A workflows consists of a sequence of freely definable states, and the activities that cause the transition from a source state to a target state. To each state, one or several users (or roles, if your Cumulus runs in role-based mode) can be assigned which are responsible for the further processing of the files (assets) in the current state, and for promoting the file (asset) to next possible state in the workflow.
From an Administrator’s Point of View
Workflows are created via the Workflow Manager of the Cumulus Web Server Console and must be added to catalogs via the Catalog Settings section of the Preferences window at the Cumulus Desktop Client.
Creating Workflows with the Workflow Manager
First you must create the states you need in your workflow (which basically consists in giving them meaningful names...), then the activities. For each activity, you must select one or more possible source states (i.e., the states in which the activity can be performed) and one target state, thus defining the sequence and order of the states in the workflow.
In addition to the modification of the state, an activity can also:
• assign one ore more users / roles to the target state, or clear the assignment
• trigger an asset action that is performed on the file during the transition to the next state
• have their availability restricted to certain users only
Adding Workflows to a Catalog via the Preferences Window
Workflows are defined catalog-independent. However, in order to be applicable to the files/assets in a catalog, a workflow must at first be added to the catalog. Files/assets can only be attached to workflows that have been added to the catalog containing the assets. You add workflows to a catalog on the Workflows tab of the Catalog Settings section of the Preferences window.
Additionally, workflows must be made known to Asset Handling Sets, e.g. in order to attach newly cataloged assets automatically to a workflow.
If a catalog contains workflows, they are available
• with the Desktop Client via a Workflows menu
• with the Cumulus Web Client on the Workflows overview page.
Users can manually attach workflows to individual files: with the Web Client via the Start workflow entry in the tool box, and on the Desktop Client by applying the starting activity from the Workflows menu (or the shortcut menu).
Workflows can also be attached automatically to files during the cataloging process via an Asset Handling Set, and they can be started by a Scheduler action, or a Trigger, on files that match a given query (see Provided Scheduler Actions and Cumulus Trigger).
Files/assets with an attached workflow have a workflow state and are assigned to one or several users (or roles, if your Cumulus runs in role-based mode). To which user(s)/role(s) a file/asset is assigned depends on its current workflow state.
• Only users which are assigned to a certain state can perform the activity that leads to the next workflow state:
• With the Cumulus Web Client, a user gets displayed all files he/she is assigned to on the Workflows page. If the user is responsible for files in different states, the Workflow page provides a tab for each state. For each file on the workflows page, the appropriate activities are provided in the toolbox. As soon as the user selects such an activity, the file is promoted to the next workflow state (and therefore no longer displayed on the current tab).
• With the Cumulus Desktop Client, a user can find all assets/files he/she is assigned to for any single workflow via the Workflows menu (Workflows > [workflow name] > Currently assigned to me).
Commenting and Mentioning
Cumulus provides a user comments function, both with the Desktop Client as with the Web Client, allowing Cumulus users to comment on assets. A comment can apply to an asset in general, or it can refer to a specific detail in the asset, e.g. an area of a picture.
With the Cumulus Web Client, it is additionally possible to mention Cumulus users within a comment by entering the @ character followed by a username (@username). Mentioned Cumulus users are notified about the comment via email.
Subscriptions
With the Cumulus Web Client, users can subscribe to individual files/assets in order to get notified if the metadata of these files/assets is modified. These notifications are sent via email to the subscribing user. Which metadata fields are taken into account for a notification can be specified by an administrator for each catalog individually.