3.3 Notifying Participants

Novell Teaming can send e-mail notifications at different states of the workflow process. These notifications alert participants that the work has reached a state that requires their attention, provide information to managers who are tracking the process of the work, and provide a one-click method for a participant to view and work with the entry.

NOTE:In order to use workflow notifications, Novell Teaming must be configured to enable e-mail notifications. For more information see Mail Setup and Setting Up a Folder for Posting.

The following sections walk you through these tasks:

To determine places in the process where a notification can be helpful, review the following table:

Table 3-2 Time Off Request Process

State

Participants

Action Required

N/A

The employee (or person requesting time off)

Enters the PTO Request.

Submit

The manager

Indicates that he or she has received the request.

Review

The manager

Reviews, and then approves or denies the request.

Approve

The manager and employee

The manager indicates that the request is approved. The employee must be notified when the request is approved.

Deny

The manager and employee

The manager indicates that the request is denied. The employee must be notified when the request is denied.

Record

Human Resources

HR enters the PTO Request into the Time Off database.

3.3.1 Defining an On Entry Process:

You can take action when a process enters into or exits from a state. For example, upon entry (or exit) you can send a notification, begin or end a parallel process, or set a variable.

  1. From the Teaming Administration portlet on the initial Liferay portal window, click the plus sign (+) to the left of Form and view designers to expand this section and view the available designers. To add the Teaming Administration portlet to the Liferay portal window, click the Add Content link in the upper right corner. This brings up a panel of portlets along the left margin. Expand the Teaming section to add more Novell Teaming features, such as the Teaming Administration portlet.

  2. Click Workflow designer.

  3. Expand Workflow processes.

  4. Click PTO Request.

  5. Expand Workflow process.

  6. Click State - Submit.

    Workflow process states

  7. In the options dialog on the right, click Add.

    State options dialog

  8. Click On entry.

    State Add Options dialog

  9. Click OK.

    Confirmation dialog

    The On entry process is added to the Submit state.

    Submit state processes

3.3.2 Adding a Notification to the On Entry Process

  1. From the Teaming Administration portlet on the initial Liferay portal window, click the plus sign (+) to the left of Form and view designers to expand this section and view the available designers. To add the Teaming Administration portlet to the Liferay portal window, click the Add Content link in the upper right corner. This brings up a panel of portlets along the left margin. Expand the Teaming section to add more Novell Teaming features, such as the Teaming Administration portlet.

  2. Click Workflow designer.

  3. Expand Workflow processes.

  4. Click PTO Request.

  5. Expand Workflow process.

  6. Expand State - Submit.

  7. Click On entry.

    Submit state processes

  8. Click Add.

    On entry options dialog

  9. Click Notifications.

    On entry add options dialog

  10. Add the Managers group to the form that appears.

    Notification form

  11. Type a subject line for this notification and click the Append the entry body option to use the entry in the body of the notification e-mail.

    Notification text

  12. Click OK to create the notification.

    The Notification is added under the On entry process.

    Notifications process in tree

  13. Repeat this procedure to create a notification of request approval and a notification of request denied with the following settings:

    • Notification of Approval: Notify the Entry creator and the Human Resources group whenever the manager approves a PTO Request. The Human Resources group must record the time in the Time Off database and transition the request to the Record state.

    • Notification of Denial: Notify the Entry creator whenever the manager denies a PTO Request.

3.3.3 Testing the Notifications

To test the notifications, log on as different users and move an entry through the workflow process. As the entry transitions, you should receive e-mail notification. If not, make sure that you configured e-mail settings on your server and review the workflow notifications you have created.

3.3.4 Summary

Notifications are a vital mechanism for maintaining the efficient and proper flow of work through the process. Notification can be sent to a number of different workflow participants, whenever a workflow process enters or exits a specific state. In addition to many other reasons, notifications can communicate approval, denial, completion or overdue status.