General

Working with attachments is one of the basic functionalities in WEBCON BPS. Some processes such as document repository are only used to catalog and make files available to selected users. In others, the attachments may be of secondary importance. For example, when you want to work on a file together with your client, a good solution may be the integration of WEBCON BPS with file storage such as One Drive or Google Drive. It allows you to avoid situations where you have several different versions of the same document because the changes made by you and by the client are not merged. The standard action available in WEBCON BPS allows integration with many external software providers such as Google Drive. You can use it to transfer files or maintain an active access token.

The instance number is a unique string of characters in the system (e.g. EXP/2020/09/00002) that uniquely identifies each workflow instance, and it is created when the instance is first saved. This number will always refer to the same instance and there is no option to change them, even by administrators. A properly configured structure of the instance number facilitates searching for instances (without knowing their ID number) and viewing reports. This article describes the methods of configuration the instance number and the advantages of defining appropriate signatures. Instance numbers can be defined on two different levels – workflows or form types, however only one of them will be set by the system (if both are defined at the same time, the instance will be assigned the number defined in the form type).

The article describes the functionality of inheriting the global form settings and form field definition in WEBCON BPS. Global template inheritance – this setting the order of form fields according to the process tree. This means that the order of the form fields in the group and columns on the item list configured in the process correspond to their location on the global form template. Breaking form settings inheritance is most often used to change the settings of the form fields’ order on steps or item list settings. However, if you decide to overwrite the form field settings – it is a good practice to describe it in the form field documentation.

This article is an extension of Translation of WEBCON BPS Portal user interface content and contains more information about language configuration in WEBCON BPS Designer Studio such as system language setting, mass notification language setting (since BPS 2020.1.3 version), application language setting and notification language setting for new users (since BPS 2020.1.3) version. WEBCON BPS allows you to both force one system language and select the language by a user. Both approaches have pros and cons that need to be considered before deciding which solution to use. On the one hand, we can impose a standard that will create a fully uniform environment, on the other hand, we can translate each application independently, adapting to the needs of end-users.

The following article is an extension of the Lunchtime article – see: Lunchtime application. The “Lunchtime” application has been enhanced with dictionary processes that allow you to pay for meals with money previously paid into your personal account. Extending the “Lunchtime” app with the pre-paid function is a good solution for people who want to avoid paying for the delivered food every time. It is also a great convenience for the person who manages such a workflow. The pre-paid solution can also be applied to other workflows in the company. Wherever there is an employee’s account and some form of regular deposits – the traditional way of paying can be replaced with a pre-paid.

Since the introduction of WEBCON BPS Portal, sometimes on the form or on Portal itself , it was possible to observe pop-ups that inform about the error and their identifier. But they very often did not give enough information, even after clicking the button to show details from the event preview. From version 2020.1.3.277, the error description from the event log has been made available in Designer Studio, which contains much more information to help find the cause more efficiently.

In WEBCON BPS version 2020, the support for digital signatures has been enhanced by preparing plugins (SDK – Software development kit) that enable digital signing of documents. Four plugins have been prepared that allow for integration with external digital signature providers: AdobeSign, Autenti, DocuSign, Skribble. Digital signatures are already an important business tool. This solution will only gain in popularity in the coming years, which is why it is so important to focus on this issue now. The workflow presented above is only an example of how to employ these new plugins (SDK) to supplement WEBCON BPS. These plugins, with minor modifications, can be added to any workflow.

Digitally signing attachments ensures the integrity and authenticity of approved documents and improves the entire approval process. This is especially important now when more and more businesses are choosing to allow remote work lyand have little time to adapt their procedures to the new model. From version 2020, the ability of making the electronic signatures in WEBCON BPS has been enhanced with SDK – dedicated plugins enabling integration with the electronic signature providers: AdobeSign, Autenti, DocuSign, Skribble. Thanks to the integration with these solutions, not only can WEBCON BPS users sign/approve the workflow attachments, but also any person to whom the document will be sent can do so aswell.

When creating support for business processes in WEBCON BPS, it is important to remember that even the simplest workflow with a minimum number of steps and form fields will be reflected in the database – all of its instances and settings are represented in the content database – which is the main place of the system’s operation. There are also “virtual tables” automatically created by the system – called SQL views – that contain data from the linked tables.

Keyboard shortcuts are a tool that can greatly enhance your working experience. WEBCON BPS Designer Studio gives you the ability to access some functions by using the keys. This article describes what combinations are available, where they can be used and what they are responsible for. Many of the actions that can be performed by clicking on an element in WEBCON BPS Designer Studio with the right mouse button, have a keyboard shortcut assigned. The shortcut information can be found in the right part of the selection window.