How to customize the states for workflow ?

[malathir]

I have some knowledge articles that use OOTB review(publish) workflow and some that use two level custom review workflow. I need to show their states in the list view appropriately but there seems to be no way to control the states .   Is it possible to show select states for records based on the the workflow selected ? For a two level review process i want to show 'Review Level 1' and 'Review Level 2' only and for single stage records, i want to show 'Review' alone . Thanks in advance for help!

[Steve McCarty]

The stages shown in the workflow progress are defined on the workflow itself and are completely customizable.   So you would have to modify the properties of the workflow to contain the stages you want.   Then attach those stages to specific workflow activities so that they show up at the right times.

Workflow Stages - ServiceNow Wiki

-Steve

[malathir]

Thanks! At the moment, all the choices i have configured for workflow field show in the list view irrespective of the fact that its not used in the workflow . Here is what i have done :

1) created workflow and added two new stages and used them in the workflow

2) Added the two values in the 'configure choices' for the workflow field as well to show them in the list view progress flow

If i don't do step 2, i don't see updates in the list view progress bar , however if i open the request i can see the stage values as i set them in step1. is there any way to add choices as i did in step 2 via script in the workflow so that i can only see the new values when the workflow is triggered ?

[Steve McCarty · Accepted solution]

You shouldn't have to put any choices on the workflow field.   It is usually best if those are read only so that they only get updated from the workflow itself.   The workflow engine doesn't need choices, it sets the field to the stage value no matter what.

You might try changing the Stage Rendering field in the workflow properties to Workflow Driven and see if that renders the stages the way you want.   With Workflow Driven, the workflow engine sets the initial stage rendering to use the "most positive" path in the workflow and then changes it as needed as the workflow progresses.   Just remember that when you change a workflow it doesn't change any currently running workflow contexts, only new ones.   So to see your changes you have to create a new record that starts a new workflow context.

-Steve

[malathir]

Thanks Steve . That's the correct answer i was looking for . I did the below as you suggested and got this working !

1. Navigate to Workflow > Workflow Editor.
2. Click Open and select an existing workflow.
3. Click the gear icon and select Checkout.
4. Click the gear icon and select Properties.
5. Select worlflow driven from the Stage Rendering choice list.

Regards