Workflow definition overview
A workflow definition defines the life cycle for entries. Every content type is assigned a workflow. All entries created for that content type will then follow the life cycle defined in that workflow definition.
Contensis supports two predefined workflow definitions contensisEntryBasic and contensisEntryApproval as outlined in our key concept article. These cannot be modified, but additional custom workflows can be defined.
A workflow definition consists of a collection of states which an entry assigned to that workflow may have e.g. draft, awaitingApproval, declined. Each state consists of a collection of events, which define the allowed transitions from that state to other (or the same) states. The events are grouped into event groups, which group functionally similar transitions between states e.g. save, approveDecline, submitRevoke.
To publish an entry with a custom workflow, one or more events on one or more states must transition to the sysWorkflow state, which is a system state. Once the entry is in this state, it will either be published immediately, or if a publishing schedule is set for the entry, scheduled for publishing.
Custom workflows are project-specific, each one only applies to one project, not all projects in a Contensis instance.
Properties
| Name | Data type | Data format | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| id | string | A unique workflow definition identifier. | |
| uuid | string | uuid | The workflow definition identifier as a 128 bit GUID. |
| projectId | string | The project identifier, e.g. "movieDb". Found in the project overview screen of the management console. | |
| name | object | localized value | The friendly name given to the workflow definition. |
| description | object | localized value | The description text given to the workflow definition. |
| states | object[...] | A collection of states that an entry with the workflow definition may have. | |
| eventGroup | object[...] | event group | A collection of event groups for events within the states. |
| isSystem | boolean | Indicates whether the workflow definition is predefined and read only (true) or a custom definition (false). | |
| version | object | version | Version information about the workflow definition. |
Example
This example shows a custom approval workflow definition.
{
"uuid": "e7d8611a-88d6-44b3-8910-c894f1d6a42a",
"id": "CustomEntryApproval",
"projectId": "website",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Custom Approval workflow"
},
"description": {
"en-GB": "A custom workflow for entries with approval"
},
"states": [
{
"id": "draft",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Draft"
},
"events": [
{
"id": "submit",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Send for approval"
},
"auditText": {
"en-GB": "Sent for approval"
},
"description": {
"en-GB": "Send the entry for approval"
},
"transitionTo": "awaitingApproval",
"color": "green",
"groupId": "submitRevoke",
"uiAction": "navigateToEntryListing",
"validate": true,
"parameters": [
{
"id": "message",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Add an optional message for the approver"
},
"dataType": "string",
"dataFormat": null,
"description": {
"en-GB": "The message included with the entry submission"
},
"default": null,
"validations": {},
"editor": {
"id": "multiline",
"instructions": {
"en-GB": "Optionally include a message to let an approver understand your changes"
},
"properties": null
}
}
]
}
],
"color": "cobalt",
"uiEditorView": "default"
},
{
"id": "awaitingApproval",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Awaiting approval"
},
"events": [
{
"id": "revoke",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Revoke and edit"
},
"auditText": {
"en-GB": "Revoked"
},
"description": {
"en-GB": "Revoke the entry submission"
},
"transitionTo": "draft",
"color": "white",
"groupId": "submitRevoke",
"uiAction": "none",
"validate": false,
"parameters": []
},
{
"id": "decline",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Decline"
},
"auditText": {
"en-GB": "Declined"
},
"description": {
"en-GB": "Decline the entry for approval"
},
"transitionTo": "declined",
"color": "red",
"groupId": "approveDecline",
"uiAction": "navigateToEntryListing",
"validate": false,
"parameters": [
{
"id": "message",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Add a message to explain to the author why this content is being declined"
},
"dataType": "string",
"dataFormat": null,
"description": {
"en-GB": "The decline reason"
},
"default": null,
"validations": {
"required": {
"message": {
"en-GB": "The decline reason is required"
}
}
},
"editor": {
"id": "multiline",
"instructions": {
"en-GB": "Include a message to let an approver know your changes"
},
"properties": null
}
}
]
},
{
"id": "approve",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Approve"
},
"auditText": {
"en-GB": "Approved"
},
"description": {
"en-GB": "Approve the entry changes for publishing"
},
"transitionTo": "sysWorkflow",
"color": "green",
"groupId": "approveDecline",
"uiAction": "navigateToEntryListing",
"validate": false,
"parameters": [],
"invokableWhen": [
{
"field": "isScheduledForPublish()",
"equalTo": false
}
]
},
{
"id": "scheduledApprove",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Approve and schedule"
},
"auditText": {
"en-GB": "Approved and scheduled"
},
"description": {
"en-GB": "Approve the entry changes for publishing"
},
"transitionTo": "sysWorkflow",
"color": "green",
"groupId": "approveDecline",
"uiAction": "navigateToEntryListing",
"validate": false,
"parameters": [],
"invokableWhen": [
{
"field": "isScheduledForPublish()",
"equalTo": true
}
]
}
],
"color": "yellow",
"uiEditorView": "previousPublishedVersionCompare",
"allowUpdates": false
},
{
"id": "declined",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Declined"
},
"events": [
{
"id": "submit",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Re-submit"
},
"auditText": {
"en-GB": "Re-submitted for approval"
},
"description": {
"en-GB": "Re-submit the entry for approval"
},
"transitionTo": "awaitingApproval",
"color": "green",
"groupId": "submitRevoke",
"uiAction": "navigateToEntryListing",
"validate": true,
"parameters": [
{
"id": "message",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Message"
},
"dataType": "string",
"dataFormat": null,
"description": {
"en-GB": "The message included with the entry re-submission"
},
"default": null,
"validations": {},
"editor": {
"id": "multiline",
"instructions": {
"en-GB": "Include a message to let an approver understand the reasons for the re-submisson"
},
"properties": null
}
}
]
}
],
"color": "red",
"uiEditorView": "default"
}
],
"eventGroups": [
{
"id": "submitRevoke",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Submit / revoke"
}
},
{
"id": "approveDecline",
"name": {
"en-GB": "Approve / decline"
}
}
],
"isSystem": true,
"version": {
"createdBy": "",
"created": "0001-01-01T00:00:00",
"modifiedBy": "",
"modified": "0001-01-01T00:00:00",
"publishedBy": null,
"published": null,
"versionNo": "0.1"
}
}