Add Lifecycle Controls to a Form

Use the Form Editor to add lifecycle controls to your forms. This enables a user to move their Business Object (example: Incident, Change Request, HR request) through its business process.

Important: You need to add form controls to ALL the forms for the Business Object so that the controls display. This is due to a sizing restriction.

Note: If you add a lifecycle control to more than one place on a form, or you add them to several forms in a form arrangement, they all update simultaneously with the same lifecycle information when you change one of the form controls.

There are two lifecycle controls:

Lifecycle Progress Indicator: This control is read-only and reflects where the user is, in terms of the lifecycle status and stage, and as a result, also shows the user which branch of a lifecycle they are in. It shows the user where they are now as well as the statuses ahead of them. If the workflow is a long one, the lifecycle progress indicator control shows only the previous status, the current status, and the next two future statuses. This "mini-view" of these four stages moves forward as the user moves through the lifecycle. The uppermost branch is shown until the user makes a decision that takes them on to a different branch, after which the progression forward for that branch is shown.

Transition Status Control: Use the Transition Status Control to move between statuses. It shows the very next status available. The user selects the drop-down arrow and selects, for example, In Review as the next stage. Selecting a transition from the control saves the record automatically. Users can move both forwards and backwards in the lifecycle depending on the business process that has been set up in the lifecycle and assuming transition rules are met.

The outcome of the transition rule combined with the Hide transition on failure check box setting determines what the user sees:

Transition rule outcome	Hide transition on failure check box	What the user sees
The transition has an invalid rule or an expression that returns as false.	Selected	The transition control doesn't show the transition.
The transition has a valid but failed rule.	Cleared	The transition control is shown but a tool tip explains why the transition is unavailable.
The transition is invalid regardless of the results from the expression.	Cleared	The transition control is available and the user sees a warning saying `Not all rules evaluated - contact sys admin to resolve transition rule error.`

The Transition Status text changes if you edit the transition name in the lifecycle.

Important: To help users by changing the text shown when a rule fails, edit the name of the transition rule.

To add a Lifecycle Progress Indicator or Transition Status Control to a form:

Open a form in the Form Editor.
Drag-and-drop the Lifecycle Progress Indicator/Transition Status Control from the Special Control tree onto the form.
Right-click the control to change any of the properties. See Form Editor Toolbar.
Note: If the two lifecycle controls are close together on your form, use Bring to Front or Send to Back on the Form Editor Toolbar to prevent overlapping of the two controls when in use.
Publish the Blueprint (File > Publish Blueprint) to commit the changes, or save the Blueprint (File > Save Blueprint) to continue making other changes.