AX1644

Notification types for plan file processes

The following types of notifications can be sent for a plan file process:

Notification Type Description Available Recipient Types

Step Activated

Notification that is sent when a plan file is made active in a step. By default, the notification informs the step owner(s) that they have a task to perform in the process. You can customize the default notification as desired.

NOTE: This notification type is not used when a previously active step is reopened due to an approval step rejection. Instead, the Step Reopened notification type is used.
  • Task owners
  • Any named user or role
  • Process owner
  • Process initiator

Step Reopened

Notification that is sent when a step is reopened for a plan file, due to a subsequent approval step being rejected. By default, the notification informs the step owner that their task has been reopened. You can customize the default notification as desired.
  • Task owners
  • Any named user or role
  • Process owner

Step Rejected

Notification that is sent when a plan file is rejected for an approval step. This notification type is not configured by default and is entirely user-definable.

This notification type only applies to approval steps and multiple approvals steps.

NOTE: This notification type is about the step that was rejected, not about the prior step that was reopened as a result of the rejection. It is intended to inform the process owner or other interested parties about the rejection.
  • Previous step owners
  • Any named user or role
  • Process owner
  • Process initiator

Step Completed

Notification that is sent when a plan file completes a step. This notification type is not configured by default and is entirely user-definable.
  • Previous step owners
  • Any named user or role
  • Process owner
  • Process initiator

Due Date Reminder

 Notification that is sent to remind users of an upcoming step due date for a plan file. This notification type is not configured by default and is entirely user definable, including the reminder schedule.
  • Task owners
  • Any named user or role
  • Process owner

Overdue Reminder

 Notification that is sent to remind users of an overdue step for a plan file. This notification type is not configured by default and is entirely user definable, including the reminder schedule.
  • Task owners
  • Any named user or role
  • Process owner

On Demand Process Aborted

Notification that is sent when a plan file is denied for an approval step, meaning the plan file is aborted in the process. This notification type is not configured by default and is entirely user-definable.

This notification only applies to on-demand file groups, and will only be used for approval steps where the ability to abort plan files in the process has been enabled. For more information, see Enabling the "deny request" option for a plan file process.

NOTE: This notification is not sent when an administrator or process owner chooses to abort a plan file in the process using the Abort plan files command in the Process Status dialog.
  • Previous step owners
  • Any named user or role
  • Process owner
  • Process initiator

NOTE: For more information on the recipient types, see Customizing recipients for plan file process notifications.

Most of these notification types do not apply to parent multiple approvals steps. For example, a Step Activated notification is not sent when the parent multiple approvals step is made active; instead the notification is sent for the first sub-step in the subprocess. Similarly, the Due Date Reminder and Overdue Reminder notification types do not apply to multiple approvals steps, because the parent step does not have a due date (only the approval sub-steps have due dates).

The only notification types that apply to parent multiple approvals steps are:

  • Step Completed: This notification can be sent when all sub-steps in the multiple approvals step are completed.

  • Step Rejected: This notification can be sent when the multiple approvals step is rejected due to any of its approval sub-steps being rejected.

You can define multiple instances of the same notification type, at any level of the process. If multiple notifications apply when a particular step activity occurs (such as when a step is activated), then all eligible notifications will be sent. For example, you might do this if you want to define different notification content for different recipients of the notification type.

Notification design considerations

Keep in mind the following design considerations when defining notifications for a process.

  • Step Activated / Step Reopened - Sending to recipients other than step owners

    If you want to send the Step Activated or Step Reopened notification to any recipients other than the step owners, you should consider creating a second instance of the notification type with text that is appropriate for the other recipients.

    The default text for these notification types assumes that the notification is being read by the step owners. The text includes statements such as "You have a new task..." and "Please login to Axiom to complete your tasks." It may be confusing for process owners or other recipients to receive this notification because these users do not actually have a new task, they are just being informed of someone else being assigned a new task. The non-owner recipients should have a separate instance of the notification type, with text that better reflects the informational status of the notification. For example: "Plan file 42000 has been activated in Step 3: Manager Approval. The task is assigned to user Jane Doe."

  • Step Activated / Step Reopened - Delivering to the Notifications task pane

    Because the default delivery method is email, the default text for these notifications contains the sentence "Please login to Axiom to complete your tasks." If you decide to deliver notifications to the Notifications task pane instead, this sentence does not apply and should be removed.

  • Step Rejected - Using with multiple approvals steps

    If you want to use the Step Rejected notification type with a multiple approvals step, you should consider at which level you want the notification to be issued. You can enable Step Rejected for each approval sub-step, which means that the notification will be sent at the level of the individual sub-step that was rejected. Or, you can enable Step Rejected at the parent level (the multiple approvals step), which means that the notification will be sent for the parent step when any of the sub-steps are rejected.

    This choice impacts how the variables are resolved in the notification text and what information is available to the notification. You can also choose to send both levels of notification, but this is probably more notifications than necessary for the same event, unless each notification is for different recipients.