Question

Assign Fields with Blank Values

Workflow Laserfiche Version 9

Updated February 4, 2016

asked on March 13, 2015

When a document is created in a specified folder, I would like my workflow to assign a list field and currency field with no values. The Assign Field Values tool will add the fields if their are values set (ex. "No" for the list field and "0" for the currency field), but will not add them if the Field Values are left blank. How do you add fields in the workflow if you don't want any values in the fields?

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replied on February 4, 2016

I just wanted to chime in that this would be a helpful feature as I have the same problem as Annette. I have had several instances where I could really use a blank field, but I have to use this workaround of adding in a value to hold the place until users update it with their own data.

Our templates are already busy and I don't want to add yet more fields to a template that only has one document type that needs that field.

For example, we have a template for Governance Files. One of the document types for this template is a service provider contract - vendors we contract with. This particular document type requires a contract review date field. No other document types for this template requires this field. I don't want to add it to the template and make it more cluttered when none of the other 12 document types under that template use this, but I want to provide this field for the reviewer so they don't have to navigate through our hundred something fields that are available to find the field that they are supposed to add.

We also have an audit process where I (or anyone else) tag documents for audit, and a shortcut is created for the appropriate reviewer. New fields are added so that they can review the document. One of the fields that I add is a comments field so that they can comment on any changes that need to be made to the document, or anything they noticed. What I had to do was write "Comment here on any changes that need to be made." It's a multi-value field, so I get that box and another empty box and people usually comment in the empty box instead of deleting the text in the first box. All of this text is captured and committed to a history of the document and once the document passes audit, the comment fields are deleted and the history remains. So, I end up with a bunch of extra text that I don't need.

I'm not sure that I understand the logic of NOT being able to add empty fields to a template. It would be very useful for me if this was a feature. The workarounds are a bit messy and confusing to users.

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replied on March 16, 2015

You could have WF add the field(s) with a value of "Pending" so the field will show on the entry, but still wait on the user to supply a value. Then your WF rule could continue when the field is not equal to "Pending".

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replied on March 17, 2015

Bert - thanks for the suggestion, but one of the fields is currency and the other is a Yes/No list. I went ahead and added the fields with 0 and No values. It's not a very pretty solution, but it works.

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replied on March 16, 2015

Only certain files need these fields and the values entered by the user vary. Then, based on the values entered, the file moves down different paths in the workflow.

Rather than having to add the fields manually when needed, I wanted a way to add them in the workflow when needed and leave them blank for the values to be added later by the user.

I can always include the fields in the template, but I liked the idea that the fields would only show up when needed and the workflow would wait until the values were entered before moving on.

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replied on March 13, 2015

If you are adding these fields independently, meaning that they are not part of a template that's being assigned to the document, then you won't be able to add them if they do not have a value.

Can you explain the use case of needing to add these fields to a document, but keeping their values blank?

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Assign Fields with Blank Values

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