Understanding GCF and workflows

The GCF supports collaboration on documents in workflows for both document type workflow and workflow definitions (Meridian Advanced Document Workflow Module). If the workflow options (for document type workflow) or workflow diagrams (for workflow definitions) are the same on the collaborating sites, the GCF will synchronize the workflow states automatically.

A workflow definition's workflow diagram in a remote vault is considered to be the same when the internal name of the workflow definition is the same, the number of workflow states is the same, and the internal names of the workflow states are the same.

When documents are imported, the GCF ignores any access settings or privileges in the receiving vault. Regardless of the Document Access option of the workflow state or the privileges granted to the account under which the Meridian Enterprise import processor runs, the document content will always be updated and the properties will always be set as configured.

When the workflow diagrams in two collaborating vaults are not the same, custom logic must be added to the vaults' script to link the workflows together. If a matching workflow state does not exist in the receiving vault, the GCF takes further action. Without additional logic this would leave the document in the same workflow state as it is currently in. If required, logic in the BrcEvent_AfterImport event handler can run specific workflow transitions in the destination vault.

Notes

• For workflow definitions, the GCF does not run workflow transitions when importing documents; the documents are directly moved to the destination workflow state. This implies that any logic configured on workflow transitions is not executed when the GCF imports documents. If execution of this logic is required on import, it must be called from the BrcEvent_AfterImport event handler in VBScript.
• In a remote vault, a document will not be routed through all of the workflow states that it has been routed through in the local vault. When a document passes through several workflow states in the local vault between replications, the document will not pass through the same states in the remote vault. In the remote vault, the document is moved directly to the workflow state that corresponds to the local workflow state when the document is exported by the GCF.

By default, the GCF will only synchronize the workflow state of a document on transfer. With some additional scripting, the GCF is also capable of transferring the to-do person of a workflow, thereby enabling automated cross-site workflows. For more details and a sample, see Cross-site workflow implementation.