You can incorporate basic rules and dynamic behavior for the values of primitive attributes by defining primitive attribute workflows. You apply a primitive attribute workflow by adding the workflow to an asset type containing the workflow’s primitive attribute.

The workflow state for the workflow of a primitive attribute is determined by the current value of the attribute on the Asset page. The workflow transitions for the workflow describe updates to this value. Such transitions may optionally be represented on the Asset page as buttons, with the transition’s label used for the button text. Clicking a button saves a new version of the asset with the updated attribute value. You can define any number of workflows for a specific primitive attribute.

The Primitive Attribute Workflows page, opened by clicking Primitive Workflows in the Database navigation sidebar, shows a table with all primitive attribute workflows in the database. The table columns are:

Click on the label of a primitive attribute workflow in the table to show more details for that primitive attribute workflow. Click the Add button to add a new primitive attribute workflow.

A primitive attribute workflow contains lists of State Conditions, Transitions, and Permissions. A list can be left empty. Click Save to add the new primitive attribute workflow once you are finished setting these lists up.

To apply the primitive attribute workflow to your assets, you must also add the workflow as a member workflow to an asset type or to a composite attribute workflow — see Using Workflows with Asset Types and Composite Attribute Workflows.

The state conditions for a primitive attribute workflow are conditions posed on the attribute’s values. Given an attribute value, a state condition is either satisfied or not satisfied. The simplest type of state condition is a state value. A state value is satisfied as a state condition if its corresponding value is either equal to that of the attribute or, for an attribute of value type Keyword array or User array, is an element of the attribute’s array. Given this correspondence between state values and attribute values, a workflow state for a primitive attribute workflow may also be defined as a collection of state values.

A state condition can be formulated as a state expression via a filter expression written using a subset of the Model Manager search syntax. The state condition is satisfied if it matches state values as a logical expression. The workflow management system also includes built-in state conditions that can be used as dynamic shorthands for state values and state expressions.

A state value, as well as the built-in state conditions Current timestamp and Current user, may be set as a default state condition. The corresponding value of a default state condition is automatically set for a primitive attribute if the current attribute value is empty.

For a primitive attribute with a list of allowed values, the Add Primitive Attribute Workflow page is automatically populated with state conditions of type State value corresponding to each allowed value. The sort order for the state conditions is the same as defined for the allowed values. Click the Delete button (trashcan) to remove an unwanted state condition. Click the up and down arrow buttons to change the sort position of a state condition.

A state condition of type Never is primarily useful to temporarily disable a transition by adding it as a from-state condition or as a to-state condition — see Transitions.

The transitions for a primitive attribute workflow correspond to changes made to the attribute value when saving an asset. Transitions are expressed as a collection of state conditions that match attribute values before the save, known as the from-state conditions, and a collection of state conditions that match attribute values after the save, known as the to-state conditions. A transition is enabled (“can occur”) if the from-state conditions are all satisfied for the asset; an enabled transition has fired (“occurred”) if the to-state conditions are all satisfied for the saved asset. The state conditions need not all be state values; using a state expression or a built-in state condition for a from- or to-state condition is also possible. The collection of from-state conditions may be empty, in which case the transition is enabled when the value is empty. The analogous holds true for empty to-state conditions.

An action transition is a transition that is actively initiated by a user. When the transition is enabled — that is, when its from-state conditions are all satisfied — a corresponding button is displayed on the Asset page. The label of the transition is used for the button text; the description is used for the tooltip. Clicking the button removes all state values matched by the from-state conditions and adds all state values identified by the to-state conditions. If more than one action transition is enabled, the remaining ones are available as menu options on the Asset page.

A general transition is used to automate behavior that should happen when a user updates an asset according to the pattern prescribed by the transition’s from- and to-state conditions. There are no restrictions on the types of state conditions that may be used for such transitions.

For a process workflow defined for a primitive attribute with allowed values, the Add Primitive Attribute Workflow page is populated with action transitions between the allowed values, with one transition per adjacent pair of values. Click the Delete button (trashcan) to remove an unwanted transition. Click the up and down arrow buttons to change the sort position of a transition.

The Primitive Attribute Workflow page contains details on a primitive attribute workflow in the database. The fields are:

Click Edit to edit the primitive attribute workflow.

Click Delete Permanently if you want to permanently delete the primitive attribute workflow in the database. The workflow will be automatically removed from any asset type using it, as well as from any composite attribute workflow it is a member of.

Given an Approval attribute of widget type Radio button with allowed values Approved and Not approved, you may want Not approved selected by default when adding a new asset. Define a Free workflow for Approval with a State value condition having Value set to Not approved and for which the Default checkbox is selected.

Given a Responsible attribute of widget type User picker, you may want the value to initialize to the user adding a new asset. You also want to enable other users to quickly assign themselves as the responsible. Define a Free workflow for Responsible with a built-in state condition Current user for which the Default checkbox is selected. Define an action transition labeled Assign to Me with from-state condition Always and a to-state condition Current user. An Assign to Me button will be present next to the Responsible attribute on the Asset page.

Given an attribute value that only a restricted group of users should be able to update, define a Free workflow for the attribute with a Change value permission granted to that group.

Given a Status attribute of widget type Combo box with allowed values Suggested, Approved, Implementing, Completed, and Canceled, define a Process workflow with one State value condition for each allowed value. Also add a built-in Any state value condition. Set the Suggested state value to be a default state condition so that the workflow initializes in the “suggested stage”.

Define five action transitions with the from- and to-state condition mappings: Suggested to Approved, Approved to Suggested, Approved to Implementing, Implementing to Approved, and Implementing to Completed. Also add an action transition with the from- and to-state condition mapping Any state value to Canceled. This workflow describes a simple work process of reversible stages that can be canceled at any stage.

Given a Project Proposal attribute of widget type Checkbox list with allowed values Draft, Pending Approval by Engineering, Pending Approval by Sales, Approved by Engineering, Approved by Sales, and Approved by Management, define a Process workflow with one State value condition for each allowed value. Set Draft to be a default state condition so that the workflow initializes in the “draft stage”.

When the attribute value is Draft, the Asset page displays the Approve (Engineering) and the Approve (Sales) action transitions as button and menu options. Either option may be triggered first. After both options have been triggered (irrespective of order), the attribute value is [Approved by Engineering, Approved by Sales] and an Approve (Management) button is shown. Only users from each respective group are granted permission to perform their transitions for approval.