You can set up and use workflows that connect business-process tasks performed by different users. System tasks, such as automatic posting, can be included as steps in workflows, preceded or followed by user tasks. Requesting and granting approval to create new records are typical workflow steps.

Before you can begin to use workflows, you must set up workflow users, create the workflows, potentially preceded by code customization and specify how users receive notifications. For more information, see Set Up Workflows.

Note
Typical workflow steps are about users who request approval of tasks and approvers accepting or rejecting approval requests. Therefore, many topics about how to use workflows refer to approval steps.

The following table describes a sequence of tasks, with links to the topics that describe them.

ToSee

Set a workflow to start when the first entry-point event occurs.

How to: Enable Workflows

Request approval of a task.

How to: Request Approval

Act on a workflow notification to approve or reject a request, either in a list view or on the page of the task in question.

How to: Approve or Reject Requests for Approval

Delegate an approval request to a substitute approver, for example because the original approver is out of office.

How to: Delegate Requests for Approval

Cancel an approval request, for example because the customer has canceled an approver order.

How to: Cancel Requests for Approval

Make minor changes to a record after it has been approved.

How to: Make Minor Changes to Approved Records

View approval requests that have passed their due date without being acted on.

How to: View Overdue Approval Requests

Send a reminder email to all approvers who have overdue notification entries about approvals requests.

How to: Send Overdue Approval Notifications

Create workflow steps that restrict a certain record type from being used before a certain event occurs, for example that the record is approved.

How to: Restrict and Allow Usage of a Record

View workflow step instances of status Completed.

How to: View Archived Workflow Step Instances

Delete a workflow that you are sure will no longer be used.

How to: Delete Workflows

See Also