SapphireIMS has a GUI based workflow builder with drag and drop capability and using which workflows can be quickly created and updated.
The workflow builder allows you to create states, establish edge connections between states for the workflow, select or create services, sub-categories and roles, add custom business rules, e-mail and SMS notifications on state transitions.
Note: Before using the workflow
builder, you need to create the project and ensure that the start and
end states are present and the categories are created.
Under Service Desk, click on 'Settings'. Select a project and on the left hand menu click on 'Workflow Builder'. The Workflow Builder screen is displayed.
If a workflow is already defined for a project, it appears on
the screen. The workflow can be edited. In order to view the workflow
or parts of it based on service, sub-category or role, use the filter
which can be invoked by clicking on 
button and
selecting the filter values.
To create a new workflow, use the list of states defined in the project which appears on the left hand side. You can drag and drop any available state or create a new state.
To create a new state click on '+'
in the menu bar on top 
. You can also
search for state in the list of states.
On click of '+', the create state screen is displayed.
The fields are described in the table below.
Serial No |
Field Name |
Description
|
1 |
State Name |
Enter the state name which uniquely identifies the state. |
2 |
Short State Name |
You can optionally enter a short name which is useful in e-mail based state transi |
3 |
Select Category |
Select the State Category under which this State falls.
|
4 |
Inherited From |
Select the state if any, from which this state inherits its attributes. These are special states 'Assign', 'Waiting for Approval' and 'Multi Approval'. |
5 |
Color |
You can use the color picker for displaying the state symbol. |
Click on 'Save' to save the state entry or click on 'Cancel' to cancel.
Repeat this process to create all the states in the workflow. For each state you can also take actions as described in the table below. Click on the state symbol to bring up the buttons.
Serial No |
Icon |
Description
|
1 |
|
Click on this button to add a connector from this state to another state. This represents a state transition. For more details refer Adding an edge connector for state transition. |
2 |
|
Click on this button to edit the state information. |
3 |
|
Click on this button to delete the state. Note that the state definition will be removed altogether and not just from the workflow. |
4 |
|
Click on this button to create or update custom business rules associated with this state. For more details refer Adding custom business rules. |
5 |
|
Click on this button to create or update the Email notification rules for this state. For more details refer Adding E-mail Notifications. |
6 |
|
Click on this button to create or update the SMS notification rules for this state. For more details refer Adding SMS Notifications. |
Next you need to add the connectors between the states as described in the next section which represents the state transitions.
Click on the button while hovering on the state symbol to bring
up the menu. Click on 
.
Drag on the edge (line with arrow) which appears and place it on the state symbol to which the transition should happen.
Once it is placed, a pop-up appears for entering the workflow parameters.
The fields are described in the table below.
Serial No |
Field Name |
Description
|
1 |
Service |
Select the Service to which this workflow belongs. You can select more than one workflow. |
2 |
Sub Category |
Select the Sub Categories which are governed by this workflow. |
3 |
Consider Derived Fields |
Click on this box to display the ‘Derived Field 1’, ‘Derived Field 2’ and ‘Derived Field 3’ fields. It is not a mandatory field. The derived fields will be displayed based on the sub category chosen. |
4 |
Role |
Select the role(s) which have permissions to perform this state transition. |
If you want to add a Service, Sub-Category or Role, you need to hover on the field and '+' appears. Click on the '+' and a new screen pop-ups. Refer to the sections Adding a Service,Adding a Sub-Category and Adding Roles respectively for details.
On completion, click on 'Update' to update the information.
Repeat the steps to add all the edge connectors between the states to complete the workflow.
To delete an edge connector, hover on the edge, right click
to bring up the menu and click on 
.
To edit properties of an existing edge, right click to bring
up the menu and click on 
.
Custom Business Rules is a feature which allows automation of
an operation using custom code. The custom code is written in Java.
To add a custom business rule, click on 
.
A custom business rule entry screen is displayed.
The fields are described in the table below. For more details on Custom Business Rules refer to Service Desk->Settings->Custom Business Rules.
Serial No |
Field Name |
Description
|
1 |
Name |
Enter the rule name |
2 |
Description |
Enter the description of the rule |
3 |
Enable on Update |
Check this box if the rule has to be executed when the record is getting updated. By default, the rule is run only when the record is created. |
4 |
Launching Order |
Enter the order in which the action must be executed. If the order is 2, then the pre or post action is executed after the first pre or post action. |
5 |
Action Type |
Select Pre or Post Action. Pre-Action means the business rule is executed before the state change and Post-Action means the business rule is executed after the state change. |
6 |
Class Name |
There are some pre-shipped classes provided which contain business rules. Select a class which contains the business rule. Class files are compiled Java code which contain the business logic. You can create your own class for creating custom rules. The class files have a .class extension and are located in the following path <SapphireIMS Install Path>\ SapphireIMS\WebManagement\standalone\deployments\SapphireIMS.war\WEB-INF\classes\sapphire\actions |
7 |
Property File Name |
Select the property file name, which is a file that contains the configurable parameters used by the class. The property file has a .properties filename extension. Property files are located in the following path <SapphireIMS Install Path>\ SapphireIMS\WebManagement\standalone\deployments\SapphireIMS.war\WEB-INF\classes\sapphire\actions |
Click on 'Save' to save the custom business rule.
Click on 
to
add e-mail notifications. The e-mail notification rule pop-up is displayed.
Click on the checkbox against Email Notification Rules to enable creation of a rule.
The fields are described in the table below.
Serial No |
Field Name |
Description
|
1 |
Specific Template |
Select the template to be used for the notification. Refer to the topic Service Desk->Settings->Email & SMS Notifications->Email Notification Templates for details on templates. |
2 |
To Whom |
Select the roles for which the users attached will get the notification. |
3 |
Info Template |
Select the template to be used for the information mail to the users. |
4 |
To Whom |
Select the roles for which the users attached will get the information e-mail. |
5 |
Project Manager |
Check this option if notification has to be sent also to the project manager. |
6 |
CC |
Check this option if the mail has to be copied to the cc mail ID specified while submitting a new service desk record. |
7 |
External Email |
Enter the e-mail ID of any other person who should be notified along with the email IDs mentioned above. |
Click on 'Save' to save the Email notification rule.
Click on 
to add SMS
notifications. The SMS notification rule pop-up is displayed.
Click on the checkbox against SMS Notification Rules to enable creation of a rule.
The fields are described in the table below.
Serial No |
Field Name |
Description
|
1 |
To |
Select the role for which the users attached will get the notification. |
2 |
Users |
Select the users who will get the notification. |
3 |
SMS Template |
Select the template to be used for the notification. Refer to the topic Service Desk->Settings->Email & SMS Notifications->SMS Notification Templates for details on templates. |
4 |
Additional Contact Numbers |
Check this box if the notification has to be sent to additional external numbers. |
5 |
External Contact No |
Enter the contact numbers if the Additional Contact Numbers checkbox has been selected. |
Click on 'Save' to save the SMS notification rule.
On clicking on '+' near the Service selection field, a new service creation screen pops-up.
The fields are described in the table below.
Serial No |
Field Name |
Description
|
1 |
Service Name |
Enter the Service Name. |
2 |
Short Service Name |
Enter the Short Name for the Service which makes it easier for usage. |
3 |
Service Description |
Enter the Service Description. |
4 |
Attach Image |
Attach an image which will be displayed in the service catalog for selection. |
5 |
Service Type |
Select the Service Type as 'Parent' or 'Child'. If Parent is selected, then only Parent records can be created for this Service. If Child is selected, select the Parent Service to which it belongs. |
Click on 'Save' to create the Service.
On clicking on '+' near the Sub-Category selection field, a new Sub-Category creation screen pops-up.
The fields are described in the table below.
Serial No |
Field Name |
Description
|
1 |
Category |
Select the Category under which the Sub-Category should be added. |
2 |
Sub Category Name |
Enter the Sub-Category Name. |
3 |
Short Name |
Enter the Short Name. |
4 |
Sub Category Description |
Enter the Sub-Category Description |
Click on 'Save' to create the Sub-Category.
On clicking on '+' near the Roles selection field, a new Role creation screen pops-up.
The fields are described in the table below.
Serial No |
Field Name |
Description
|
1 |
Role Name |
Enter the Role Name |
2 |
Description |
Enter the Role Description |
3 |
Inherit From |
Select the Role from which this role inherits its attributes |
4 |
Copy From |
Select the Role from which the access privileges need to be copied for this role |
Click on 'Save' to create the Role.