About Transitions

Use a transition to define the task that changes the status of the Business Object within a Business Object lifecycle.

When you add a status using the Lifecycle Editor, a transition is added linking the current and previous statuses. The list of created transitions you see in the Transitions area matches the representation on the designer board (example: four statuses results in three transitions 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4).

Think about statuses being adjectives that describe the current state of a record (example: Closed, In Progress, Awaiting Approval) and transitions as verbs that act on the record resulting in the state being changed (example: Close, Begin Work, Approve).

Transition Rules

Use transition rules to add expressions to a transition.

You can have no rules or multiple rules associated with a transition.
When you create a transition rule, it has to have a name and a logical outcome defined by one expression (stored or custom).
For a transition rule to be fulfilled, all conditions must be true in the expression.
No two rules within the same transition can have the same name assigned.
Transition name length is restricted to a maximum of 32 characters.
Important: How you name your transition rule is very important for users. This is because the name of the transition rule is shown in the Transition Status Control on the form if a transition is invalid. When a user hovers over an unavailable transition, the name of the rule can give them information on what they need to update so the transition can succeed (“Risk Assessment Incomplete” or “Planning Fields Incomplete").

Transitions and Approvals

You can add approvals to your Business Object lifecycle. This means that an object cannot be transitioned between specified states without being approved or denied by a specified user or user group. For example, your transition, between statuses Pending Approval and Approved, could be named Approve.

The approved/denied selections can be optionally linked to specific paths in the lifecycle. A successful approval must be linked to at least one specified status and only allowed to transition when the approval is provided. If an approval is denied, the object can move to any status that is not linked to the 'successful' approval.

For example, you can create an expression for Approval.Status Equals Approved OR .Approved Date and Time Not Empty.
Denial of an approval forces the Business Object down a path that doesn't require a successful approval.
The form control for approvals must be on the Business Object form.

Note: When a Business Object is created that has a lifecycle, a journal entry records that fact. The initial status is recorded along with changes in status, user details, and time stamps.