Quick answer: A workflow triggers a message or action automatically in response to something happening in an analysis set or selection list — a result being entered, modified, deleted, a date being reached, or a user manually running it. Every workflow is built the same way: open Workflows from a result overview, decide what should trigger it, optionally narrow it with a filter, decide who's notified and how, and save.
Scope: workflows apply to analysis sets and selection lists — in other words, Quality Control and QESH Management processes. Looking for the equivalent in Document Management? See the Document Modification Procedures flowchart instead.
This article teaches you everything you need to know about workflows and ends with some example applications that might inspire you.
Quick Navigation
Create Workflow
Every workflow starts the same way:
- From the results overview of the relevant analysis set or selection list, click More > Workflows.
- Start a new workflow.
- Workflow creation window
Trigger Actions
Choose what should cause the workflow to fire. You can select more than one — for example, both Entry and Modification, to cover a form completed in one sitting or filled in over several saves.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Entry | Triggers when a new result is created. |
| Modification | Triggers when a result is modified. By default this fires on any change, but you can restrict it to one or more specific fields using the Field dropdown next to Modification. |
| Delete | Triggers when a result is deleted. |
| On date | Triggers based on the date in a specific date field — comparing only the date, not the time. This runs as a scheduled check early each morning: if a date field is set to today, the workflow activates that morning. |
| Manual | Triggers only when a user clicks to run it — see Manual workflows below. |
Filter
A filter narrows down exactly which records should trigger the workflow. For example, to inform your organization about lab test results only once the sample status is set to Released, you'd set the filter to Status = Released — the workflow then fires once, immediately after the status changes to match.
Workflows can be quite complicated. With various actions, fields and filter constraints it might not be easy to grasp in which cases the workflows do get triggered. The flow chart in this article will help you to understand in which logical situations a workflow will trigger.
Recipients
Decide who receives the message: specific AlisQI users from the Users list, an email address, or a user selection list — a field on the record itself that picks the recipient. For example, if a complaint form has a field for selecting the submitter, you can message that specific submitter directly, per complaint.
Signals
Workflows can do more than send a message — several signal types are available, and you can combine them:
- Message — the default. Set a Subject and Message; it's delivered through AlisQI's internal message system, and by email if the recipient is configured to receive messages that way. A checkbox below the message lets you include a table of all result values, so you control exactly what data recipients see.
Note: HTML content is not supported in workflow messages.
- Popup — shows a pop-up on the screen to the user who triggered the workflow. Useful for giving specific in-the-moment instructions.
- Alarm — raises a built-in or custom alarm, alerting every user assigned to that alarm type.
- Webhook — calls an external system's endpoint to trigger a process there. This is an expert feature intended for developers with system-integration experience.Learn more on Webhooks
- Result transfer — creates or updates a result in another analysis set or selection list. See Result Transfer article for the full mechanics.
Use Result Values in a Message
Reference a record's own fields in the Subject or Message using variables — a full list is available in the upper-right corner of the message editor. Place a {variable} placeholder in your text, and it's replaced with the actual value when the message is sent.
💡HTML content is not supported in workflow messages
Workflow Execution Order
When more than one workflow can fire from the same event, the order matters. Sort your workflows into the order you want them to run — if several trigger together, they execute in that order, starting from the top.
Most workflows trigger automatically — on entry, modification, deletion, or a date. A manual workflow instead waits for a person to trigger it directly. This suits actions you don't want happening automatically, like copying a result or kicking off a formal product-deviation process.
To set one up:
1. Add the ''manual'' trigger in workflow actions.
2. A manual-workflow icon (▷) then appears in the results overview
3. Clicking it lists every manual workflow whose filter conditions match that result. Select the one you want and click Trigger to run it.
Testing any Workflow
- Add or edit a result so it meets the trigger conditions.
- Save it.
- Check whether the expected outcome happened, and check the Messages inbox as a backup — pop-ups only show if the recipient is logged in at the time.
If a workflow doesn't seem to be working
- The trigger conditions weren't fully met. Review the workflow's filter against the actual field values on the record.
- The wrong recipient is selected. Confirm who's actually set as the recipient.
- A date-based trigger's date hasn't been reached yet, or wasn't filled in. Remember On date checks run each morning, not instantly.
- A Result Transfer's variable or fixed value is wrong, or a required target field has no input.
See : Troubleshooting Workflows Help Article
Example Applications
A few starting points — not an exhaustive list, just enough to show the range:
Inform shop floor operators the moment lab results are available.
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Trigger: Modification of any field.
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Filter: none.
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For a full walkthrough of a similar pattern, see How Do I Set Up a Notification Workflow in AlisQI?
Inform the quality department when a sample needs retesting to validate shelf life.
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- Trigger: On date, using your retest-date field.
- Filter: none.
See How Do I Set Up a Due Date and Reminder Workflow in AlisQI? for the full walkthrough.
Trigger a deviation process when a QC result is marked deviated.
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- Trigger: Entry or Modification.
- Filter: Status = "deviated".
- Result transfer: creates a result in your process-deviation form, carrying over relevant parameters (product, batch, remarks, etc.).
See How Do I Set Up a Task Assignment Workflow in AlisQI? and How Do I Use Result Transfer in AlisQI? for the mechanics.
Send quality data to your ERP system on batch release.
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- Trigger: Entry or Modification.
- Filter: Status = "released".
- Webhook: calls an endpoint on your ERP's API with the full result as JSON — see your API documentation for the payload format.
Specific Workflow Types
This page covers the shared mechanics. For a worked example of a specific use cases, see:
- How Do I Set Up a Notification Workflow in AlisQI? — alert someone when a condition is met.
- How Do I Set Up a Status Workflow in AlisQI? — automatically change a record's status.
- How Do I Set Up a Task Assignment Workflow in AlisQI? — automatically create and assign a task.
- How Do I Set Up a Due Date and Reminder Workflow in AlisQI? — alert someone before, on, or after a deadline.
- How Do I Set Up an Escalation Workflow in AlisQI? — alert a manager when something stays unresolved too long.
Key terms used in this article
- Filter – the condition(s) a record must meet for the workflow to trigger.
- Trigger action – the event (Entry, Modification, Delete, On date, or Manual) that causes the workflow to run.
- Signal – an action the workflow performs alongside or instead of a message: a popup, an alarm, a result transfer, or a webhook.
- Variable – a placeholder (e.g.
{priority_}) in a message that's replaced with the actual value from the triggering result. - Manual workflow – a workflow triggered by a person clicking to run it, rather than by a data event.
- Workflow execution order – the sequence, top to bottom, in which multiple triggered workflows run.