Thank you so much Jacob for the detailed and quick reply. I see possibilities. It's LF On Premise.

I have a few questions though.

1. Is there a way to create  workflow that will make a shortcut of  THE OPEN DOCUMENT once i assign a tag to it that says for ex. Assign? I know use can use context menu  to create shortcut. But i dont want that route.

2. If I create folders for every User i want to send the shortcut of the document to, for them to process, how can I user retrieve value to get name and ensure ensure that the shortcut is moved AUTOMATICALLY to the folder that has the same name as the value picked in the List?. Once the document hits the folder, i can notify the User.

But based on your suggestion, I am looking at workflow steps like below:

1. User assigns a tag to an open document, selects in a list the name of the Assignee

2.  Workflow Matches the selected User with the User's own folder and sends the shortcut into that folder automatically.

3. Assign Tag activity assigns a Restricted Tag to the document.

4. The Assignee is notified of arrival of document.

5. After processing document however way and closing the document, workflow removes Restricted Tag and clears the shortcut from Assignee folder.

6. Workflow Ends.

Thank you for your suggestion on this. Very much appreciated.

1. Is there a way to create  workflow that will make a shortcut of  THE OPEN DOCUMENT once i assign a tag to it that says for ex. Assign?

Yes, a starting rule similar to the following would work.  Tip: Make the conditions as specific as you can while still meeting your needs!

how can I user retrieve value to get name and ensure ensure that the shortcut is moved AUTOMATICALLY to the folder that has the same name as the value picked in the List

The same way as in my original post? You'd still need the user that is assigning the tag to specify who the document should go to, and a field is a good way to do that.  If using shortcuts instead of moving the document itself, use a Move Entry activity.  You can see in the pic below that the action is Create shortcut, the destination for the shortcut is a user's working folder (see docs--you could just use a folder named after the user), and the entry that is getting a shortcut is the starting entry.  That's the same entry that had the tag applied that started the workflow.  If using shortcuts, I think you'd want the document to be moved to a location where it couldn't be browsed to or something (except by an admin)--again, I'm not an expert in repository security.

 

But based on your suggestion, I am looking at workflow steps like below:

You're on the right track, yes.  I'm not sure how #3 works exactly (security tags, access, etc.).  Given #4 and #5, I'd recommend a Route Entry to User activity.

Thank  you for the detail.  What is yet not clear is how to connect the name selected from the list to be matched with the folder of the same name so that Move Entry can move the shortcut to that folder. What Workflow tool will do this? The User in the List is not picked from the Directory or Repository User. It is typed in Manually.

Is there no way to create a User Working Folder rather than from within Route Entry To User?

Without knowing more about your repository setup and exactly use case (e.g., how your names are formatted), I can only offer limited help.

You need a mapping between the field and the user's folder of some sort, and you have several options in Workflow for that mapping:

1. Use a list field so the name in the field matches a folder name in a well-known location
2. Use a Find User activity to convert the field value to a standard value (e.g., account name or working folder or a format like "Last Name, First Name")
3. Use the Route Entry to User working folder system (there's no real downside to using this activity)
4. Use folder collections and a Route Entry to User activity
5. Do a lookup in an external database
6. Use a Search Repository activity to try to find a match for whatever was typed into the field (this is not recommended--the list field approach is better)

From what you're saying, I think you're asking for something like #4, though I'm not aware of a way to batch-import that information (e.g., if you had a CSV file with the user/folder pairs).

Thank you so much Jacob, I really do appreciate your patience on this Now to the open document, it's not a new entry but an existing entry that is opened. So when I open the Document and select a name in the assignee field, I assume this is a change entry condition, what activity should start the workflow at that point? When i select a field on the open document and i close that document, i presume the workflow will start. So what activity in the workflow tool should be the first in the workflow configuration? Is it move entry or route entry to user and if the condition is change entry in the rule configuration, how do i reference the document just closed?

If I do a set user default folder in the route entry properties that will be for one user, but in a situation where the more than one User is selected in the List, that means i have to configure for each possible user!

I'd really love a step guide on how to go about it from when the document is open and a User is selected in the field .

So when I open the Document and select a name in the assignee field, I assume this is a change entry condition, what activity should start the workflow at that point? When i select a field on the open document and i close that document, i presume the workflow will start. So what activity in the workflow tool should be the first in the workflow configuration? Is it move entry or route entry to user and if the condition is change entry in the rule configuration, how do i reference the document just closed?

I think your understanding of how Workflows get started may be incomplete.  When you make a change to the document (change a field, apply a tag, etc.) and save the change, it's going to send an event to the Workflow Subscriber.  The Workflow Subscriber then evaluates all relevant starting rules (all "entry changed" rules, in this case) and if any of them evaluate to true, it will start the relevant workflow. Importantly, when it starts that workflow, it will also set the workflow's "starting entry" to the entry that changed.  Also note that closing the document does not (and cannot, I believe) start a workflow--it's the act of saving the changes that causes the entry changed event.

In your case, I would suggest that users set the Assign To field first, then apply the Tag, then save the document.  When that entry change event occurs, if you've configured your starting rule similar to my post above, it will start your workflow--with the starting entry set to the document that was saved. 

If I do a set user default folder in the route entry properties that will be for one user, but in a situation where the more than one User is selected in the List, that means i have to configure for each possible user!

Yes, you would have to configure one for each user.  Or you can use one of the other options I suggested above (e.g., having a folder named after each user that uses the same name format as what's in the list field).

To learn more about Workflow, here are a few resources:

• Aspire course: Getting Started with Workflow in Laserfiche 11 (Recommended)
• Workflow videos
• Online documentation

Hello Jacob, I have made great progress. Thanks to your detailed explanation. Your explanation of how workflow works in the last post opened my eyes to what was missing. I really cannot thank you enough.

 Thanks for the resources shared

So what i have done is to create an Entry Change Rule. Then I used Route Entry To User where i set the User default folder and ask that a shortcut of the document be dropped in the set default folder. And it worked just perfectly. Also, I used a field token to set the Assignee Field  in the Route To User Configuration
A Challenge cropped up all the same
I find that when i select more than one Assignee in my template field, the route entry to user will route entry to the first person chosen in the Assignee Field in the Template but not the second. This tells me I have to set the Assignee  to specific Users and not a token and create a branch of Route entry to User for each person. I had thought that once I use a token, it would work for every Assignee chosen, but that is not the case.

So, is there a way to set the token so that it will work for every user selected? Is there some additional expression to be inserted in the token that will make it route entry to every assignee selected in turn. Honestly, If I can i dont want to set destination for everyone individually.....
This is the Assignee token  I used....%(OVP-Assignee)

Secondly, is there a way to set Default Folder for every User apart from inside the Route Entry To User activity?

For #1, are you wanting to:
1) Change who it is assigned to? (for example: "oops, I selected the wrong person, send it to this other person instead and cancel the WF for the first person")
        This one is complex so I'd want verification that this is what you're trying to do first...
2) Assign it to multiple people in turn and have it sent to each in turn?
        You can make this happen if you remove the starting event condition that only allows the workflow to start if the OVP-Assignee field is blank, though #3 is a better option
3) Use a multi-value field to assign it to multiple people and have each of them get a shortcut? 
        You can use a For Each Value activity to loop over the values in the OVP-Assignee token and run the setup you already have for each value (this only works if you haven't set a Wait condition in the Route Entry to User activity)

For #2, Workflow stores/retrieves the default working folder in a user attribute ([Workflow]WorkingFolder) in the associated repository.  You can set user attributes manually in the Laserfiche Administration Console (documentation, or, for bulk updating, I guess see this post though that is really not recommended and carries some risk--maybe someone else has a better way? This is not my area of expertise).