Workflow Field Updates

The previous workflow example caused an email alert to be sent in response to a data action. Another option for Force Platform workflows is the ability to actually make changes to data in Force Platform objects.

The previous workflow also gave hiring managers the option to be notified when anyone applied for a position. Frequently, though, managers are looking to hire someone when there is too much work for existing staff to complete, so they don’t want to be bothered with a lot of superfluous emails.

They also don’t want to be bothered with an overlong process of screening too many applicants, so senior management at Universal Containers has decided that as soon as a position receives 20 applications, the posting will be closed to prevent spending too much time culling out applicants.

1.	Go to the Workflow & Approvals section of the left hand panel, click Workflow Rules and then New Rule to begin defining this workflow.
2.	Select the Position object as the source of the workflow action and click Next.
3.	Give the new rule a Name of Close position and an appropriate description. Leave the default Evaluation Criteria. Set the Rule Criteria to Number of Applicants equals 20. Tip Of course, you can add another field to the Position record to accept the number of applications allowed for that position and compare the Rollup Summary Field to that value, making the process more dynamic. As soon as the number of applicants reaches 20, the position is closed and no longer open for new applicants.
4.	Click Save and Next to define workflow actions.
5.	Add a new Email Workflow Action with a description of Position Closed alert, an Email Template of Position Closed, and the Related User of Hiring Manager as the recipient. Click Save.
6.	Click New Field Update to begin adding another workflow action for this workflow rule.
7.	On the next page, give the Field Update a Name of Close out position, an appropriate description, and select the Status field, changing the page to look like the page below when you select the Closed value. Figure 68. Defining a field update for a workflow [View full size image]
8.	Click Save to complete the workflow action definition.
9.	Click Done and then Activate to finish off the workflow rule definition.

You can add a number of job applications for a particular position to see this workflow at work.

Adding this workflow has shown you that workflows can take multiple different actions in response to the same workflow rule. Before leaving this extremely brief overview of workflows, you will learn about the use of a time-based workflow to address some specific use cases.