Understanding workflow steps

Each workflow step represents a location in the workflow. It does not have a business meaning outside of the workflow. Therefore, it is permissible to use whatever IDs you want and arrange them however it is most convenient for you. (Beware, however, of infinite cycles between steps. PolicyCenter treats too many repetitions between steps as an error.)

A workflow script can contain any of the following steps. It must contains at least one Outcome step. It must also start with one each of the <Context> and <Start> steps described in Workflow structural elements.

Type

Workflow contains

Icon

Step

Description

AutoStep

Zero, one, or more
Right arrow.
Step icon with right arrow.

Step that PolicyCenter guarantees to finish immediately. See AutoStep workflow step.

ManualStep

Zero, one, or more
Hourglass.
Step icon with hourglass.

Step that waits for an external TRIGGER to occur or a TIMEOUT to pass. See ManualStep workflow step.

ActivityStep

Zero, one, or more
Person.
Step icon with person.

Step that waits for one or more activities to complete before continuing. See ActivityStep workflow step.

MessageStep

Zero, one, or more
Mail.
Step icon with mail.

Special-purpose step designed to support messaging-based integrations. See MessageStep workflow step.

Outcome

One or more
0.
Step icon with outcome.

Special final step that has no branches leading out of it. See Outcome workflow step.