Stage flows

Stage flows are where a process does automated work. Each stage has two lists of actions: On Entering runs when the process arrives at the stage, and On Exiting runs when the stage is done. An action is either a Logic Composer Flow or another Business Process (a sub-process). Use them to prepare data, create records, send emails, call external services or start related processes.

Add a stage flow

1. Open the stage and expand On Entering or On Exiting.
2. Add an action and give it a Name that is unique within the stage.
3. Choose the Type: Flow or Business Process, and pick the logic flow or business process.
4. Map the required inputs. You can use process values, the record the process runs on and the outputs of earlier actions.
5. Optionally, enter a Run only when condition. “Leave empty to always run this flow.”
6. Order the actions; they run from top to bottom.

The action list shows each action’s Name, Type and Runs column: Always, or When the condition is true when a Run only when condition is set.

When they run

List	Runs	Can use
On Entering	When the stage starts, before its title, owner, due date and tasks are calculated.	Process values and the outputs of earlier On Entering actions.
On Exiting	After the completion criteria become true, before the process leaves the stage.	Process values, the stage’s task or tasks, the completion values, and the outputs of earlier On Exiting actions.

Because On Entering runs first, the stage’s title, owner, due date and assignment can use its outputs. For example, an On Entering flow can look up the right approver, and Assign To > User can read the flow’s output. The conditions on the transitions leaving the stage can use the outputs of the On Exiting flows.

On Exiting does not run when a stage escalates. In that case the stage’s open tasks are canceled and the process moves to the escalation stage directly.

Run only when

A Run only when condition is a Yes/No expression checked just before the action would run. It can use stage values and the outputs of earlier actions in the same list.

• When it is true (or empty), the action runs.
• When it is false, the action is skipped. A skipped action’s outputs read as empty, so check them with Null or Not Null before you rely on them in later actions or conditions.

Guards are recorded in the process trace, so you can see whether an action ran. See Tracing.

Sub-processes

An action of type Business Process starts another business process for a record. The parent process continues straight away; it does not wait for the child to finish. The child instance’s Parent Process Instance points at the parent. The action’s outputs are Business Process Instance, Subject, Start Date, End Date and Owner Id.

The child process’s precondition is checked, as for any other start. See Starting processes. If the child process has no active version or its precondition refuses the start, the action fails and the stage is set to Faulted (see Errors below).

Errors

Actions run in list order with no retry and no skip-on-error option. If an action fails, the stage is set to Faulted, the instance is set to Faulted, and the error is stored on the stage record. To handle expected problems, catch them inside the logic flow (see Error handling) and return an output that a transition condition can act on.

Example

On the Prepare quote stage of an opportunity process:

List	Action	Type	Run only when
On Entering	Create draft quote	Flow	(empty)
On Entering	Request credit check	Business Process	The account’s credit limit is below the opportunity’s estimated revenue
On Exiting	Mark quote as sent	Flow	(empty)

Related

• Logic flows
• Stages
• Starting processes
• Tracing