Workspace
Overview
The Workspace holds your Reminders and the Workflow modules your company sets up, for example, a Jobs workflow or a Customer File. A workflow keeps the notes, files, appointments, linked transactions and reminders for one job, customer, supplier or staff member in one place.
The Workspace opens in a panel on the right of the screen, so you can keep it open next to another module.
Info
The Workspace menu is hidden until at least one Workflow module is set up (see Setting Up Workflow Modules).
Settings
User Settings
Note
The defaults are the values for new databases and new users. Your database may have different values.
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Workflow > Open Reminders when the program opens | Yes or No. Whether your Reminders open when you start BOS Professional. | No |
| Workflow > Open Workspace by Default | Yes or No. Whether the Workspace panel opens when you start BOS Professional. | No |
| Workflow > User access (Select Modules) | The Workflow modules you can use. Click Edit... to select them. | None |
| Workflow > Supervisor access (Select Modules) | The Workflow modules you can use as a supervisor. Click Edit... to select them. | None |
| Workflow > Auto Refresh - Seconds (0 = Manual Refresh) | How often, in seconds, the Workspace refreshes. 0 means you refresh it with View. | 0 |
| Workflow > View other user's Reminders | Yes or No. Whether you can select another user's Reminders. With No, you only see your own. | Yes |
General Settings
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace > Modules | The Workflow modules, their settings and their Actions (see Setting Up Workflow Modules). | None |
| Quotations > Workspace module (For creating WF from Quote) | The Workflow module used when a workflow is created from a Quotation. | None |
Reminders
Reminders lists the reminders and due items from your workflows, and your own reminders. Select the user, set the search text if needed and click View.
Buttons Explained
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| View, Reset | List the reminders, or clear the filters. |
| New | Creates a reminder of your own: enter the date and the reminder text. Check Closed when it is done. |
| Output | Prints or emails the list. |
| Menu | The grid layout options. |
Fields Explained
Note
These columns are hidden by default: Remind Date, No. and User. You can select several reminders and postpone or dismiss them together.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Reminders | What the reminder is about. |
| Due Date, @ | The due date and time. |
| Ref | The Workflow module. |
| Note | The reminder's note. |
| Status (icon) |
|
| Menu (...) | A submenu with these options:
|
Workflow Modules
Each Workflow module you have access to appears in the Workspace under its own name, for example, Jobs, Customer File, Supplier File or Staff File. The module lists its workflows.
Buttons Explained
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| View, Reset | List the workflows, or clear the filters. |
| Left and right arrows | Move the date range back or forward. |
| New | Creates a workflow. |
| Output | Prints or emails the list. |
| Menu | The grid layout options. |
Filters Explained
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Date range | A date range dropdown list with start and end dates. |
| Status, Staff, Customer, Supplier, Product, Branch | Show only the matching workflows. Branch only appears when you have more than one branch. |
| Number | Select the type and enter a number to find a workflow by its own number or by a linked transaction:
|
| Search | Finds workflows by text. |
Fields Explained
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Status, No., Date, User | The workflow's status, number, date and the user who created it. |
| Ref 1, Ref 2, Ref 3 | The module's reference fields. Each module can give them its own captions. |
| Customer, Supplier, Staff, Product | What the workflow is linked to, depending on the module's settings. |
| Branch | Hidden by default. The workflow's branch. |
| Menu (...) | Displays the Edit option. |
Edit Workflow
Buttons Explained
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| Arrows | Move to the previous or next workflow. |
| New, Save, Close | Create, save or close a workflow. |
| Output | Prints or emails the workflow. |
| Menu |
|
Fields Explained
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| No., Date, User | The workflow's number, date and the user who created it. |
| Status | The workflow's status. It changes when you run an Action that is set up to change the status. Workflow statuses are set up like the other modules' statuses, on the Status tab of Settings & Defaults (see Statuses). A module only appears in that tab's module list once it is set up. |
| Customer, Contact | Only when the module is linked to customers. |
| Supplier, Contact | Only when the module is linked to suppliers. |
| Staff | Only when the module is linked to staff. |
| Product | Only when the module is linked to products. |
| Ref1, Ref2, Ref3 | The reference fields, with the module's own captions and lookup lists. |
| Branch | The workflow's branch, when you have more than one branch. |
Items
- The Items list holds everything that happened on the workflow.
- Click Add and select one of the module's Actions, for example, a note, an appointment, a file or a new transaction (see Actions).
- Click Open to open the selected item.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Reference | The item's description. |
| Date, @, User | When the item was added, and by whom. |
| Doc, Ver | The linked transaction and its version. |
| Source Doc | The loaded file. |
| Note | The item's note. |
| Menu (...) | A submenu with these options:
|
Reminders
- The Reminders list shows the workflow's reminders.
- Click Remind or Due, select the user and then the period, from Now to a later date.
- The reminder appears on that user's Reminders.
- Check the closed box when a reminder is done.
Setting Up Workflow Modules
Click New to add a module, and Save when you are done. Use the arrows to change the order of the modules.
Fields Explained
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Modules | The module's name, as shown in the Workspace. |
| Begin a Group | Adds a separator above the module in the menu. |
| Nickname | A short name for the module. |
| Default | The module's kind:
|
| Menu (...) | A submenu with these options:
|
Module Settings
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Link to Customer/Supplier |
| No |
| Link to Staff |
| None |
| Link to Product | Yes or No. Whether a workflow is linked to a product. | No |
| Link to Product - Category | The Material Category the products come from. | None |
| Reference Field 1 - Caption to Reference Field 3 - Caption | Your captions for Ref 1, Ref 2 and Ref 3. | None |
| Reference Field 1 - Lookup List to Reference Field 3 - Lookup List | A lookup list for each reference field. Click Edit... to set the entries. | None |
Actions
Actions are the options on a workflow's Add button. Click New to add one, the up and down arrows to change the order, and Save when you are done.
Note
Workflow Actions are not the same as the custom Actions on transactions and Custom Reports.
Fields Explained
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Description | The Action's name on the Add menu. |
| Note | Text that is copied into the item's note, for example, a checklist for a Note Action. |
| Type | What the Action does:
|
| Change Status to | The status the workflow changes to when the Action runs. |
| Menu Item | How the Action appears on the menu:
|