Automation Steps

Form ID: (SM205000)

On this form, you can define automation steps to be executed for specific records (or objects generated by the form) on MYOB Advanced forms, depending on the record (or object) properties.

You can extend the functionality of various actions. For example, you can create a Save menu with variations of the save operation for records with different statuses. You can provide certain elements with default values depending on the record's properties. You can extend the list of object statuses with only several statuses to be displayed when an object has a specific status.

Note: The form is available if the Workflow Automation feature is enabled on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form.

Form Toolbar

The form toolbar includes standard and form-specific buttons and commands. For the list of standard buttons, see Form Toolbar and More Menu. The form-specific commands are listed in the following table.


Button	Description
View Screen	Navigates to the form that is the object of the automation.
Deactivate Steps	Deactivates all automation steps that have been defined for the selected form. Note: If you want to define workflows for the form, you need to deactivate any automation steps for this form first.

Automation Step Area

You use the Automation Step area to select an existing automation step for viewing or editing its settings, or to create a new one for the selected MYOB Advanced form.


Element	Description
Screen ID	The ID of the MYOB Advanced screen (that is, form). You click the magnifier icon in the box to open the Select Screen ID dialog box where you can select the form by searching or filtering by its title, screen ID, workspace, or category.
Step ID	The identifier of the automation step. An alphanumeric string of up to 30 characters may be used.
Description	A detailed description of the automation step.
Active	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the automation step is active and should be used for automation.
Start Point	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the automation step will be used as the first step in the series of steps.

Conditions Tab

The Conditions tab has a table with the conditions for the automation step to be executed. If a record on the specified MYOB Advanced form matches the conditions defined here, the automation step will be executed for this record. Conditions for different automation steps should define non-intersecting sets of records.

The table toolbar includes only standard buttons. For the list of standard buttons, see Table Toolbar.


Column	Description
Active	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the condition is active.
Brackets	The opening bracket or brackets for composing a logical expression consisting of multiple conditions.
Field Name	The field on the selected form. You can set up conditions based on its value.
Condition	The logical operation to apply to the value of the chosen data field. The following options are available: Equals, Does Not Equal, Is Greater Than, Is Greater Than or Equal To, Is Less Than, Is Less Than or Equal To, Contains, Starts With, Ends With, Does Not Contain, Is Between, Is Empty, and Is Not Empty.
Is Relative	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the date field value is relative with respect to the current business date. This option is used only for date fields.
Value	The condition's first value to be compared with the chosen data field value. Most conditions require only one value, while Is Between requires two values.
Value 2	The condition's second value, if required by the chosen condition.
Brackets	The closing bracket or brackets for enclosing a logical expression.
Operator	The logical operator to be used between logical conditions enclosed in brackets.

Actions Tab

On the Actions tab, you can redefine actions that are presented on the form for the records that match the conditions of this automation step.

Table 1. Table Toolbar
The table toolbar includes standard buttons and buttons that are specific to this table. For the list of standard buttons, see Table Toolbar. The table-specific buttons are listed below.
Button	Description
Fill with Values	Opens the Fill with Values dialog box, so you can specify the values for selected elements to be filled in automatically.
Reload Actions	Updates the action definitions by using the existing steps for this form.
Reorder Actions	Opens the Menu Actions dialog box, where you can change the order of actions for the selected form.
Flow	Opens the Flow dialog box, which you can use to specify the order of automation steps to be performed for the selected action.

Table 2. Table Columns
Column	Description
Active	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the action definition is active.
Action Name	The action on the selected form.
Run Auto	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the action will be executed automatically once a record is being saved to the database. Only one action can be defined with the Run Auto check box selected for the form.
Is Default	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the action in its default definition is used. If the check box is cleared, the action may be redefined as a menu that is split into several commands or options.
Disable	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the action is not enabled.
Batch Mode	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the matching records will be processed in a batch.
Menu Text	The name of the menu option or command.
Menu Icon	The icon to be used next to the menu command.
Save Auto	The option related to auto-saving, which can be one of the following values: Never: Changes made by the step will never be auto-saved. Before Run Auto: Auto-saving before the action (with the Run-Auto option selected) will be executed. After Run Auto: Auto-saving after the action (with the Run-Auto option selected) will be executed. Before Any Run: Auto-saving will occur before any action is executed. After Any Run: Auto-saving will occur after any action is executed.

Table 3. Fill with Values Dialog BoxYou can use this dialog box to specify values for the records matching the conditions that will be assigned on the action. The dialog box provides the following elements.
Element	Description
Active	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the value is active.
Field Name	The name of the field, which you can select from the list of fields available on the form.
Is Relative	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the value for the field (date) is relative with respect to the current business date.
Value	The value to be used in the field.
Is Delayed	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the value should be substituted in the field after the process is initiated by the action.
Ignore Error	A check box that indicates (if selected) that any errors should be ignored.
The dialog box has the following button.
Close	Saves your selections and closes the dialog box.

Table 4. Reorder Actions Dialog BoxYou can use this dialog box to change the order of actions for a specific form. The dialog box provides the following elements.
Element	Description

Up	Moves the selected action up one position in the list, changings its position with that of the previous action.
Down	Moves the selected action down one position in the list, changing its position with that of the next action.
The table contains the following columns.
Menu Text	The action name.
Icon	The icon that visually represents the action.
The dialog box has the following button.
OK	Closes the dialog box.

Table 5. Flow Dialog BoxYou use the Flow dialog box to specify what actions will be executed on success or failure of the currently defined step. The dialog box provides the following elements.
Element	Description
Retry Attempts Section
Active	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the settings in this group are active and will be used.
Screen ID	The ID of the MYOB Advanced screen (that is, form) whose action should be executed as a retry attempt.
Step ID	The step defined for the selected form whose redefined actions should be executed.
Action Name	The particular action of the step to be executed as a retry attempt.
On Success Section
Active	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the settings in this group are active and will be used.
Screen ID	The ID of the MYOB Advanced screen (that is, form) whose action (defined for one of the automation steps for this form) should be executed in case of a success of the operation.
Step ID	The step that should be executed in case of success of the operation.
Action Name	The particular action of the step to be executed in case of success of the operation.
On Failure Section
Active	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the settings in this group are active and will be used.
Screen ID	The ID of the MYOB Advanced screen (that is, form) whose action should be executed if the operation fails.
Step ID	The automation step defined for the form (mentioned above) whose action should be executed if the operation fails.
Action Name	The particular action of the step mentioned above to be executed.
Mass Processing Section
Screen ID	The ID of the MYOB Advanced screen (that is, form) that will execute the selected action for a list of documents, not for a single one loaded in data entry form. To be selected in the list, a document must meet the selection criteria of one of the steps where the selected action is present and where the above screen ID is set for this action.
Split by Values	A check box you select to distinguish the operations represented with identical action names on the mass processing form. If the mass processing form whose ID is selected in the Screen ID box is set up for an action in multiple steps, the "fill" values may differ from one step to another. For example, the Update IN action for a non-billable shipment should give it the Completed status, while the action for a billable document will be waiting for an invoice creation. Thus, Fill with Values content will be different for the action Update IN in different steps. If the check box remains cleared, the document fields will be filled with values taken from the first step that defines the selected action, which may result in mistakes in document processing. In example above, this will result in an improper document status.
The dialog box has the following button.
Close	Saves your selections and closes the dialog box.

Fields Tab

You use the Fields tab to specify restrictions on the values in the selected fields or the values for the selected fields that would be applied by this automation step.

Table 6. Table Toolbar
The table toolbar includes standard buttons and buttons that are specific to this table. For the list of standard buttons, see Table Toolbar. The table-specific buttons are listed below.
Button	Description
Combo Box Values	Opens the Combo Box Values dialog box, which you use to add new values to the list of combo-box values or to remove some of the values if needed. Only user-defined values can be removed.
Reload Combo Box Values	Updates the list of values for the combo box if any were added for other automation steps.

Table 7. Table Columns
Column	Description
Active	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the value is active.
Table Name	The name of the area on the form containing a table. In most cases, there is only one table on the form.
Field Name	The name of field (column) in the table.
Disable	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the field is disabled.
Hide	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the field is hidden on the form.
Is Relative	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the value in the field is relative with respect to the current business date.
Min. Value	The minimum value required for the field.
Max. Value	The maximum value required for the field.
Default Value	The default value for the field if specified.
Input Mask	The input mask for the field values.

Table 8. Combo Box Values Dialog BoxThe Combo Box Values dialog box provides the following elements.
Element	Description
Active	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the value is active.
Explicit	A check box that indicates (if selected) that the value is not saved to the database and is used only for this automation step.
Value	An option available on the list for the combo box.
Description	The description of the option.
The dialog box has the following button.
Close	Saves your selections and closes the dialog box.