Lesson 3: Launch a workflow

In this lesson, launch the car loan application workflow from lesson 2.

To launch the car loan application workflow:

1. In Process Designerr, if the CarLoanApplication is not open, select File > FileNet > Open/Checkout and locate CarLoanApplication.pep.
2. Select File > Launch Main Workflow.

   In a production system, the workflow is usually launched by a user action, such as checking in a loan application document. Launching from Process Designer is for convenience in testing the workflow definition.

3. On the Launch page, read the instructions and do the following steps.
   1. Enter the required information:
      • ApplicantName – enter text to represent the applicant name.
      • TaxID – enter any numbers to represent a tax ID number.
      • LoanAmount – enter numbers (integer) to represent the amount of the car loan, such as 28500.
      • DownPayment – enter numbers to represent a down payment amount, such as 3000. (Less than 1000 sends the process through the VerifyIncome step even if the applicant has a high credit score.)
      • IncomeAmount – enter numbers to represent annual income, such as 55000.
      • IncomeSource – enter text, such as ABC Corp.
   2. Click F_Trackers and specify yourself (your user name) as a tracker for this instance of this workflow.

      In Workflow Properties, you can specify a user who would automatically be a tracker every time this workflow runs. In this lesson, you are specifying the tracker at launch time, which allows a different tracker to be specified each time that the workflow is launched.

   3. Click Launch to start the workflow. The first step is CheckCredit.
4. To access the steps of the running workflow from Process Designer, select Tools > Personal Work Manager.

   In a production system, users would use Workplace or Workplace XT to access tasks in their inboxes and in work queues to which they have access. This shortcut in Process Designer is for convenience in testing a new workflow definition.

   PWM displays your Inbox (your user name) and any Work Queues that you are authorized to see.

5. Double-click to open the Work Queues folder and the Credit folder to access work items in the Credit queue.
6. As one of the credit clerks who can process this work, open the CheckCredit step.

   In the CreditScore field, enter a number 400 - 900 to represent the credit score of the applicant. Click Complete to complete the step.

7. You specified yourself as a tracker for this workflow. In PWM, open the Tracker folder and open the CarLoanApp workflow to check on the progress.

   The map shows the completed steps and the current step that is waiting to be processed. Click any completed step to see the data field values at that step. As a tracker, you can lock the current step and change the values, complete the current step, and take other actions to manage this workflow.

8. The work continues to the DownPayment step, which is processed by the workflow system server. Either the SetRate step or the VerifyIncome step is next, depending on the amount of the down payment.

   If the CreditScore value is greater than 650 and the DownPayment amount is greater than 1000, open your inbox and open the SetRate step. Do not click Complete because it ends the workflow.

   Otherwise, open the Credit work queue and open the ContactEmployer step. Look at the field values, and then click Complete.