Workflow Start Options

There are two mechanisms through which workflows can be started: :

• When a SmartForm is submitted
• When a SharePoint event occurs

Starting a K2 workflow when a SmartForm is submitted

Select the When a SmartForm is submitted option if you want the workflow to start when a user submits a SmartForm in your Application. . You can select the SmartForm you want to use as the Workflow Start Form from the drop-down menu, and K2 will automatically add the required Rules and Actions into the Form to start the workflow when the user submits the Form. Alternatively select the Other (e.g. as a sub-workflow or manually) option in the start event wizard’s first screen. This option is useful when the workflow is a sub-workflow of a parent workflow and do not require a form, or when you manually design a workflow without a form. It provides the ability to create a workflow without integrating a form first. The form can be added at a later stage if required. When integrating a form at a later stage, you have to configure the rules of the start event manually in the form.

Starting a K2 workflow when a SharePoint Event occurs

Select the When the following events occur option if you want the workflow to start based on some event in SharePoint, such as a document checked-in, a list item is added or when the user manually starts a workflow on the list item or document. You can select multiple events if you want the same workflow to be started from different events. Note that the workflow always starts when the selected events occur, regardless of whether another workflow was already started for the list item or document.

The image below shows the available SharePoint Events that can be used as the Start Option for your workflow:

Manually starting a workflow

If you select the Workflow is manually started option, users can use the K2 Workflows context menu item for items and documents in SharePoint and then select which workflow they want to submit the Item to. This is useful in scenarios like Document Review & Document Approval if you want users to collaborate on a document in library, and then when the document is ready, submit the document for review or approval using a K2 workflow.

Changing the Start Option

Start Options can only be changed when a SharePoint event was selected as the Start Option. If a Form was selected to start the workflow, the specific form can be changed but not the Start Option. The Start Option can be changed from the K2 Workflow Designer using the Workflow Settings wizard. Follow these steps to change the option:

1. Open the workflow by selecting the workflow from your Application and clicking the Edit button.



2. Click the Start button to open the Workflow Settings wizard.



3. Select the new Start Option using the Start the workflow when section.



4. Click Finish.
5. Deploy the workflow.

Setting up a Start Rule Condition

Start Rule conditions allow for Workflows that are integrated with SharePoint Lists and Document Libraries to start based on a specific condition that has been set within the Start Rule of the workflow. This condition is in addition to the event used to start the workflow.

The Start Rule condition can be set from the K2 Workflow Designer in the Workflow Setting Wizard. Follow these steps to set a Start Rule condition:

1. When integrating the K2 Five App to a List or Document Library, navigate to the Create Workflow section. Next select the When the following event occurs button, and check the An item is added and An item was updated check boxes. Take note that any event option can be used to set a Start Rule condition. Then click OK as shown below:

   

2. The K2 Five Designer opens. Next click on the Start button on the Designer canvas. The Workflow Settings screen opens. The An Item was added and An item was updated check boxes are selected. Take note that any of the Start the workflow when options can be used to define a Start Rule condition. Next click the Set Conditions... links as shown below:

   

3. The Conditional Start Rule window opens. Click the Add button to add a new condition to the Start Rule. Three options are provided to configure the condition Field, Operator and Value :

   

   Below are tables that outline all the available Fields ,Operators, and Values that can be used to create a Start Rule condition. The available fields are populated by the context of the List or Document Library.

   If a Custom Field has been added to a Document Library a prior value field is available in the condition options. This enables the Changed operator option. This is only available when SharePoint provides a before value and when the An item was updated condition is used.

   List Start Rule Condition Field options

   Field	Description	Example
   Title	This the Title value of a list item. This is defined by the Title column in the List.	This is the Title value of list item or document within the list. For Example: Title= Expense Report
   Content Type	A content type is a reusable collection of metadata (columns), workflow, behavior, and other settings for a category of items in a Microsoft SharePoint list library.	Content Type = List item
   Content Type Id	Content type IDs uniquely identify the content type.	Content Type Id example: 0x010100D5C2F139516B419D801AC6C18942554D
   Custom Text	This property is determined by any custom column (user added field) that has been added to the Custom List Library.	This value is any custom column value that has been added to the List or Library. For example: Custom Text=Manager

   Document Library Start Rule Field options

   Field	Description	Example
   Content Type	A content type is a reusable collection of metadata (columns), workflow, behavior, and other settings for a category or documents in a Microsoft SharePoint document library.	Content Type = Document
   Content Type Id	Content type IDs uniquely identify the content type and are designed to be recursive.	Content Type Id example: 0x010100D5C2F139516B419D801AC6C18942554D https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/aa543822(v=office.14).aspx
   Custom Text	This property is determined by any custom column that has been added to the document library.	Custom Text = Manager
   Document
   Document Created By	This property determines the name of the user who created a document.	Document Created By = Bob
   Document Modified By	This property determines the name of the user who modified a document.	Document Modified By = Bob The name returned is in claims name format: i:0#.w|DomainName\Username
   Name
   Title	This is the Title value of a Document. This is defined by the Title column in the Document Library.	Title = North America

   List Start Rule Condition Operator options:

   Operator	Description	Example
   Equals	A field which is equal to a specific value	Title = North America
   Not Equal To	A field which does not equal a specific value	Title <> North America
   Contains	A field which contains a specific value	Title Contains North America
   Starts With	A field that starts with specific value	Title Starts With North America
   Ends With	A field that ends with a specific value	Title Ends With North America
   Is Empty	A field that doesn’t contain a value	Title Is Empty
   Is Not Empty	A field that contains any value	Title Is Not Empty

   Document Library Start Rule Condition Operator options:

   Operator	Description	Example
   Equals	A field which is equal to a specific value	Title = North America
   Not Equal To	A field which does not equal a specific value	Title <> North America
   Contains	A field which contains a specific value	Title Contains North America
   Changed	A Custom field that has changed Take Note: If a Custom Field has been added to a Document Library a prior value field is available in the condition options. This enables the Changed operator option. This is only available when SharePoint provides a before value and when the An item was updated condition is used.	Title(prior value) Changed
   Starts With	field that starts with specific value	Title Starts With North America
   Ends With	A field that ends with a specific value	Title Ends With North America
   Is Empty	A field that doesn’t contain a value	Title Is Empty
   Is Not Empty	A field that contains any value	Title Is Not Empty

   List Start Rule Condition Value options:

   Value	Description	Example
   Title	This the Title value of a List item. This is defined by the Title column in the Custom List Library.	This is the Title value of a specific List Item within the Custom List. For Example: Title= Expense Report
   Content Type	A content type is a reusable collection of metadata (columns), workflow, behavior, and other settings for a category of items or documents in a Microsoft SharePoint list or document library	Content Type = Document
   Content Type Id	Content type IDs uniquely identify the content type and are designed to be recursive.	Content Type Id example: 0x010100D5C2F139516B419D801AC6C18942554D https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/aa543822(v=office.14).aspx
   Custom Text	This property is determined by any custom column that has been added to the Custom List Library View.	This value is any custom column value that has been added to the Custom List Library. For example: Custom Text=Manager

   Document Library Start Rule Condition Value options:

   Value	Description	Example
   Content Type	A content type is a reusable collection of metadata (columns), workflow, behavior, and other settings for a category of items or documents in a Microsoft SharePoint list or document library.	Content Type = Document
   Content Type Id	Content type IDs uniquely identify the content type and are designed to be recursive.	Content Type Id example: 0x010100D5C2F139516B419D801AC6C18942554D https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/aa543822(v=office.14).aspx
   Custom Text	This property is determined by any custom column that has been added to the Document Library.	Custom Text = Manager
   Document	This property identifies the Document name	Document = North America
   Document Created By	This property determines the name of the user who created a document.	Document Created By = Bob
   Document Modified By	This property determines the name of the user who modified a document.	Document Modified By = Bob
   Name	This property identifies the Name of the uploaded Document	Name = North America
   Title	This the Title value of a Document. This is defined by the Title column in the Document Library.	Title = North America

4. Click OK.

Start Rule Condition Example

The following steps provide an example of the Start Rule feature.

1. Add new Custom List to the SharePoint site by clicking the Add an app option as shown below:

   

2. Click the Custom List app option and name it Start Rule List Demo then click the Create button.

   

3. Next click on the List tab, then the Quick Edit button and add column called Manager. Click Stop to finish editing the list. This is your custom column that is referenced in the Start Rule condition.

   

4. Click the List tab once more and click the K2 Application tab.

   

5. Select the following options in Create Workflow section as shown below:

   

6. Click the Start button, the select the An item was added check box. Next click on the Set Conditions link as shown below:

   

7. On the Conditional Start Rule screen, add a new start rule as shown below, the value field in this example is Bob, (this can be any valid user that is present within your environment). Click OK:

   

8. Click Finish

9. Next, add a Send E-mail event to the workflow:

   

10. onfigure the E-mail event as shown below with an appropriate recipient:

    

11. Click Finish, then Save and Deploy the workflow.
12. >Go to the list and click on new item.
13. Add a Title and Manager values. Ensure that the Manager value is set to Bob (as specified in the Start Rule condition) and click Save.
14. The workflow starts because Manager equals Bob as, matching the Start Rule condition.
15. Check to see if an e-mail is received successfully.
16. If the workflow did not start as expected, look at the Windows event viewer (Start > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer).