Smart Space / Workflow Question

[nullman]

Hi,

I am new to Alfresco and I am trying to wrap my head around how best to setup a smart space with workflow. I understand how to apply content rules to spaces, but I am wondering how best to set up the space structure for something like this. A single document (Excel spreadsheet) has to pass through several departments and each department is responsible for filling out specific information. I am gathering I will need to create a space with many subfolders (subspaces? nodes? Not sure what to call them) for each step along the way?

I would image the directory structure to look something like this:

/projectname
      /workflow
            /1_kickoff
            /2_site survey
            /3_create BOM
            /4_procurement
            /5_assembly 
            /6_testing
            /7_shipping
            /8_installation
            /9_completion
      /documents
            /installation worksheet
            /other documents‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

   

Am I way off base here or is that how you would setup a workflow for a document that has 9 steps? Also, what would be the easiest way to tell what state the document is at in the workflow?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[rivetlogic]

What you describe is one way to do it. What you need is to have content rules set up on every sub-space in your workflow space. These rules will apply a simple workflow on inbound documents such that there is an approve step that sends the document to the next step in the workflow, and an optional reject step that sends the document back if necessary.
The document will then start at the first space, and upon approval, it'll move to the next space until it reaches your specified completion space.
The way to tell what stage a document is in is really by looking at what space it's in. There are alternatives to this mechanism, of course, such as using categories or meta-data you specify to describe the status of the document, and those get modified as it flows through the workflow.

Hope that helps.

–Sumer

[nullman]

Hope that helps.

Sure does, thank you. What you describe is how I thought it worked. I guess I just wanted to be sure I had the right idea before setting up a pretty complicated templated space for this workflow. The idea of using a category or meta-data for document state sounds great!

[nullman]

I thought Alfresco had an option of adding comments when a document was rejected, but now that I have this setup in 1.3.0 I don't see it. Maybe I am getting Alfresco confused with one of the other tools we've been evaluating??

I think the way I have it setup is going to be very confusing for end users. They approve a doc, it goes to the next phase. In the next phase it gets rejected and goes back to the previous phase (and space) and then an email is sent off again (same as if new content was just dropped there). Arghhh, I am going to have to figure something else out I think. 

Also, I see their are inboud rules available to add a category to content. What about one to remove a category (or all categories) from the content?

[rivetlogic]

One way to comment on a rejected item is to post comments in a forum associated with the content item. Another way would be through customization.

As for the same email firing upon an rejected item returning to the previous space (say phase 1); you can apply an aspect (or change a meta-data field) in the review space (say phase 2). Then, the rules in phase 1 will be such that a different email is sent if an item has that aspect (or meta-data value) set (or don't send an email at all).

Finally, to remove a category, simply go to the item detailed view, click on the icon to Modify categories, and click on the trash can icon to delete a specific category.

Hope that helps.

–Sumer

[nullman]

Thanks again Sumer.

Honestly, I am not sure if you are talking about an automated process or a manual one when you say "you can apply an aspect (or change a meta-data field) in the review space." I only see a handful of aspects available out-of-box (most of which I don't understand and can't find documentation on in the Wiki, in the online Help, or even here at the forums - If they are defined somewhere and I have missed them please let me know.) I also don't see any automated option out-of-box to change meta data on inbound or outbound content.

The remove a category bit also sounds manual. This workflow process in Alfresco is meant to be idiot proof. :lol: Ideally, users would only have to go to the Web-GUI to accept, reject, or comment on content. From what I hear the accept/reject ability may make its way to email. That will be one less thing they will need to go to the web-GUI for.

Sorry, I hope I don't sound too down. I am just a bit frustrated after a long few days trying to do something I thought would be fairly easy to setup.

[rivetlogic]

Understood.


Applying aspects is an action, and actions can be automated via rules. You can define your own aspects in XML without having to write any code, more on that here http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Data_Dictionary_Guide.

So in your case, you might define your own aspect, apply that when an item hits phase 2, and check for it if it goes back to phase 1 (in order to trigger a different email, using a has aspect condition).

We typically deal with this using special meta-data fields that represent the status of a document – for example, an aspect that specifies which department within an enterprise that the document is currently assigned to. The definition of new meta-data is easily done with custom content types and/or custom aspects via XML configuration. However, setting/checking for meta-data is done with custom actions/conditions which requires some programming (more elegant, but requires a few hours of work).

As for removing categories with rules, that requires a custom action that you can later attach to a rule. The custom action, as mentioned above requires some programming.  From experience, a custom action for removing a category is very straightforward.

Cheers.

–Sumer