You are here:
Stages in Flow Approval Processes
A stage groups related steps, organizing them into a logical phase. Stages are executed sequentially, and only one stage in a flow approval process can be in progress at a time. You configure the conditions that must be met for the stage to be considered complete.
Required Editions
| View supported editions for Flow Approval Processes. |
General
A flow approval process must contain at least 1 stage. If a flow approval process is configured to include a recall path, the Run Immediately path must contain at least 1 stage. You can’t control when a stage starts because stages run sequentially. To control when a stage completes, select one of the exit conditions.
Exit Condition
To control when a stage completes, select an exit condition.
| Stage Condition | Requires |
|---|---|
| When all steps have been marked Completed, the stage is marked Completed | — |
| When the specified requirements are met, the stage is marked Completed | Up to 10 requirements that determine whether the stage can be completed |
| When the specified evaluation flow returns True, the stage is marked Completed | The name of the evaluation flow that determines whether the stage can be completed |
Fault Path
To define what happens if a stage or a step within a stage in a flow approval process encounters an error, use a fault path. Each stage in a flow approval process can have its own configured fault path, including stages that are in fault paths.
A fault path can contain decision elements and stage elements. The stage elements in a fault path can contain approval and background steps.
Add elements to a stage’s fault path that provide an alternate way to complete remaining necessary steps in the attached stage.
When you add a fault path to your flow approval process, it’s added with an end element. If the flow approval process has more stages or final actions after the stage that encountered the error, then connect the last element in the fault path to the next element in the flow approval process to execute.
The final status of the approval submission based on a flow approval process with fault paths configured for every stage can be approved or rejected.
| conditions | Approval Submission Status |
|---|---|
| A stage run with a configured fault path encounters an error before any approval work items are completed. The configured fault path terminates in an end element, and it runs without an error. | Approved |
A stage run with a configured fault path encounters an error. The configured fault path terminates in an end element, and it runs without an error.
|
Approved |
A stage run with a configured fault path encounters an error. The configured fault path terminates in an end element, and it runs without an error.
|
Rejected |
| A stage run with no configured fault path encounters an error. | Error |
Status
When a record is submitted for approval, an orchestration run is created for the flow approval process associated with the approval submission. The orchestration run associated with the approval submission manages the status for each stage. Because stages run sequentially and have no entry conditions, they have a status only after they’re in progress.
| Stage run Status | Description |
|---|---|
| In Progress | The stage was started. |
| Completed | The stage met its exit conditions. |
| Canceled | The stage was in progress when the parent approval submission associated with the orchestration run was canceled. |
| Discontinued | The stage was in progress when the orchestration run associated with the parent approval submission encountered an error. |
| Error |
|
