About States

A state is a position in an application workflow where a primary item resides. A state provides accountability as items are transitioned through the workflow process. While an item is in a given state, it has a primary owner who is responsible for performing a specific task with the item before it can be transitioned to the next state. You can also set up an application workflow so that one or more users have secondary responsibility for items while they are in a particular state.

When a user completes a task associated with the primary item, the user can transition the item to the next state. For example, Assigned, In Process, In QA, and Closed are states in the workflow. When the owner of an assigned item begins work on the item, the owner transitions it to the In Process state. It cannot leave the In Process state until the owner transitions it to the In QA state. The item remains in this state until the new owner tests the work being tracked by the item and transitions it to the Closed state.

States can be active or inactive. In an active state, the owner of the state is to some degree engaged in a task. In an inactive state, activity on the item is suspended. In the previous example, Assigned, In Process, and Testing are active states, and Closed is an inactive state. The Using the Workflow Palette includes one active state and three preconfigured inactive states. All states can be renamed and reconfigured.

Related Topics

Adding a State