Workflow - Start Action (version 1)

This field has been replaced by the Workflow - Start Action field

This field starts an instance of the selected workflow process when the form page is submitted. Values from the form are passed to the workflow engine as process variables named after the fields that hold those values. The variables can be manipulated using the process variables function. Information returned from the workflow engine can also be displayed to the user.

If used via iCM from a Form App Shortcut on the iCM homepage, the action field can be set to be displayed, presenting the user with a drop-down list of their site user aliases. The user can select an alias and the action will start a workflow as the selected site user when the form is submitted. This functionality can be enabled for forms displayed on the site, but as site users will only ever have one identity, it would serve no purpose.

Properties

Action Results

The following can be accessed using .utilGetActionResults once the action has been processed.

"FIELDNAME": {
    "processInstanceId": "130477",
    "businessKey": "9824-8513-6759-4348",
    "success": "true"
}

"FIELDNAME_CONF": {
    "MESSAGE": "The process was started successfully, your reference is 9824-8513-6759-4348",
    "success": "true"
}

When the start action completes successfully the process ID and business key can be accessed in the "success message" displayed to the user using #PROCESSID# and #BUSINESSKEY#.

The process ID and business key are also returned to the form in a helper variable, which could be accessed in any server-side actions placed after the workflow start action in your form. This variable is made up of the field name suffixed by _STARTED.

"FIELDNAME_STARTED": {
    "processId": "90211",
    "businessKey": "2063-5248-5212-6230"
}

You could access this variable in the DATA function of the email action field:

And then added to the email body or PDF:

<table class="icmformdatapagetable">
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td colspan="2" class="icmformdatacontainer">Label</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td class="icmformdatalabel">Text 1</td>
            <td class="icmformdatavalue">{{FORMDATA.PAGE1.0.[TEXT1] }}</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td class="icmformdatalabel">Your Reference</td>
            <td class="icmformdatavalue">{{DATA.businessKey}}</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

Which would generate:

Adding Additional Properties

Rather than providing static values in the forms designer for subject and event properties, you can build them programmatically instead. To add additional properties to an event or to the history subject, return a JSON object from the subject/event additional properties functions:

function(helper) {
    var additionalProps = {};
    additionalProps.additionalPropertyKey = "additionalPropertyValue";
    additionalProps.totalCost = parseInt(helper.queryFieldValue("PRICE")) * parseInt(helper.queryFieldValue("QUANTITY"));
    return additionalProps;
}

Overriding Properties

To override an existing property, include a property with the same name in your JSON object. The following property names can be overridden:

Subject Properties: 

• description
• userId
• proxyUserId

Event Properties: 

• event (the event name)
• description
• userRole
• userId
• proxyUserId
• historyDescription (used in SUMMARY events)

For example, to override a description with the value of a field:

function(helper) {
    var additionalProps = {};
    additionalProps.description = helper.queryFieldValue("TEXT1");
    return additionalProps;
}

Manipulating Process Variables

By default the fields and values submitted with your form are passed to the workflow engine as process variables. The process variables function lets you manipulate the variables that are created.

For example, the following will remove a specific process variable from the map:

You can also create process variables. This example is taken from the GOSS Contribute product:

function(helper, processVars) {
    processVars.CONFIGNAME = "contributeevent";
    // Additional tasks
    processVars.ADDITIONALTASKS = [{
        "form": "CONTRIBUTE",
        "name": "Contribute Event"
    }, {
        "form": "PRICES",
        "name": "Default Prices"
    }];
    return processVars;
}