Administer > Time Period management > Time period workflow

Time period workflow

Each time period has a workflow, which is defined in the time period category. Out-of-the-box, a workflow (named Timeperiod) is available, which includes four phases. This workflow drives the creation, approval, publication, and retirement of time period definitions including their occurrences.

Note You can create your own workflows if needed.

To view the name of a time period's workflow, open the time period's category record (Time Period Management > Configuration > Time Period Categories), and then locate the Workflow field.

To access a time period workflow, navigate to Time Period Management > Configuration > Workflows.

Phases

The following table describes each phase in the Timeperiod workflow.

Phase Description Notes
Planning

Planning a time period

  • Create the rule
  • Specify the ownership
  • Specify the impacted services, locations, or departments
  • Check the time windows
  
Approval Approve the time period based on the configured approval rules.

An automatic transition is configured from the Approval phase to each of these phases: Planning, and Published.

The transition triggers are as follows:

  • From Approval to Planning:

    (Expression: approval.status in $L.file="denied" )

  • From Approval to Published:

    ( Expression: approval.status in $L.file="approved" )
Published The time period, the rules and occurrences are displayed in read-only. Some occurrences can be manually canceled. In this phase the time period is approved and officially published.  
Retired The time period is retired and the record is inactive (closed).  

Actions and activities in each phase

The following table summarizes the actions and activities available or allowed in each phase of the workflow: Planning (P1), Approval (P2), Published (P3), and Retired (P4). A cross mark indicates the item is available or allowed.

Type Item Description P1 P2 P3 P4
Button OK Saves the record and exits. x x x x
Cancel Exits the record without saving. x x x x
Save Saves the record. x x x  
Submit for Approval Moves the record to the Approval phase. x      
Retire Moves the record to the Retired phase and deletes all occurrences. x   x  
Change Time Zone Changes the time zone to display date/time values from the user's time zone to a different one. x x x x
Apply Template Applies a time period template. x      
Submit for Re-planning Moves the record back to the Planning phase.     x  
Menu Option (More > ) Set Reminder Calls the out-of-the-box reminder feature. x x x  
Copy Copies the record. x x x x
Change Type / Category Changes the category and type of the current record. Works only in the first phase. x      
Create Template from Record Creates a new time period template from the record. x x x  
Notify Sends a notification. x x x  

Approval > Approve/Deny/Retract

Approve: Approves the record. Once approved, the record's approval status changes to approved, and the record automatically moves to the Published phase.

Deny: Denies the record. Once denied, the record's approval status changes to denied, and the record automatically returns to the Planning phase.

Retract: Retracts a denial of the record. Once retracted, the record moves back to pending approval status.

   x    
Unretire Moves the record to the first phase and activates it again.       x
User Action View rules Allows users to view the existing rule(s) of the record.   x x  
Create / Modify rules Allows users to create new rules and modify the existing rule(s). x      
Filter activities Allows users to filter the activities of the record. x x x  
Filter occurrences Allows users to filter the occurrences of the record. x x x  
Deactivate a single occurrence Allows users to deactivate one single occurrence, when the date is no longer required.     x  
System Background Activity Write activities As soon as activities are created. x x x x
Update occurrences Updates occurrences according to the defined rules. x   x x
Set create / update fields Set the created by / updated by and related time stamps. These values are saved in the Rules. The form is fully editable. x      
Set update fields Sets the updated by and related time stamps.   x x  
Move to previous / next phase

If the record is denied, the system automatically moves the record back to the Planning phase. If the record is approved, the system automatically moves the record to the next phase.

  x    

Related concepts

Time Period Management
Time Period Management concepts
Time Period Management process
Time period occurrences
Time period recurrence rules
Time period security areas and roles

Related tasks

Working with time periods
Time period configuration tasks