Walkthrough: Adding Workflow to an Existing Form

Article
05/18/2015

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

In Microsoft Dynamics AX, you can add workflow to new or existing forms. In this walkthrough, you will:

Enable and add workflow to the CustTable form.
Create a method that indicates whether the current document can be submitted to workflow.
Create a configuration to test the workflow.

To add workflow to a form, you must have a workflow type that identifies the data fields that the workflow uses. This walkthrough builds on the Walkthrough: Creating a Workflow Type.

Prerequisites

To complete this walkthrough, you will need:

Microsoft Dynamics AX
A license file that has access to the Development workspace.
To complete the steps in Walkthrough: Creating a Workflow Type.

To Enable a Form for Workflow

In the AOT, expand the Forms node.
Expand the CustTable form, and then expand the Designs node.
In the Designs node, right-click the Design child node, and then click Properties.

In the Properties sheet, set the following properties.

Property	Value
WorkflowEnabled	Yes
WorkflowDataSource	CustTable Note This is the root data source specified in the query used for the Document property on the MyWorkfowType type. For more information, see Walkthrough: Creating a Workflow Type.
WorkflowType	MyWorkflowType

In the AOT, right-click the CustTable form, and then click Save.

After the form is enabled for workflow, you will add a canSubmitToWorkflow method to the form. This method runs before the Submit button is enabled to verify that the workflow document is in a valid state to submit to workflow. When this method returns true, the Submit button is enabled. An alternative is to add the canSubmitToWorkflow method to the main table for the form. This allows both the Microsoft Dynamics AX client and Enterprise Portal to share the same logic to determine whether workflow is enabled.

Note

If there are no records in the data source and the canSubmitToWorkflow method returns true, an exception is thrown. Therefore, you should programatically check for a record when you evaluate the state of the workflow.

To Create a Method to Indicate Whether the Current Document can be Submitted to Workflow

In the AOT, expand the CustTable form, right-click the Methods node and then point to Override method. Click canSubmitToWorkflow.
A method node named canSubmitToWorkflow displays under the Methods node and the Editor window opens.
In the Editor window, enter the following code to enable the Submit button on the form for workflow.

        public boolean canSubmitToWorkflow()
        {
            // ToDo This method always returns true and the Submit
            // button will always be displayed on the form. Enter code
            // here to only return true when the document is NotSubmitted.
            // Also, add code to check if a record exists in the data source.
            return true;
        }

Close the Editor window and then click Yes to save changes.

Now that the form is enabled for workflow, you must create a workflow configuration to display the Submit button on the workflow toolbar.

To Create a Configuration

In Microsoft Dynamics AX, click Accounts receivable > Setup > Accounts receivable workflows. The Accounts receivable workflows list is displayed.
In the Accounts receivable workflows list, click New. The Create workflow form is displayed.
On the Create workflow form, select MyWorkflowType, and then click Create workflow. The workflow configuration form is displayed.
In the action pane, click Properties. The Properties form is displayed.
In the Properties form, click Basic Settings. In the Submission instructions text box, enter My workflow submit instructions., and then click Close.
In the MyWorkflowType form, create a simple workflow by dragging a Conditional decision onto the workflow in between the Start and End nodes. Drag a line from the Start node to the Conditional decision 1 node. Then, drag a line from the True output of the Conditional Decision 1 node to the End node. Finally, drag a line from the False output of the Conditional decision 1 node to the End node.

Tip

You may need to scroll down in the workflow designer form to see the End node.
Right-click Conditional decision 1, and select Properties. The Properties form opens.
In the Conditional tab, click Add condition, and then enter Where Customers.Account number contains value 0.
Click Close.
In the workflow designer form, click Save and close. Enter Workflow Walkthrough in the Version notes field and click OK.
The Activate workflow – MyWorkflowType form appears. In the Activate workflow – MyWorkflowType form, select Activate the new version, and then click OK.
Display the Accounts receivable area page.
Click Customers > All customers.
Double-click one of the customers in the list. The Customers form is displayed.
The workflow toolbar is displayed at the top of the CustTable form. Click the View Workflow Instructions icon on the workflow toolbar to display the submission instructions that you created in this walkthrough.
Click MyWorkflowTypeSubmitMenuItem, which is the menu item that you created to submit the customer to workflow. Supply a submission comment and then click MyWorkflowTypeSubmitMenuItem to see the submitted to workflow Infolog message.

Next Steps

After you complete Walkthrough: Creating a Workflow Type and Walkthrough: Adding Workflow to an Existing Form, you have the foundation for a basic workflow. Now you can add tasks, automated tasks, and approvals to the workflow. For more information, see Walkthrough: Creating a Workflow with a Task and an Approval.

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