Workflow in Access

[giddyhead]

Good Day,

Request your assistance as to is there a way to build a workflow in Access similar to a SharePoint workflow? Thanks for your help.

 

[Ranman256]

In design or user usage?

The design, make menus,to list screens to pick 1 record,
Then since record forms to edit records.
Reports to print.

 

[giddyhead]

A little bit of both wanted a way for users to view a pdf document and to annotate or SIGN specific sections in Access they have tranfered someone from pay and IT if that is their sections. Thanks

 

[MajP]

Never personally done it, but sure I could. I would think

Lets assume a workflow means a task goes from one Department to another and they update the status of the task. Different tasks have different flows and potential task status. In your case this may be simpler if the only action is reviewing and signing a document. Lets assume when a user logs in they have a dashboard showing there tasks based on the workflow and based on their department.

I would need a table

tblTask
  TaskID
  TaskName
  ... Other task fields like linked documents
  TaskType 'Review Documen, Approve Travel, ....
  TaskStatus
  FlowStep 
  CurrentWorkflowOwner 'This is who owns it for action from the Department field in the workflow table.

Then I need a workflow table that shows the order of the workflow, what action is required to complete per section.

TblWorkFlow
  TaskType
  Department
  FlowStepOrder '1,2,3..
  MovingStats ' Review Complete, Signed, Rejected

I would open my dashboard and check my task. If I update the status on the task to "reviewed". In the after update it checks tblWorkflow. It sees that "reviewed" for my department for that type of task closes my action. Then it does an update query to increment the FlowStep and in turn update the CurrentOwner of the task. Since a users dashboard is based on a query it would be removed from mine and show up on the current task owners.

Now after writing that I see that a flow may not necessarily be linear. Lets say rejected sends it back to start for some types tasks. Could easily be handled in code, but depends on how many types of tasks you have and how complex maintaining that would be. That may complicate the table design.

In theory I am sure I can get this to work. However, this quickly could get complicated if the business rules are complicated. Be interested to hear from someone who has really done this.

 

[jdraw]

You may get some insight from the links suggested at the bottom of your post in the Similar Threads area.
This one https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=300478
has some ideas for consideration.

I am not aware of an existing Template for Workflow in Access.

In my view you really have to understand the "business" --that is the processes involved and the facts that determine the next link in the workflow chain. For example, you may have a " Review Design step" and depending on the review result/status, you may have
1 of 4 possible Next step( if accepted, If reject because (a), If reject (b)... I think you would need to know each step in the workflow and every possible next step (which in this scenario is dependent on the workflow-step-status). It seems that having a logic diagram to model the workflow would be an excellent starting point.

I also agree with MajP that it could get complicated if the business processes are complex and/or workflow involves cycles and non linear flow.

You may get some insight from this link WorkBreakdown.

There are some free videos on Business Processes and Data flow Diagrams from BA-Experts

Here is a free generic data model at Barry Williams' site that may offer some insight.
-- http://www.databaseanswers.org/data_models/document_workflow/index.htm
and another

 

[MajP]

After some thought a better design for the workflow table to allow for non linear flow

TblWorkFlow
  TaskType
  CurrentOwner ' Department that owns it
  MovingStats ' Review Complete, Signed, Rejected. Status the moves it
  NextOwner 'Based on status the next owner

Assume Technical reports are submitted by Engineering. They go to Engineering Supervisor for review. If accepted they go to Tech Writer. If rejected it goes back to Engineering.

Task Type                   CurrentOwner                 MovingStatus  NextOwner
Technical Document     Engineering                     Submitted      Engineering Supervisor
Technical Document     Engineering Supervisor     Accepted        TechWriter
Technical Document     Engineering Supervisor     Rejected         Engineering

 

[MajP]

You may get some insight from the links suggested at the bottom of your post in the Similar Threads area.
This one https://www.access-programmers.co.uk...d.php?t=300478
has some ideas for consideration.

Really? There is nothing of value in that thread about workflows.

 

[jdraw]

MajP,

The link involved was identified by the Forum software as a Similar Thread.
I thought the comments by Markk and Pat Hartman and others were/are relevant to anyone attempting to build a workflow database.