2.21.1 Automated Workflows
With this feature, the user can build custom automation flows that automates repetitive work.
Automated workflows consist of the following elements:
Triggers
A trigger defines the start of the workflow and there can be more than one trigger, i.e. possibly multiple entry points to the workflow. A trigger can be one of the many events in the solution, such as an asset being uploaded, metadata being changed or on a timer interval.Filters
Filters are used to narrow down possibilities and ensure the action is taken only for the desired case and multiple filters can be applied. A possible filter could be for example validating that a certain value is selected in a combo, or validating the user provided value against a RegEx, or even validating the date against a predefined date.Actions
Actions are automated work steps that the system can perform and there can be more than one action in the workflow. Actions that can be taken range from publishing or unpublishing assets to setting access rights and executing searches.
Automation workflows are set up by administrative user with he high level of clearance (usually a consultant at Digizuite).
More information can be accessed in the DAM Center User Guide: section Digizuite™ DAM Center 5 → DC 5.3.0 → DC 5.3.0 4 Configuration → DC 5.3.0 4.10 Automation Workflows (DC 5.3.0 4.10 Automation Workflows ).
2.21.2 Business Workflows
General information
Unlike Automation Workflows, the purpose of Business Workflows is to support different use cases of collaboration between users, and therefore they involve actions taken by the users to advance the workflow. A business process underlaying a workflow is presented in a graphic form.
This is an example of a Business Workflow:
All the options related to workflows (both automation and business) can be accessed from Workflows menu in the top panel.
The Workflows menu has the following sections:
Workflow overview: it shows the list of all created workflows, together with the ability to view, create and edit them,
Logs: the overview of events (information and errors) related to active workflows,
Job Status: the overview of jobs related to active workflows, with the possibility of filtering by such criteria as asset, status or user,
DigiBatch job status: the overview of the events in the system, pertaining e.g. asset upload,
Tasks: the overview of tasks assigned to the user.
Creating and editing business workflows
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Creating a new business workflow
In order to create a new Business Workflow, the user needs to click Create button in the upper area of the Workflow overview section, then Business workflow, and finally choose between one of two options:
Add new workflow
Create workflow from DSL.
Selecting Add new workflow will prompt a new window, where the user should type the name of a new workflow and choose one of the templates (if available).
Once the information is filled out, the workflow edit area becomes available.
When the user selects the option to create a new workflow, they can either make a completely new workflow from the scratch or select one of the pre-existing ones from the system. Creating a workflow from DSL is a useful option, when the user wants to copy and paste an existing workflow in the coded form, either from the current Media Manager or another environment.
In case of creating workflows manually from scratch, once in the workflow working area, the user begins creating a workflow by clicking Add first stage button. The following stages are added by clicking the dot at the bottom of stage and dragging the line to the next stage, while holding the mouse.
The user can then edit both transitions and stages.
Editing transitions
In order to edit a transition, the user needs to hover the mouse point over one of them which will prompt the appearance of a transition menu. From here the user can either edit the transition or delete it.
Selecting Edit will open an editing area on the left side of the screen.
The following editing options are available for transitions:
changing the name of the transition,
selecting between manual and automatic transition,
changing the name of the unique ID,
adding a description,
adding constraints.
If the user is in doubt about what kind of information should be filled out in specific fields, hovering over a question mark next to it will prompt an explanation.
Constraints are the fields that user needs to fill out when requesting a download for an asset. This can be for example the name of requesting user or reason for download request. There are two major types of constraints available in the system:
ordinary constraints
metadata constraints
file constraints.
In order to add a new constraint, the user needs to navigate to the tab Constraints and then click on the button Add new constraint.
The next step is to select the correct option from the list of available constraint types.
Constraint type | Description |
|---|---|
Ordinary constraints | The following constraints are available:
This is an example of this type of constraint:  |
Metadata constraints | This type of constraint gives the workflows administrator a great flexibility in terms of constraints as it allows to point to and interact with the metadata fields available in the customer’s Media Manager. This is an example of a metadata constraint:  |
File constraints | The user who makes a request will have to attach a file in the from specified by workflows administrator. This could be e.g. a consent form.  |
Each constraint block has two icons in the upper left corner: one for removing the constraint, and the other for re-ordering the constraints.
Editing stages
The user can edit a stage by hovering the mouse pointer over it, clicking on the three dots and then selecting Edit.
Editing area will open on the left side of the screen. The following editing options are available for stages:
changing the name of the stage,
changing the name of the unique ID,
adding a description,
assigning a stage owner (automatically or dynamically),
indicating whether the stage completes the workflow
adding labels.
Automatic/dynamic assignment of a stage owner
A stage owner is the person who receives a task related to a particular stage in a workflow and will need to take an action, such as approving or denying download request.
There are 5 different scenarios that can be configured in the process of editing a stage:
Scenario | Configuration | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
There is no stage owner. | Set Automatically Assign Stage to “Do not automatically assign”.  | This option should be used for the stages which should not lead to task assignment. An example of a use case for this scenario is an approved stage, where no further action is needed after a request download was granted. |
The stage owner is a user. | Set Automatically Assign Stage to “Assign to a user”. In the new field below select the stage owner from the provided list.  | This option should be used for stages that should be assigned to a selected user. All the available users are presented in the drop-down list. |
The stage owner is a user group. | Set Automatically Assign Stage to “Assign to a user group”. In the new field below select the stage owner from the provided list.  | This option should be used for stages that should be assigned to a selected user group. All the available user groups are presented in the drop-down list. |
The stage owner is the workflow owner | Set Automatically Assign Stage to “Assign to the instance owner”.  | This option should be used, if the person who needs to take action on the tasks related to the stage is the person who created this specific workflow. |
The stage owner is assigned dynamically. | Set Automatically Assign Stage to any value. Then, select the correct MasterItemReference type metafield from the list under Dynamically Assign Stage.  | This option provides more flexibility in terms of who will handle the download requests. An example of a use case is the situation in which each asset has an owner who is responsible for what happens with this particular asset. The asset owner is determined by a metafield. Note that dynamic assignment works only, if there is one asset in the task. If the dynamic assignment fails because of multiple assets in the task or because the indicated metadata field is empty, the automatic stage assignment is the fallback. This is why the user needs to configure both options. |
Saving a workflow
Once the Business Workflow is fully defined, the user should click Save button in the upper right corner of the workflow edition area.
Tasks
The tasks area depends on the role of the user:
Workflow administrators can access the tasks assigned to them by clicking on Workflows menu in the top bar, and then selecting Tasks. From here they can see all active and completed tasks as well as take actions.
Ordinary users with the ability to request asset download can access the status of their past requests by clicking on Tasks in the top bar.
Each task is defined by the workflow name, status and the created time and and date. The tasks can be sorted by time or name. The list can be refreshed with a refresh button without being forced to reload the page.
In order to simplify the process of working with tasks, the list is paginated and the user can select how many tasks should be visible on one page (between 12 and 200).
The users have the following filters at their disposal, when working with tasks:
quick filters
status
workflows
assets
created by
created by group
assignee
assigned group.
The details of the task are opened in the right-side panel after clicking on it once. In the panel the user can review the details of the task, see which assets it concerns and take an action (approve or deny the request).
Use cases
The following Business Workflows are currently supported in the system:
Request download
The limited users have the ability to request the ability to download specific assets. The user who the approval task is assigned to receives then an ability to either approve or reject the request after reviewing the information provided by the requesting user.
More information can be accessed in the Media Manager 5 User Guide: section Digizuite™ Media Manager 5 → MM5.3.0 → MM5.3.0 User Guide → MM5.3.0 2 Use of the product → MM5.3.0 2.6 Download (MM5.4.0 2.6 Download ).
Approve publication
This workflow is a combination of automated and business workflows. A trigger (for example asset upload) intitiates a business workflow. The task then goes to the assigned user that can either approve or reject the publication of a new asset.