The State Flow Designer allows configuring transitions between the states. In particular, it is used in the practices state models (for example, Incidents State Model, Change Enablement State Models).
You may need to configure transitions for the specified practice (for example, Incidents). For this, you have to create a state model first, and then you can configure transitions.
Role required: admin.
Creating state model
The state models are stored in the State Models (sys_state_model) table.
To create a state model, please complete the following steps:
- Navigate to State Flow Designer → State Models.
- Click New and fill in the fields.
- Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.
State model form fields
| Field | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Y | Displayed model name. |
| State Flow Script | N | This field references the client script storing the transitions. The field appears after the record is saved. It is populated automatically when the transitions are set. |
| Table | Y | Choose a table to create a model. You can choose only tables that have a column with the Column Name is state. |
| Active | N | Select this checkbox to activate or deactivate this state model. |
| Inherited | N | Select this checkbox to enable inheritance of the state model to child tables. |
| Condition | N | Specify conditions mandatory for executing the state model. See the Condition Operators article to learn more about available condition operators for different field types. An empty condition always returns 'true'. |
| Description | N | Description of the state model in a concise manner. |
Configuring the transitions
The transitions are stored in the State Transition (sys_state_transition) table.
To configure transitions in a created state model, complete the following steps:
- Navigate to State Flow Designer → State Models.
- Click on the state model you need to modify.
- In the Related Lists area, select the State Transition tab, click New and fill in the fields.
- Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.
Another way to create a new transition is the following:
- Navigate to State Flow Designer → State Transition.
- Click New and fill in the fields.
- Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.
Please note that in this case you will need to fill the State Model field manually.
State Transitions form fields
| Field | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| State Model | Y | The state model containing transitions. |
| State | Y | The initial state for the subsequent transitions. You can specify only fields of the model table. The table should have a column with the Column Name is state. |
| Available Transitions | N | Choose the transitions available for the state specified in the State field. You can choose only fields of the model table. The table should have a column with the Column Name is state. Here, define the states which activate or deactivate the target record. The outcome is defined by the Record Activity field. Record Activity field appears if the table defined in the related State Model has the Active column. |
| Description | N | Description of the transition in a concise manner. |
| Autotransition | N | Select this checkbox to enable the scheduled automatic state change for the state specified in the State field. |
| Auto State | N | Specify the state the record will be automatically transited to. You can specify only fields of the model table. The table should have a column with the Column Name is state. This field appears when the Autotransition checkbox is selected. |
| Duration | N | Specify the duration (in business time, days, hours, and so on), after which time the state will change automatically. This field appears when the Autotransition checkbox is selected. |
| Schedule | N | Specify the schedule to calculate the auto-transition date. This field appears when the Autotransition checkbox is selected. |
| Record Activity | N | Record Activity field appears if the table defined in the related State Model has the Active column. Define if the Active column in the target record will change. The checkbox will be selected or cleared when the State of the target record has value defined in the Available Transitions field. Available options:
For example, you can make the target record inactive (with cleared Active checkbox) when its State transitions to Completed. Or, vice versa, when the record transitions to the In Progress state, the Active checkbox will be automatically selected. |
Example of the transitions configured
Consider an example of the transition configured.
For example, the ITSM Incident model for the Incident table exists. And among others, there is the transition:
In this screenshot, the Assigned state can change to the In Progress, Information Needed, Completed states or stay Assigned.
If we select the Autotransition checkbox and define fields like in the screenshot below, then the following setting will be applied:
- if the state does not change for the 3 days 8 hours (on an 8x5 weekdays calendar; it's equivalent ten working days 8 hours each), then it will happen automatically.
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We can see transitions defined by this model for the Assigned state on the incident form.
