Standard Plugins » Workflow » Definitions » States

Workflow states

The states in your workflow are defined by the states() function on your workflow Definition object.

Here’s an example state definition for a simple approval workflow:

EgWorkflow.states({
    review_project: {
        actionableBy: "submitter",
        transitions: [
            ["approve", "wait_reviewer", "approved"],
            ["reject", "check_rejection"]
        ]
    },
    wait_reviewer: {
        actionableBy: "reviewer",
        transitions: [
            ["approve", "approved"],
            ["reject", "rejected"]
        ]
    },
    check_rejection: {
        actionableBy: "oversight",
        transitions: [
            ["reject", "rejected"]
        ],
        flagsSetOnExit: ["rejection_checked"]
    },
    approved: {
        finish: true
    },
    rejected: {
        finish: true
    }
});

You can call states() as many times as you need to build up your workflow.

Use start() to set the first state in the workflow.

function states(definitions)

states() adds all the states defined in definitions to the workflow’s states.

The properties in definitions are the names of the states, and the values are the state definitions, described below.

function addAdditionalTransitionToState(state, transition, destination)

Use addAdditionalTransitionToState() to add 1 transition with 1 destination to state defined using Features.

All arguments are required and state and destination must already be defined using states().

State definitions

State definitions have the following properties, all of which are optional.

They’re deliberately sparse, describing the minimum details to form the ‘flowchart’ of the process. Behaviours are then layered on top by adding Handlers.

key actionableBy

A string with the name of the user who will perform the actions in this state. The names are local to the Instance, and are decoded by the getActionableBy() function.

If actionableBy is not set in a state definition, then the actionable by user is not altered as the process transitions to this state.

key transitions

An array of transitions, which are arrays of names which describe a transition. These arrays must contain at least two strings.

The first string in the transition array is the name of the transition.

The other strings are the possible destinations. The first destination will be taken unless a resolveTransitionDestination() handler selects one of the others.

key dispatch

An alternative method of describing workflow transitions, used to simplify complex workflow routing logic. dispatch is an array of possible destination states.

States with this defined are used for routing purposes only, and will call resolveDispatchDestination() immediately on entry. The workflow will then be routed to the resolved state (which could be another dispatch state).

key finish

If true, entering this state finishes the workflow and closes the WorkUnit.

key flags

An array of Flag names which are set while the instance is in this state.

key flagsSetOnEnter

An array of Flag names which are set when the process enters this state. As the workflow transitions into other states, they will remain set until explicitly unset.

key flagsSetOnExit

An array of Flag names which are set when the process exits this state. As the workflow transitions into other states, they will remain set until explicitly unset.

key flagsUnsetOnEnter

An array of Flag names which are unset when the process enters this state.

key flagsUnsetOnExit

An array of Flag names which are unset when the process exits this state.