If your document lifecycle does not have any legacy workflows, the Legacy Workflow tab will not appear on your document lifecycle configuration page. If you require legacy workflow functionality for such a document lifecycle in your Vault during this release period, contact Support.
Note: The content in this article refers to single-document workflows, now known as legacy workflows. While existing workflows remain supported and such workflows can continue to be updated and used, legacy workflows will not receive new functionality in future releases.
As of the 21R1.2 release, multi-document workflows and object workflows are unified under Admin > Configuration > Workflows.
After the 21R3 release, you cannot create or copy legacy workflows in any Vault. You can continue to refresh or clone Vaults with existing legacy workflows.
This article refers to workflow tasks. Vault also includes a User Task object class to track unplanned work.
Sometimes it’s necessary to modify the task and workflow details that you entered when starting a workflow or to send an email to workflow participants. These actions allow you to make changes to a workflow that has already started or to email workflow participants:
- Add Participants: This action is available for all workflows where a role has current tasks, future tasks, or future notifications. This action only applies to roles configured to accept multiple users. When adding participants, you choose additional users to assign to roles in the workflow. Adding users to roles for an optional task allows you to make the task required. Vault enforces allowed users for roles when adding participants. You can assign up to 5,000 users to a workflow participant role on an active workflow by default. However, an Admin can configure a limit on the number of users that you can assign to a workflow participant control. If this limit is exceeded, you will encounter an error upon assigning a user.
- Replace Participant: This action replaces a user participating in the workflow for all currently assigned tasks, all future tasks, and all future notifications. If the user is in multiple workflow roles, the new user will be assigned to all of those roles. Vault enforces allowed users for roles when replacing participants. You can only replace a workflow participant with users that have the same allowed group access. For example, if replacing a user assigned to the regulatory role, you can only select other users in the regulatory role for replacement.
- Email Participants: This action allows you to send an email to one or many workflow participants to remind them of approaching or past due task due dates or to notify them of workflow changes.
- Reassign Task: This action replaces the task owner for a single task. If the current task owner has future tasks, future notifications, or other current tasks, this action does not change the user assigned for those. Future tasks, completed tasks, and notifications are not available.
- Update Workflow Dates: This action updates the workflow dates and due dates for any tasks that are not complete or have not yet been assigned. It’s only available if the workflow start dialog includes a date control. If the workflow is configured to update document fields from dates entered in the start dialog, this action will also update those document fields.
- Update Task Due Dates: This action updates the due date for a single workflow task. Even if a task is not currently configured with a due date, this allows users to add one.
- Cancel Task: This action deletes a current task. Completed tasks and future tasks are not available.
When selecting a user, you may need to start typing the user’s name in the selection field to find the correct options.
Once the workflow has been started and users have been assigned, you cannot switch between “Any User” and “Every User.” To change this option, you will need to cancel the workflow and start it again.
Note: When the workflow begins, the Sharing Settings does not allow you to add users to the workflow. Use the Add Participants action instead.
Permissions for Managing Task Participants
Users with any of the permissions, roles, or assignments in this table can view an active workflow in the Home tab or on the Doc Info page.
User | Available Actions |
Admins with Workflow Administration permissions | Reassign tasks, cancel tasks, replace participants, email participants, add participants, and update workflow or task dates for all workflows in the Vault |
Workflow Initiators | Reassign tasks, cancel tasks, replace participants, email participants, add participants, and update workflow or task dates for owned workflows |
User in Coordinator Document Role | Reassign tasks, cancel tasks, replace participants, email participants, add participants, and update workflow or task dates for workflows on documents where the user is in the Coordinator role |
User in Owner Document Role | Can view the active workflow, but cannot perform any task management actions |
Task Owner | Can reassign and cancel owned tasks (except for Read & Understood workflows) |
If Atomic Security for Documents: Active Workflow Actions is enabled, the Workflow Initiator and Coordinator are not granted any access to actions. Instead, access is controlled by the document lifecycle state’s Atomic Security settings. Additionally, users must have a security profile that grants the Workflow Administration permissions.
Workflow & Task Action Menus
Most of these actions are available in any workflow or task Actions menu. These menus are available in:
- Home or Tasks tab > Active Workflows view
- Doc Info page > Active Workflow panel
- Reports > Workflow with Document report type
- Document Timeline View
- Workflow History Report
How to Reassign Tasks
To reassign a task to a different user:
- From the task’s Actions menu, choose Reassign.
- In the row showing the task and task owner, select Reassign from the picklist.
- In the dialog, choose a new task owner and click Continue.
- Vault notifies the previous and new task owner of the action and adds the task to the My Tasks view for the new owner.
How to Cancel Tasks
To cancel a task:
- From the task’s Actions menu, choose Cancel.
- In the row showing the task and task owner, select Cancel from the picklist.
- In the dialog, click Continue.
- Vault notifies the task owner of the action.
How to Add Workflow Participants
To add new participants to a workflow after it has started:
- From the workflow’s Actions menu, choose Add Participants.
- In the dialog box, add the users or groups to the appropriate roles and click Submit. You can assign up to 5,000 users to a given workflow task. You cannot remove any users already in the role.
- Vault notifies the new task participants of the action and, if applicable, adds active tasks to their My Tasks views.
How to Replace Workflow Participants
To replace a workflow participant with a different user after the workflow has started:
- From the workflow’s Actions menu, choose Replace Participant.
- In the dialog box, choose a Current Workflow Participant to replace.
- Select a user to replace the current participant.
- Click Submit.
- Vault notifies the current and new participants of the action.
How to Email Workflow Participants
To email workflow participants after the workflow has started:
- From the workflow’s Actions menu, choose Email Participants.
- In the dialog box, choose the Recipients of the email. You can choose individual workflow participants, all Available Task Owners, Completed Task Owners, or Incomplete Task Owners.
- In the Message field, enter a message.
- To include yourself as a recipient, select the Send a copy to myself checkbox.
- Click Send.
How to Update Workflow Dates
To update all dates in a workflow:
- From the workflow’s Actions menu, choose Update Workflow Dates.
- In the dialog box, enter new dates. If the workflow is configured to update document fields, these new dates will update the document fields.
- Click Update.
- Vault updates task due dates and notifies task owners of the new dates.
How to Update Task Due Dates
To update the due date for a specific task:
- From the task’s Actions menu, choose Update Task Due Dates.
- In the dialog box, enter the new due date.
- Click Update.
- Vault updates the task’s due date and notifies the task owner of the new date.
License Type Restrictions
You cannot select users with the license type Read-only User for roles on a workflow, unless it is a Read & Understood workflow. Vault hides these users when you start workflows, reassign tasks, or add workflow participants. If you assign tasks to a group, Vault skips assignment for these users, but assigns the task normally to other users in the group.
In Read & Understood type workflows, Read-only Users are treated as standard document users.