Configuration in General
There are several ways to start a workflow:
- manually
- with a business entity
- with an internal or external event
- with a timer event
To configure the start event, open the quad menu of the start element and select Edit Event. In the dialog, you have three areas. The first is where you can choose the event on the left side under Configuration. Below this section, the displayed symbol can be chosen (Symbol section). And the main area is the configuration of the chosen event. This part is again separated into the following tabs:
- Event configuration
- Condition
- Process context
Process Context
This is used for the identification of the executed workflow. It is basically the name of the execution. The name can be configured in this tab, by assigning business entities or workflow fields or simply write a text. This is very useful especially when a workflow is executed quite often. For example, when a workflow is executed every day, then it would be useful to identify the workflows by the date. In addition to that, if needed, the workflow can be described here as well.
None
Choosing None means the workflow will be started manually by clicking Start Process in the Publish tab or over the Process Portal under Startable Processes.
Business Entity
In the event configuration, you need to choose the business entity to start the workflow from. With that you also have to decide whether the workflow should be started when an item is Added, Updated, or Deleted. In the Condition tab, restrictions can be added. With a click on OK the modifications will be changed and the dialog closes. When working with a third-party system, you use this type of start event most of the time. To get more detailed information on how to set up a Business Entity item, click here.
Timer Event
The timer event contains four ways to start a workflow, but they are still part of the timer event. These four ways will be explained in the sub-topics:
There are several configuration options available, such as the occasion of the event which could be an Interval, Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly. It is also possible to choose the option Target date. Depending on the chosen occasion, the options to substantiate differ. For example, when you choose the Interval, there are 4 fields displayed, namely Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds. So basically, you can configure the workflow to start every minute or even every second.
External Event
With this event, you can trigger the workflow via a web service call or via a start form. For example, this can be used when you want to trigger the workflow by clicking a button in an external system (CRM, etc.). If you know that there will also be data sent when starting the workflow, you might need to store the data in variables. The available business entities and workflow variables are displayed and by selecting one of them, all fields will be displayed under Currently available parameters and can be used to store data. The other possibility is to configure a start form which can then be used to trigger the workflow via Outlook or the Process Portal. The configuration of the event stays the same, but after you configured the External event, the form builder is now available too. In order to be able to start the workflow via a start form, the workflow must be published. For more information on how to configure the start form click here.
Internal Event (Process Link)
The internal event is for the execution of a workflow in another workflow. With internal events, a parameterized instance of this process can be started via another process. End events can be used to return values from the executed process. The Internal Event needs to be configured in the start event from the workflow you want to use in another workflow.
The process link itself can be created over two different ways, namely with a link element or with the end event.
Link Element
This method requires another element which is the link element. Drag and drop the link element on the canvas, right-click it and choose Select linked model.
All linkable models will show up in the dialog.
Select one of them and click Finish. The 
-symbol will be displayed right next to the link element, and by clicking it you navigate to the linked model.
End Event
Right-click the End event and choose Select linked model.
In the opened dialog all linkable models are displayed. Choose one of them and click Finish.
Now there is a small -symbol shown next to the end event. This means that a model is linked to this end event. By clicking the symbol, you get to the linked model.
