States

Overview

States act like milestones in your workflow – key stages of your process where something has to happen.

States are always implemented with the state macro.

State names are case sensitive. There are also a number of reserved characters that cannot be used in a workflow state name such as = # @ { | [.

Example

Let's assume we've got a really simple content production process where content is edited, then it goes through a review, and if the review is approved the content is published.

{workflow:name=Three states}
   {state:Editing}
   {state}
   {state:Review}
   {state}
   {state:Publish}
   {state}
{workflow}

The boxes in the diagram above are the states, and the lines between them are Transitions.

Transitions

States can handle several common Transitions directly, namely:

submit – a direct transition to one state
updated – an automatic transition which occurs when content is edited
approved and rejected – transitions triggered by completion of Reviews
expired – triggered when a state expires – see Expiry Dates
completed – triggered when the last remaining task is completed – see Tasks

For approved, rejected and submit transitions Workflow Parameter can also be required to be entered.

Further information: Transitions.

Reviews

You can add Reviews to states. When the workflow enters the state, the workflow popup displays options for content reviews.

Reviewers must decide whether to approve or reject the content, and once they are in agreement the state will transition to the destination state for the approved or rejected decision as applicable.

Further information: Reviews.

Require parameter

A state can be configured to require the setting of one or more workflow parameter values. The value must be set before a transition into the state can occur. The workflow popup will display a warning for the transition in any state that has this state as a destination.

The Reviewed state in the markup below would require the setting of the value of the workflow parameter pagefield1 before a transition can occur into the Reviewed state.

{workflowparamter:pagefield1|edit=true}
{workflowparameter}
{state:Draft|submit=Reviewed}
{state}
{state:Reviewed|requiredparams=pagefield1}
{state}

In our example, the transition option is to a single state from the Draft state to the Reviewed state the Submit button displays a warning icon.

Choosing the Submit button opens a text box to enter the value of the required workflow parameter.

The required parameters for entering a state will only be prompted if a user is performing a workflow action such as approving/rejecting content or making state selection. If a state is transition is actioned by a trigger, like a page update, the required parameter check for the destination state will not be carried out.

Required parameters can be added to a state using the state editor in workflow builder.

Workflow parameters added to the workflow will be available as options to the dropdown menu.

Tasks

Tasks can be created automatically when a workflow enters a state, and states can automatically transition when tasks are completed.

In the example, a task to Check links is created when entering the Review state, and when that task is completed a transition will occur to the Publish state.

{workflow:name=Tasks}
   {state:Editing}
   {state}
   {state:Review|completed=Publish}
      {task:Check links}
   {state}
   {state:Publish}
   {state}
{workflow}

For the task to be created, the state must be transitioned to from another state; it must be entered. When a workflow is first applied to content, the initial state is not entered and thus any tasks it contains won't be created.

Final state

States can be designated as a "final", Published state for the content.

In the workflow markup, a state is defined as the final state using the final=true parameter.

A state can also be edited in the workflow builder visual editor to set the final parameter by checking the Final state checkbox in the State editor.

When using this feature, called same-space publishing, view-only users only see the most recently published version of content.

Expiry dates

States can be given expiry dates. There are many uses for this, but one of the most interesting is to trigger periodical reviews of published content:

It's a really simple way to ensure that documentation doesn't go stale.

Notifications

By default, page watchers will only be notified if a state expires.

Additional notifications can be added if desired.

Macros

Page:

pagestatus macro — Display workflow state lozenge
Page:

set-state macro — Immediately transition to a state
Page:

set-state-expiry macro — Set state expiry duration
Page:

state macro — Define workflow states & basic transitions
Page:

state-selection macro — Specify direct state transitions
Page:

workflow-reporter macro

Events

State transitions and expiry generate events, for example

statechanged
pagestatechanged
newsstatechanged
stateexpired

Events can be used in workflow triggers to set one or more actions.

App configuration

Setting	Where	Notes

Setting	Where	Notes
State's Task Behaviour	Configuration - Global	Should incomplete tasks be carried over to the next state during transitions?
State Expired Notification	Notifications - Global Notifications - Space Tools	Should page watchers receive a notification when a state expires?

Examples

Page:

Adding Multiple Reviews — Add multiple reviews to a content review, set assignee requirements and review dependencies
Page:

Adding page activity to email — Include page activity report, or a link to it, in custom email notifications
Page:

Advanced different-space publishing
Page:

Advanced remote-space publishing
Page:

Assignment Examples — Define who can take part in, or be assigned to, a content review.
Page:

Attachment events — Triggering events when attachments are created, updated or removed.
Page:

Blog Post Events — Workflow events associated with blog posts
Page:

Communardo Metadata for Confluence app — Using the Communardo metadata as value references in a workflow - including use in a custom condition for a trigger macro
Page:

Customise Approval Buttons — How to change captions of the Approve and Reject buttons created by the {approval} macro.
Page:

Expiry Dates — States, tasks, and messages can be set to expire on a certain date or after a certain amount of time
Page:

Fast-tracked Rejections and Approvals — How to require everyone to Approve, but only need one person to Reject
Page:

Message notification styles — Test the style parameter of the {set-message} macro
Page:

Require Parameters on a state transition — Require workflow parameter values to be set before moving into a workflow state.
Page:

State expiry dates — Using state expiry dates, defining them with metadata, and making them editable
Page:

StiltSoft Talk app

Comala Document Management for Data Center and Server

This site has moved to the integrated Appfire documentation and information site for our apps.