programme Field Change' to specify that the rule should change the value of a programme-level user-defined field.
   • Select 'Programme Status and Field Change' to specify that the rule should change the status of a programme to a particular value and change the value of a programme-level user-defined field.
   • Select 'No Programme Status or Field Change' to specify that the rule should change neither the status of a programme nor the value of a user-defined field.
5. Specify the status that a programme must have achieved for the workflow rule to be available in the Current status field.
6. For workflow rules that are configured to change the status of programmes, specify the status that should be applied to a programme when the workflow rule is performed in the Destination status field.
7. For workflow rules that are configured to change the value of a user-defined field, select the programme-level user-defined field that should be updated when the workflow rule is performed in the Programme field field, and select the value that should be applied to the field in the New value field.
8. If you want a programme of a specific type to be created when the workflow rule is performed, select a programme type in the Create/resume programme field. If you select a programme type in this field, a copy of the current programme is taken and saved as a new programme of this type when the rule is performed, unless a programme of this type exists already.
   
   If a programme of a particular type has been suspended, using this option subsequently in a workflow rule recreates, or restarts, the suspended programme, effectively undoing the suspension.
9. If you have selected a programme type in the Create/resume programme field, select the Hide action if programme type exists check box to omit the workflow rule's button from the Project page if a programme of the selected type already exists, or clear the check box to display the button regardless. You may want to hide the button if the only point of the workflow rule is to create a programme of a specific type.
   
   If a programme of the selected type exists but has been suspended, the workflow rule's button is displayed regardless of whether you select this check box.
10. If you want the workflow rule to indicate whether or not programmes are in a progress state, select either 'Not In Progress' or 'In Progress' in the Change progress status field. Leave this field set to 'No Change' if you do not want the rule to change the progress status.
11. If you want the workflow rule to change the status of the whole project, specify the status that should be applied to the whole project when the workflow rule is performed in the Change project status field. For example, you could configure a workflow rule that archives the whole project, rather than just the current programme, when it is performed. Leave this field set to 'No Change' if you do not want the rule to change the project status.
    
    If you configure a workflow rule to change the status of the whole project to 'Archived', this status change will happen regardless of whether the user's access rights enable them to archive or delete projects.
12. Some workflow actions may be applicable only to users of the Asta Vision website, or only to users of Asta Powerproject; others may be applicable to both. Specify whether the workflow action should appear only in the Asta Vision website, only in Asta Powerproject, or in both, in the Rule applies to field.
13. Select the user roles to which the workflow rule should apply in the Applies to roles field. If you want the rule to apply to users of more than one role, CTRL or SHIFT-click to select as many user roles as you need. If the workflow rule should apply to all roles, do not select anything in this field.
    
    To deselect a user role that is currently selected in this field, hold down CTRL and click the user role.
14. Select the programme types to which the workflow rule should apply in the Applies to specific programme types field. If you want the rule to apply to more than one programme type, CTRL or SHIFT-click to select as many programme types as you need. If the workflow rule should apply to all programme types, do not select anything in this field.
    
    To deselect a programme type that is currently selected in this field, hold down CTRL and click the programme type.
    
    If you configure a workflow rule to apply to one or more specific programme types, a 'Specific Programme Types' indicator appears against the rule on the Workflow Rules page. Hover the mouse pointer over this indicator to view a tooltip that shows the programme types to which the rule applies:
    
    
15. If you want the rule to be triggered only if the value of one or more enumeration or integer-type user-defined fields matches certain criteria, you can add field rules to the rule. For example, you may want to specify that a rule should be triggered only when the value of a project-level user-defined field that represents the regions in which you work equals 'North'. This would create a rule that applied only to projects in your north region; you could create similar rules that applied to the projects in your other regions. Or you may want to specify that a rule should be triggered only when the value of a project-level user-defined field that represents the cost of a project is greater than £40,000. This would create a rule that applied only to projects that cost over £40,000.
    
    To add field rules to the rule:
    
    1. Click Add Field Rule. The New Field Rule popup appears.
    2. Specify whether to trigger the rule based on the value of a project, programme or user-level user-defined field in the Object field. For some types of rule, not all three types of user-defined field are available.
    3. Select the enumeration or integer-type user-defined field in the Field field. If you have selected 'Project' or 'User' in the Object field, all project or user-level, enumeration and integer-type user-defined fields are available; if you have selected 'Programme' in the Object field, all programme-level, enumeration and integer-type user-defined fields are available, as well as the Status and Type fields.
    4. Specify whether the rule should be triggered if the value of the selected field is equal to, or not equal to, a specific value in the Comparison field.
       
       If you have selected a user-defined field that relates to a hierarchical user-defined enumeration, you use this field to specify whether the rule should be triggered if the value of the selected field is within, or not within, a specific branch of the hierarchy.
       
       If you have selected an integer-type user-defined field, you can also specify that the rule should be triggered if the value of the selected field is less than, or greater than, a specific value.
    5. If the field rule is based on a project or programme-level, enumeration-type user-defined field, the With field appears. Select 'Fixed Value' to populate the Value field with the contents of the user-defined field specified above, or select 'User Field' to populate the Value field with the names of any user-level, enumeration-type user-defined fields.
       
       Selecting 'User Field' here enables you to specify that a rule should be triggered if the value of a programme or project-level user-defined field is equal to, or not equal to, the value of a specific user-level user-defined field. For example, you might want a rule to be triggered only if the value of a 'Region' user-defined field for a project matches the value of a 'Region' user-defined field for the logged-in user.
       
       If you select 'User Field' here, it is always the value of the field for the logged-in user that is compared, unless this is a 'Can Be Assigned to Project' rule, in which case the value of the field will be checked for each user in the assignment list, and a user will not be included if the field values do not match.
    6. Select the value that the selected field must be equal to, not equal to, less than, or greater than, for the rule to be triggered, in the Value field.
       
       If you are basing the field rule on a user-defined field that relates to a hierarchical user-defined enumeration, you select a branch of the hierarchy in the Value field. The rule will be triggered if the value of the selected field is within, or not within, any level of the selected branch.
    7. If you want the field rule to apply only to users with a specific user role, select the role in the Applies to role field. This field enables you to trigger rules according to different criteria for different types of user: a rule may be triggered for one type of user if field 'A' is set to a particular value, or it may be triggered for a different type of user if field 'B' is set to a particular value.
       
       If you need a field rule to apply to more than one type of user, you can set up two identical field rules, with the only difference being the user role specified against each one. This is easier than having to set up multiple security, workflow or email rules for different types of user.
       
       If you configure a field rule to apply only to users with a specific user role, the role name appears to the left of the field rule description in the list of field rules once you have created it:
       
       
       
       The role name also appears to the left of the field rule description on the Security Rules, Workflow Rules or Email Rules page:
       
       
    8. For workflow and security rules, a Ignored by administrator roles check box is available. Select this check box if you want this field rule to be ignored for users with an administrator role, meaning administrator users will be able to carry out the rule's action even if this field rule is not met.
    9. Click OK. You return to the previous page, where a row appears for the field rule to the right of the Fields field. For workflow and security rules, field rules that do not apply to administrator users - those for which the Ignored by administrator roles check box has been cleared - are marked with a .
    10. Repeat the above steps as many times as required to add more field rules to the rule.
        
        Click Remove to the right of a field rule to remove it from the list if required.
16. You can specify that the workflow rule's action is available only to users that are assigned to the current project:
    • To make the action available only to users that are assigned to the current project, select the All roles must be assigned to project check box.
    • To make the action available to all users, regardless of whether they are assigned to the current project, clear the All roles must be assigned to project check box and select nothing in the Specific roles which must be assigned field.
    • To make the action available only to users with specific roles that are assigned to the current project, clear the All roles must be assigned to project check box and select the user roles in the Specific roles which must be assigned field. CTRL or SHIFT-click to select as many user roles as you need.
      
      To deselect a user role that is currently selected in this field, hold down CTRL and click the user role.
    If you use these fields to restrict a rule to certain types of user that are assigned to a project, the rule will not apply to users with other roles, even if their role has been specified in the Applies to role field for the workflow rule or one of its field rules.
    
    If you have selected an administrator role in the Applies to roles field, users to which the administrator role has been assigned will always be able to carry out the workflow rule's action regardless of your selection in these fields.
17. Select the Run B. I. check box if you want Business Intelligence data to be extracted from the latest revision of the programme and baseline when the workflow rule is performed. If you select this check box, Business Intelligence data is extracted if the programme type is configured for Business Intelligence data to be extracted when specified workflow actions are performed. The extracted data is used for external Business Intelligence reporting and to populate programme dashboard views.
    
    If a workflow rule suspends a programme, you may want to select this check box so that the workflow rule triggers a Business Intelligence update at the same time. This would ensure that your Business Intelligence data is updated with the programme's 'suspended' status; you could then filter out suspended programmes from your Business Intelligence reports if you wished.
18. Select the Create/update baseline check box if you want a baseline of the current programme to be created when the workflow rule is performed. If you select this check box, a baseline of the current programme is created when the rule is performed if the programme type is configured to work in Vision Managed Baselines mode, or if the programme type is configured to work in Asta Powerproject Managed Baselines mode and no baseline currently exists.
19. Select the Set revision name and description check box if you want to be prompted to enter a new name and description for the latest revision of a programme when the workflow rule is performed. If you select this check box, a popup appears when the rule is performed, asking for this information. The information is applied to the latest revision of the programme and to any baseline that is created when the rule is performed.
    
    If you select this check box, the Set revision name only check box is unavailable: the two are mutually exclusive.
20. Select the Set revision name only check box if you want to be prompted to enter a new name for the latest revision of a programme, but no description, when the workflow rule is performed. If you select this check box, a popup appears when the rule is performed, asking for this information. The information is applied to the latest revision of the programme and to any baseline that is created when the rule is performed.
    
    If you select this check box, the Set revision name and description check box is unavailable: the two are mutually exclusive.
21. Select the Set programme comment check box if you want to be prompted to record a comment against the latest revision of a programme when the workflow rule is performed. If you select this check box, a popup appears when the rule is performed, asking for this information. You can use programme comments to inform other users of issues with a programme.
22. If you have selected the Set programme comment check box, select the Attach file to comment check box to enable users to attach a file at the same time as they record a comment against the current programme. Attached files are made available on the Programme Comments page. You may find this useful if you want to provide users with additional information about a comment that you are entering.
23. Select the Clear previous comment check box if you want any comments that have been recorded previously against the current programme to be deleted when the workflow rule is performed, or clear the check box if you want previous comments to be retained.
24. Select the Show continue warning check box if you want a popup to appear when the workflow rule is performed, asking the user to confirm that they want to carry out the action, or clear the check box if you want the action to be carried out without the user having to confirm that they want to do so.
25. Click Create. You return to the Workflow Rules page, where the new rule appears in the list, underneath the resulting programme status.

You can create workflow rules by making a copy of an existing rule and editing it. This is a good way of creating workflow rules if you want to set up a number of rules that are similar, but not identical, to each other, as it saves you from having to set up each rule from scratch.

To create a workflow rule based on a copy of an existing rule:

1. On the Workflow Rules page, click the Actions drop-down to the right of the workflow rule that you want to copy and select Copy. A copy of the workflow rule appears underneath the same programme status as the original rule.
2. Click Edit to the right of the copy rule. The Edit Workflow Rule page appears.
3. Edit the details of the copy rule as required.
4. Click Save Changes. You return to the Workflow Rules page.

To edit a workflow rule:

1. On the Workflow Rules page, click Edit to the right of the workflow rule that you want to edit. The Edit Workflow Rule page appears.
2. Edit the details of the workflow rule as required.
3. Click Save Changes. You return to the Workflow Rules page.

To delete a workflow rule:

1. On the Workflow Rules page, click the Actions drop-down to the right of the workflow rule that you want to delete and select Delete. A popup appears, asking you to confirm whether you want to delete the workflow rule.
2. Click OK to delete the workflow rule and return to the Workflow Rules page.