AX2741

Modifying active workflows

If a workflow has been started, you can still edit the workflow settings and other related settings (such as security settings that impact stage ownership). In most cases, the workflow tasks will adjust accordingly for these changes. This topic explains how active workflows react to certain common changes.

NOTE: All references to sending notification emails assume that notifications are enabled for the workflow. If notifications are disabled then no emails will be sent.

Security changes

If changes are made to security settings that would impact active workflow tasks, these tasks are automatically adjusted. For example:

  • Changes to role membership. If the stage owner is a role, and new members are added to the role, those new members will be assigned the workflow task (assuming they have rights to access the file) and will be sent a notification email. If a role member with an active workflow task is removed from the role, that user's task is deleted and the user is no longer a stage owner.

  • Changes to role or user access settings. If a user or role's access settings change so that the user now has access to the plan file, the user will be assigned the workflow task and will be sent a notification email. If the settings change so that the user no longer has access to the plan file, then the user's task is deleted and the user is no longer a stage owner.

Assignment changes

If changes are made to ownership assignments, the workflow automatically adjusts for these changes. For example:

  • If the stage owner is changed while the plan file is in that stage, tasks are automatically adjusted. For example, if the owner is changed from John Doe (user) to BudgetUsers (role), then John Doe's workflow task is automatically deleted and new tasks are generated for eligible users in the BudgetUsers role (including email notifications).

  • If the stage owner is changed to No Assignment while the plan file is in that stage, then any existing tasks are deleted and the plan file now skips the stage (and may also be completed in the workflow if this is the final stage or if no other stages have assignments).

NOTES:  

  • If a change is made to an ownership assignment when the plan file is in that stage, all existing tasks are deleted and new tasks are generated, even for users who are still owners before and after the change. For example, if the assignment is changed from Role1 to Role2, and a user belongs to both of those roles, the user's existing task for Role1 is deleted and a new task for Role2 is generated, including a new email notification.

  • If the stage owner is a lookup column, and the assignments within the lookup column are changed while the plan file is in that stage, the workflow does not automatically adjust for those changes. If you need to adjust ownership in this situation, you can use Move Current Stage to move the plan file to the same stage (thereby "resetting" the ownership assignments for that stage).

  • If the plan file is stalled in the workflow, then changing the assignment does not automatically activate the file. In this case you must go to the Workflow Manager, then right-click the file and select Reactivate Workflow.

Stage changes: Due dates

If a change is made to the due date of a stage, and some plan files are in that stage, the corresponding task assignments displayed in the workflow pane will be automatically updated to show the new due date. However, new email notifications will not be sent. If you want new email notifications to be sent, you can "reset" the assignments by using Move Current Stage to move plan files to the same stage.

Stage changes: Adding, deleting, reordering

Generally, it is not recommended to add, delete, or reorder stages for an active workflow. If you must do this, any changes should only be made to stages beyond any active workflow tasks.

For example, if all plan files in the workflow are in stages 1 and 2, then it is safe to add, delete, or reorder stages starting at stage 3 or beyond, because no plan files are in those stages. However, if you were to add a stage between stage 1 and stage 2, this would create confusing results because some plan files would end up experiencing that added stage, and others would not.

If you do delete a stage that has active workflow tasks, those tasks will be deleted and the plan files in that stage will be stalled in the workflow.

If you discover that you need to make stage changes that would impact stages with active workflow tasks, you can stop the workflow, make the changes, and then restart the workflow to ensure that all plan files progress through the same set of stages.

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