A transition is a path used to move a record from one state to another in the workflow or can be used to assign the record to another user. A transition can include fields called "Task Fields" that require a user to enter some information into a record before it moves to the next step in the workflow. In some cases a transition may be a loop (a transition which keeps the record in the same state). A loop transition is used when a record simply needs to have information added to a field, but does not move to another state.

Defining Transitions for a State

To define the transitions for a state, click on the Define Workflow button in the ProblemTracker Administration section. Click on the Transitions button to the left of the state on the Workflow State table in the Define Workflow page.

To add a new transition, click on the Add button. The following options will be presented:

Label
The name of the transition. This label will be used as the name of the transition during the Task operation as well.

Order
The order of the transition. This will determine the order in which it appears in the transitions table as well as the list displayed during the Task operation. States which have the same value specified in the order field will be listed alphabetically.

New State
The state to which the problem record will be routed when this transition is selected in the Task operation. For this option, you may select one of the following:

• A specific state
  Any state configured on the Workflow State table can be selected as the new state for a transition.

• Same State
  This option can be used for transitions where a problem record does not need to move to a new state. For example, if a record will be re-assigned to another assignee, but stay in the same state, this option can be used. Another example where this options can be used is if an assignee simply needs to update a problem record without changing the state.

• Prompt with <State Group>
  Selecting this option will allow the user performing the Task operation to choose from a list of all states within a particular state group as the new state for the problem record. When selecting this option, please select a state group from the second pulldown listed after "New State". Skip to the Defining State Groups section below for information on creating a state group. The current state of the record will be selected by default during the task operation if the current state is part of the state group selected. Otherwise, the states in the state group will be listed in alphabetical order.

• Previous State
  This option will send the problem record to the most recent state the problem record was in prior to the current state. ProblemTracker will examine the Record History to determine the previous state.

New Assignee
The user to whom the problem record will be routed when this transition is selected in the Task operation. For this option, you may select one of the following choices listed below. For each of the choices listed, you also have the option to include or exclude the user "TBD" as part of your selection.:

• State Manager
  The problem record will be routed to the State Manager based on the new state of this transition and the content of the product field.

• Same Assignee
  This option can be used for transitions where a problem record does not need to be assigned to a different user. For example, if a record simply needs to be updated by the assignee.

• Prompt with a specific User Group
  This option enables you to restrict the list of possible assignees to the members of a user group. The user performing the Task operation will select the assignee from a list of users within the User Group that you specify for this option. When selecting this option, please select a user group in the second pulldown next to "New Assignee". In the third pulldown next to "New Assignee", select whether the user "TBD" should be included or excluded from this user group when presented during the task operation. Please review the User Groups Help section for information on creating a user group. The current assignee will be selected by default during the task operation if the current assignee is a member of the user group selected. Otherwise, the users in the user group will be listed in alphabetical order.

• Last Assignee for New State
  When selecting this option, ProblemTracker will examine the Record History to find the last user who was assigned to this record when it was in the state specified in the field "New State" for this transition. For instance, if the New State is "Scheduled", ProblemTracker will look in the record history for the problem record and find the last entry where this record was in the Scheduled state. The assignee listed in this entry will become the new assignee for this problem record.

• Reporter
  This will assign the problem record to the original user who reported the problem according to the Reported By field.

• A specific user
  Any user with ProblemTracker can be selected as the new assignee for a transition.

History Comment Requirement

• Selecting Required for this option will require the user to enter a history comment when selecting this transition in the Task operation.
• Selecting Optional will allow the user to leave this field blank when this transition is chosen during the task operation.
• When Do Not Display is selected here, the history comment field will not be presented to the user when this transition is chosen during the task operation. Even though the history comment is not displayed, the record history will still reflect that the task operation was performed on a record. In addition, if "Do Not Display" is selected and there are no task fields configured for the transition, the transition is set up for fast tasking.

Up to 2000 characters can be entered into the History Comment.

After making selections to define the transition, click OK to create the transition. The transition will now be displayed on the transition table.

Fast Tasking
"Fast Tasking" is the process where a transition is chosen and the user clicks OK, the record will immediately be updated because it is set such that there are no task fields and the history comment should not be displayed. If a transition is configured to allow "fast tasking" and is configured to display alert settings during the task operation, the alert settings will not be displayed during the task operation. The default alert settings for the transition will be used instead.

To edit a transition, click on the Edit button to the left of the transition. After making changes to the transition, click OK to save your modifications. For details on the properties of a transition, see "Adding a Transition" section above.

To delete a transition, click on the Delete button to the left of the transition. Click OK to confirm, then OK to complete the operation. The transition will be removed from the transition list.

Defining Fields For the Task Operation

For each transition within a particular state, you can specify which fields should be presented to the user for the Task operation. By only presenting the user with the necessary fields, you can ensure each user will correctly adhere to the development process. To do this, click on the Transitions button to the left of the desired state on the Define Workflow page. Then, click on the Task Fields button to the left of the desired transition.

To add or remove a task field from the transition, use the Add and Remove buttons to move fields from the right list (fields "Not In Use") to the left list (fields "In Use") and vice versa.

When a Task Field is moved to the "In Use" column, there are several properties of these fields that can be configured. To edit the properties of a task field, click on the Task field, then click on the Edit button. The following properties will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. After making your changes to the attributes of the task field, click Update to save your changes:

• Field
  The name of the field. The name cannot be modified. If you wish to re-name the field, this can be done in the Define Record section. Please refer to the section Customizing the Data Record for details.

• Order
  The order in which the Task Field will appear on the page during the Task operation relative to the other task fields selected for the same transition. By default, the order will be the order value as listed in the Define Record section. Select an integer value. If multiple task fields have the same value for the order field, the task fields will be listed in alphabetical order.

• Type
  Specifies whether the field is required, optional, or read only when it appears during the Task operation. Selecting "Required" indicates that a user will not be able to complete the Task operation until something is entered in the field. For Integer, Float, Text, TextArea, or Date types this means that a blank value will not be allowed. For pulldown fields, this means that the user must select a value other than the initial value displayed on the form. Selecting "Optional" indicates that the user is not required to enter information into the field to complete the Task operation. Selecting "Read Only" indicates that the contents of the field will be displayed for the user's reference, but the field cannot be modified.

• Initialize
  Only valid for fields of Date type. Specifies that the field should be automatically initialized to the current date/time when it appears on the Task page. You may wish to use a combination of setting the Type to "Read Only" and Initialize to "Yes" for date fields. This combination will allow the date the Task operation was performed on a record to be initialized in the date field, but the user will not be allowed to modify the date field.

Alerts are email notification messages that can be sent automatically by ProblemTracker at a later date and time to remind a user or group about a record. Alert settings can be configured for each transition. When an alert is set for a transition, when the Task operation is performed on a record using this transition, the alert settings will be applied to the record. It is also possible to allow users to be prompted to configure the Alert settings during the Task operation. Information on configuring default Alert settings for a transition can be found in the Administration section for the Alerts feature.