Advanced Topics

This section describes advanced topics you might want to consider when configuring workflow.

Suspending Workflow

As described in Creating and Managing Workflows on page 134, a workflow takes effect as soon as it is activated. You activate a workflow by defining one or more conditions an issue must meet in order to be subject to the workflow. Typically, a workflow condition is based on a specific issue type—defect, enhancement, and so on.

There might be occasions in which you want to suspend the workflow—as the administrator, you might want to be able to manually update a field that your workflow has defined as read-only, for example. There are two ways to suspend a workflow:

•	Override—when you override a workflow, the workflow remains in force for the majority of your users, but a select group of users is able to make changes to issues that the workflow rules would otherwise prevent. This is the simplest way to suspend a workflow.

•	Deactivate—when you deactivate a workflow, AccuRev no longer enforces any workflow rules. Workflow rules are enforced only after the workflow is activated again.

The following sections describe these methods for suspending workflow.

Overriding a Workflow

To override a workflow, you define as one of the workflow conditions the AccuRev users or group to whom the workflow rules do not apply. Overriding is the preferred way of suspending a workflow because it does not interrupt workflow enforcement for AccuRev users who are not members of the group you specify.

To allow a user or group to override a workflow:

1.	Decide which users you want to allow to override a workflow.

2.	In the Java GUI, create a group (or use an existing one) and add those users to it.

Tip: Consider creating an Admin group for this purpose if one does not exist already.

3.	In the AccuRev Web UI, add the following condition to the workflow:

CUR_USER is not member of Admin

See Activating a Workflow: Defining Workflow Conditions on page 135 if you need help with this step.

4.	Click the Save button () to save your changes to the workflow.

Now, when users of the Admin group log in to AccuRev, workflow rules are suspended.

Deactivating a Workflow

When you deactivate a workflow, rules for that workflow are no longer enforced in the depot—issue validation is managed by whatever rules you have specified in your AccuWork schema, and streams are under the control of any locks or Access Control Lists (ACLs) you have defined. Use this procedure to suspend workflow rules on an as-needed basis, when you need to address a specific workflow management issue.

To deactivate a workflow:

1.	Open the workflow and click the Conditions button on the Workflow Editor toolbar to display the Set Workflow Conditions dialog box.

2.	Delete all workflow conditions and click Ok.

3.	Click the Save button () to save your changes to the workflow.

AccuRev warns you that you are saving the workflow without having specified any conditions for it and prompts you to specify workflow conditions now.

4.	Click No to save the workflow without any conditions.

Note: At this point, workflow rules are no longer in force in AccuRev.

5.	Perform the activities that prompted you to deactivate the workflow. When you have finished, redefine the workflow conditions. See Activating a Workflow: Defining Workflow Conditions on page 135 if you need help with this step.

When to Consider Schema Validation

Using the Stage Generator is the quickest way to set up basic validation actions that are keyed off the field you have chosen as the basis for your workflow stages. For example, if you are using the Status field for your workflow stages, AccuRev automatically sets the setFieldPermission validation action to auto for that field.

You can manually specify other validation actions for individual stages in the Workflow Editor, but if you identify the need to define the same validation action for every stage in your workflow—making the Severity field required, for example—consider specifying that setting using the Validation tab in the Schema Editor in the AccuRev Java GUI.

See your AccuRev Java GUI user documentation for more information on working with the Schema Editor.