Workflow:Process

Processes provide a way to model business rules and add automation to ContactsLaw.

A process is a collection of rules which run in response to some event, or when started manually. These rules pertain to a particular subscription, workgroup or document type.

Examples of processes include:

• Creating tasks to catalogue documents after they are uploaded
• Generating documents when a matter progresses to a certain point
• Periodically checking whether an invoice has been paid, sending reminders to the debtor

Assets

Main page: Asset

Similarly to how they are used in document templates, a process defines a set of assets that represent the resources it can refer to.

One important difference is that processes can also create new resources (e.g. new contacts, matters, tasks, etc). This means that a particular asset may refer to an existing resource, a newly-created resource or a combination of both. It also means that the number of resources a particular asset resolves to may change during the course of the process.

The other main difference is that, since processes do not have separate definitions and configurations, each asset has a single mapping only. Rules are often too specific to allow a process to run outside of the business or workgroup for which it was originally designed.

Assets have the following properties:

• New Indicator - Indicates that the asset will be used to create new resources.
• Required Indicator - Marks the asset as mandatory. The process will not start unless the asset resolves to at least one resource. This allows the author of the process to avoid making provisions for the asset going unfulfilled.
• Multiple Indicator - Allows the asset to be resolved more than once. If absent, this allows the author to avoid making provisions for multiple values.
• Source/Mapping - Indicates how the asset resolves to a subscriber-specific resource. For example, a contact may be resolved using a role on a matter. This may be overridden by an entry point.
• Properties (custom assets only) - Specifies the values for each of the properties of the custom asset. This allows rates, charges and other variables to be defined in a single place within the process definition.

Entry Points

Entry points describe how to start a process automatically.

They consist of:

• An asset of a particular type that is fulfilled when the entry point is triggered.
• An event that may occur on the type of asset (e.g. when a document is uploaded).
• A condition that further quantifies the event (e.g. for a particular document type). This is optional.

A process may define several entry points, allowing it to start in different circumstances. Each time an entry point is triggered, a new instance of the process is created; even if it is already running with the same resource(s).

If a process has no entry points, it can still be started manually.

Rules

Rules contain the logic of a process.

There are several types of rules:

• Unconditional - performs a sequence of actions.
• If-Then-Else - tests a condition and executes a different sequence of rules depending on the result.
• Switch-Case - executes the sequence of rules that correspond to a particular value for an expression.
• While-Do - repeats a sequence of rules for as long as a condition remains true.
• For-Each - repeats a sequence of rules for each value in a set.

Rules can be nested to model complex requirements. Together, they form a flow chart that can be used to follow the progression of the process.

Conditions

Conditions are tests (typically expressions) that evaluate to either "Yes" or "No"; and are the basis for making decisions in processes. They can be combined using Boolean logic ("and", "or").

Actions

Actions describe work to carry out within ContactsLaw.

Types of actions include:

• Creating resources (e.g. tasks, documents, etc)
• Updating resources
• Prompting members (asking questions or sending messages)
• Waiting for tasks to be completed, or until a particular date/time

Actions may cause the process to pause, pending some requirement; when met, a job is scheduled to resume the process.

Instances

Each time a process starts, ContactsLaw creates a new instance.

Instances of processes have the following properties:

• Information about how the process was started
• A list of resources that were resolved for each asset
• The current progress through the rules
• Whether the process is waiting on any tasks or prompts

Members can see a list of processes that they started, with the option to abort a particular instance if it needs to be stopped prematurely.