Concurrent workflow

A user would like to assign a document to 2 or more users at the same time for different tasks so that a another task could be done without waiting for the completion of the task currently assigned. This does not appear to be possible within a workflow. This is not quite the same as a parallel task as the tasks are different.

Understanding that it would be complicated to keep track of the values in various index fields of the document, would it be possible to trigger a second workflow for a document based of the update of an index value during a workflow, without gumming up the works too much, while the first workflow was not yet complete?

Hi Steve, I've been experimenting with this a lot over the last two months and now have two clients currently using the solution so in short "yes, you can do  what you're talking about".  It's super-cool.  One thing to watch for: the main workflow (the one that triggers the others) has to end when the child workflows run - you can't use the 'wait' action in the main workflow to wait for the child workflows to complete because if you do that you end up with multiple instances of the main workflow completing.  So, for example, if you had the main workflow trigger 5 child workflows, when those 5 child workflows finished the main workflow would complete 5 times, one for each child.  It took me a bit to figure out that was happening.  Fortunately, there's an easy solution: split the main workflow so it does this:

1. main workflow does it's thing and then triggers child workflows
2. child workflows complete
3. the completion of all child workflows trigger another separate workflow (which is actually the end part of the original main workflow)

Let me know if you need more info and I can let you know how I've done the triggering and whatnot to make it all work.

Jon,

Thanks for that info. 

I don't want to use the 'Wait' action. I was thinking that if during a workflow an index field was updated to a certain value, that that could trigger a completely different and unrelated workflow for the same document. One that could be completed on its own without affecting the original workflow. It sounds like during your testing you have determined that that is not possible. Is there a lock of some kind on a document when it is in a workflow that prevents this?

For example; in WF1 a user does task 1. It just so happens that an index field is updated to a certain value, unrelated to WF1. WF1 carries on and another user is assigned to Task 2. 

WF2 is set to trigger on the change to that index field and is for another purpose entirely. It could finish before or after WF1.

Seems simple at first glance, but again, have you determined that it just won't work?

Thanks again,

Hi Steve, you mis-read my response: it totally works.  The only thing that I found that had an unforeseen consequence is when I tried to have WF1 wait for WF2 to finish so WF1 could continue, but it looks like you're not wanting to do that so you're good to go.

Thanks Jon.

Hi Steve,

You can run multiple Workflows on a single document.

The only thing to keep in mind is that when a user opens the activity in the web client he blocks the document.

So if the activity of the second workflow is opened it cannot be confirmed until the first user has unlocked the document.

Regards