General Design - Workflow - English - Foundation 22.1 - OnBase - Premier - external - Standard - Premier - Standard

Workflow

Platform
OnBase
Product
Workflow
Release
Foundation 22.1
License
Premier
Standard

The following best practices are general design choices that are recommended.

  • Always design the process before configuring the solution.

  • Testing changes is necessary. Creating and maintaining a test environment is important to fully test out changes before implementing them in the production system. Once changes are created in the production system, another test should be performed in the production system.

  • Always use the Workflow Search to search for rules, actions, or tasks before making any modifications to existing logic.

  • Use the Core-based user interface in the OnBase Client.

  • Use nesting 3 levels deep or less when configuring actions and rules. This affects memory consumption and ease of maintenance. Avoid nesting if possible.

  • Create naming conventions for queues. Use prefixes when naming queues.

  • It is preferable to transition items as part of timer work or ad hoc tasks rather than system work or load balancing work. This is particularly true when an item might transition multiple times before reaching its final destination.

  • Use the “Edit Comments” option to include useful notes and record change information.

  • In discovery, identify bottlenecks. Identifying bottlenecks in a process can help to not only create an effective Workflow solution, but it can improve the underlying process.

  • Design Workflow around user groups/roles. Try to avoid using individual users.

  • Design Workflow so that items are not edited outside of Workflow at the same time. Items in Workflow should not be edited outside of Workflow at the same time as they are being processed within Workflow.

  • Use functional Life Cycles to encapsulate code. The purpose of functional life cycles is to encapsulate logic that is used in multiple locations.

  • Implement a garbage collection queue. One should always delete Keyword Values that are no longer needed outside of Workflow. Fewer records in keyword tables improve query performance.

  • Put the most probable answer first. If there are a series of rules that determine which action to take on the document, the most probable logic should be evaluated first. This prevents unnecessary work from being performed on every document exposed to that logic. Determining the most probable path can be accomplished by working with the business process owner or by running reports at a later time.

  • Use intuitive task sequences. Use intuitive task sequences and names that are efficient for users. A simple thing like ordering tasks from most probable to least probable will save a lot of processing over time.

  • Break processing when all work is complete. In the context of a business process, there are many logic structures that should stop processing when certain conditions are met. There are two methods to break processing: the Break Processing action and the Break On functionality, which exists as part of every task list configuration.

  • Consider breaking a potential high volume queue into multiple queues. By breaking a high volume queue into two (2) or more queues, there will be better distribution and potentially enable the optimizer to still use the index and avoid a full database table scan.

  • Purge documents in Document Maintenance. When a document is deleted from OnBase, it first goes into Document Maintenance. Document Maintenance is similar to a recycling bin where documents can be recovered if necessary or completely removed from the system. For this reason, one could still have a high volume queue from a database perspective even if only a small number of documents are visible in the queue via the client. By purging the documents in Document Maintenance, the system removes all records associated with the document from the system, which potentially eliminates high volume queues.

  • OnBase is a document repository, Workflow is not. Documents should not sit in a single queue within a Workflow process for a long period of time.

  • Consider using a trigger document to avoid high volume queues. E-Forms can be used to avoid high volume queues. For instance, if a business process requires documents to re-enter Workflow at a much later date, consider using a proxy document that rests in a queue and represents the group of documents to be brought back into a workflow process. Typically, documents that need to re-enter Workflow at a specific time are triggered by a future date. This date can be stored in a keyword value on the documents required at the appropriate time and removed from Workflow. To reinsert the documents into Workflow, simply create an E-Form having the same trigger date keyword as the returning documents. Add this E-Form to a Workflow queue containing a timer configured to execute once daily. When the timer executes, the trigger date keyword is updated with the current date. Execute a related document search for those documents with the current date. Locate and add these documents to their respective life cycles.

  • When items have finished moving through a workflow process, remove them from Workflow. Do not keep items in a "Final" Queue indefinitely. If it is necessary for certain items to re-enter the workflow process, add them back into the process.

  • Implement hot keys for ad hoc tasks. If a user is keyboard-centric, consider configuring hot key functionality for ad hoc tasks. To create a hot key on a particular ad hoc task, simply place an ampersand (“&”) in front of the character used for the hot key.

  • Create help text in configuration. Creating help text in configuration helps to document design choices and life cycle functionality.

  • Complete the help text for workflow components. Deploying an intuitive solution creates an environment that encourages maximum efficiency. Entering help text information at the Workflow component level clearly identifies and relates to the business purposes of the life cycle, queue, or ad hoc task.

  • Increase the user's screen real estate. When working with electronic documents, users can feel restricted when trying to view documents side by side to see all the information needed to make a business decision. It is important to provide users with maximum screen real estate. In the Core-based Workflow interface, consider using pinning to hide/close windows that are not in focus.

  • Off load work if no user input or feedback is required. If an ad hoc task does not require any type of user input or user response and performs a heavy load processing, consider off loading the work to a queue with a timer.

  • Document the solution effectively and ensure that the documentation is up to date and made available to the organization.

  • Calendars: It is recommended that a single Business Calendar be used for the sole purpose of timers and rules in Workflow. This Calendar will be applied to a life cycle.

  • Multi-Instance Keyword Type Groups: It is recommended to keep tasks that modify Multi-Instance Keyword Type Groups simple. When modifying Multi-Instance Keyword Type groups, it is recommended to use the following actions: Add Keyword Record, Compare and Copy Keyword Records for This and Related Items, Copy Keyword Record, Copy Keyword Record from Related Item, Copy Keyword to Related Item, Delete Keyword Record, and Modify Keyword Record.

    Note:

    The Keyword Record - Begin and Keyword Record - End actions are only maintained for legacy purposes and should not be used when configuring new solutions.

  • Import Processors: When using an Import Processor to import documents, add the documents to a life cycle that does not have System Work or Load Balancing Work configured in the initial queue.

  • System Tasks: System tasks that require user interaction are supported in the Unity Client and Web Client interfaces. System tasks that require user interaction are not supported in all other Core-based interfaces. When using the Classic Client interface, it is not recommended to configure system tasks that require user interaction.

  • Create New Form action: If the Display for Input option is selected when using this action as a System Task, it is required for the Workflow user interface to be open in the background. It is recommended that the Display Related Document action be used instead of this option under this circumstance.

  • Autofill Keyword Set on This Document action: When using the Classic Client interface, it is recommended that the Replace Secondary Values When Only One Instance Exists option is used only if has been determined that documents only have one value for each Keyword Type. If there are two or more secondary values on a document and the action is configured to Replace Secondary Value When Only One Value Exists, the Classic Client interface does not know which value to replace and the user will not know which value has been replaced.

  • Print Related Document and Print This Document actions: When used in system work and the documents are brought into the system using the Fax Import Integration for Captaris RightFax or Integration for Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition modules and a local printer is used, this action will not function. If you want to use this action in system work with the Fax Import Integration for Captaris RightFax or Integration for Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition modules, it is recommended that you use a network printer. If you must use a local printer, you can configure this action using a timer and the OnBase Client running as a Timer Server.

  • Create or Update Agenda Item from Document action: It is considered a best practice to check the resulting property value immediately after the SYS - Create or Update Agenda Item from Document action is executed by configuring the following rules: Check Last Execution Result and Check Property Value. Configure the Check Last Execution Result to verify that the Create or Update Agenda Item from Document action occurred. Configure the Check Property Value rule to use the property value that was set by the Property to Store Agenda Item Primary Key in the Create or Update Agenda Item from Document action.