Workflow: Send Email and Change Data Actions

Sarah_Keown · 12-18-2019 01:56 AM

Hi all,

I am creating a workflow rule that allows users to send a PDF via email and following that reset the data that has been changed.

However, these two actions are controlled under different tables so I was wondering how to combine table actions into one workflow?

The process is as follows;

User enters in a product Qty into Table A
User goes to a separate view to say they have completed there order and clicks an action which changes the date/time of Table B
This change triggers the workflow to send the PDF to the logged in user and other colleagues for approval purposes etc
User then has to reset the value of all these Quantities to zero

The resetting used to be a manual process but my friend working on the project with me gained a very useful piece of functionality that allows you to reset the value by filtering out the rows not equal to zero. This is a major improvement on clicking into every single item with a qty value.

We are wondering whether is possible to combine this new feature with the email workflow - so instead of having to click into anything at all the action of filtering and resetting is done AFTER the workflow is thrown.

The obvious issue to me (why I am assuming I cant select the action created) is that we apply the workflow email change event to a Table B and the reset action applies within Table A.

Hope this is a good enough explanation as to what I am trying to achieve, really appreciate some feedback

Thanks, Sarah

Lynn

Hi @Sarah_Keown You can change data in a different table using a workflow. Not sure if this is what you want but I have a ddemo app here.

Sarah_Keown

I have taken a quick glance at this, will it work even if your two tables have no relation to each other?

Sarah_Keown

Is there a way that I can add a separate Change Data workflow that has a condition to say a workflow rule has been fired and it triggers the action to reset?

Phil

Hi Sarah,

When the workflow rule associated with the change to table B is triggered, that workflow rule can do anything you wish. Normally, the workflow rule will do something based on the change to table B, but you are free to do whatever you wish. That include updating one or more totally unrelated tables such as table A or table Z.

Here is how to think about it. Workflow Rules and Reports are free to take whatever action they wish once they are triggered. Workflow rules are triggered by an Add, Update, or Delete. Reports are triggered at a time you specify. In either event, once the Workflow Rule or Report is triggered it can take any action it wishes.

Normally, a workflow rule that is triggered by a change to a table will do something that is logically related to that change. For example, it might send an email notifying someone of the change or it might perform a data update to that table or to a related table. However, this is not a requirement. The workflow rule can do anything it wishes.

Often the action is dependent on the value that is changed in the table record that is added, updated, or deleted. But again, this is only a convention. The workflow rule can do anything it wishes.

The only complication is that your Workflow Rule or Report will need some way to determine what specific action to take. For example, if you want your Workflow Rule to perform an update, it might need to include a SELECT expression that chooses which records to update. Typically, when the SELECT expression is used in a Workflow Rule, it uses data values taken from the updated record within the SELECT expression. Again, using data values from the updated record in the SELECT expression is typical but it is not required. You can write any SELECT expression you wish. For example, it could simply select one or more records based on the values of one or more fields in the table you wish to update.