Work Flow in Dynamics Ax 2012

WORKFLOW:

A Work Flow can be defined as a sequence of steps where each steps follows the precedent without any gap or delay.It can also be defined as a movement of tasks within a process. The Dynamics AX Work Flow infrastructure enables user configurable workflows in Dynamics Ax application modules with specific focus on tasks and approval workflows.

A Work Flow is designed based on the company requirements then Configured by the administrator , and run by the user.

BASIC CONCEPTS:

Work Flow Type:

It is the basic building block that can be used to create customized workflows that enforce business policies. A Work Flow type defines :

• The Work Flow document to use.
• Tasks and approvals that can be configured by the User.
• Workflow categories used to assign a workflow type to a specific module.
• Menu item and Event Handlers to be used.

Work Flow Configurations:

These are created by the application administrators that use Dynamics Ax Work Flow editor. The administrator configures the:

• Work Flow
• Workflow Elements.
• Approval elements to control the flow of business document through workflow process.

Work Flow Instances:

Created by the Work Flow run time when the workflow is activated.

Work Flow Elements:

These are created in the AOT and configured by the administrator. A Work Flow structure consists of a sequence of Work Flow elements that includes:

• Tasks
• Approval
• Sub-Work Flow

Developer's Role:

A Developer adds Work Flow to an existing business document or Creates new document that support Work Flow. A developer performs these steps :

• Creates a Query for Work Flow.
• Creates a Work Flow Category.
• Creates a Work Flow Type.
• Creates Work Flow elements.
• Enables Work Flow on a Form.

Creating Query For Work Flow:

An AOT Query can be simply created under the Queries node in AOT. Right click on the queries node and  Create New Query.

for further information on queries see  here

Creating Work Flow Category:

Expand the Work Flow node and right click on the Work Flow categories node to create a new Category.

In the Property Sheet for the newly created module set it's name and module properties.

Creating Work Flow Type:

To create Work Flow type we need to run a Workflow Type wizard.

AOT--> Work Flows--> Work Flow Type  right click and then go to addins and run Work Flow Type wizard.

Create Work Flow Elements:

To Create Work Flow elements we have multiple ways . For (e.g) In order to create an Approval Element for the workflow we can run an Approval wizard as shown below.

Or you can create tasks by these steps:

AOT--> Work Flow-->Tasks-->New Task

Enabling Work Flow on a Form:

Expand the form , expand it's designs node and on the design node right click properties. On the Properties window set the following properties:

Work Flow Enabled       :        ( Yes ) 

Work Flow Data Source:        (Data Source for the Query)

Work Flow Type            :        (Work Flow Type Created)