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UNDERSTANDING TRIGGERS AND OUTCOMES IN RELAY

 * Posted Feb 26, 2020 Updated Mar 30, 2022
   

Box Relay is a flexible and powerful way to automate routine and repeatable
business processes that are centered around content. In Relay, you define those
processes by creating workflows. Those workflows consist of two parts: triggers
and outcomes. Triggers are events that initiate Relay workflows. Outcomes are
the results that occur from completing Relay workflows.

Box provides a robust set of pre-built workflow templates, appropriate for a
range of business lines and with pre-defined triggers and outcomes, that you can
modify as you see fit. You may wish to try using a template to more quickly
familiarize yourself with workflow components and to get started with Relay
right away.

Tip

When you're comfortable creating workflows, you may also wish to begin sharing
your workflows as customized templates for others throughout your organization
to use.

Important
You can only create workflows that involve folders you own, co-own, or edit.

This topic explains the triggers and outcomes available in Relay workflows.


RELAY TRIGGERS

There are several types of triggers that you can choose to begin a workflow in
Relay:

 * File events: actions that happen to a file within a parent folder, such as a
   file move or download
 * Folder events: actions that happen to a folder within a parent folder, such
   as a folder move or share
 * Files with metadata: actions that happen to a file with specified metadata
   attributes
 * Task events: actions that happens to a file or folder within a parent folder
   as part of a workflow, such as a task being completed, approved, or rejected
 * Manual start events: a workflow started on a file or folder by a user
 * File Request events: requests made for a file 
 * Scheduled events: a specified date
 * Sign events: actions that happen to an electronic signature in a file, such
   as complete, cancelled, expired, or declined

The options you can configure for a Relay trigger depend on which trigger you
choose.

 


FILE EVENT OPTIONS

Here, you are starting the workflow by selecting the file event.



Then you choose the type of file event. For example, this workflow may begin
when a file is uploaded, copied, or moved. It may begin when a file is locked or
unlocked. It may begin when a watermark is added, or when a security
classification is applied. 



Your next choice is to specify where this event is to take place -- that is, in
which folder the file resides or to which it will be moved or copied. To do
this, click the Select a folder box and follow the prompts to specify the folder
you want.



(If you select Classification Applied as your event, before you select a folder
Relay prompts you to select the type of classification to apply. More on
classifications in Box.)

 


FOLDER EVENT OPTIONS

Here, you are starting the workflow by specifying the type of event that happens
to or with a folder.



Then you choose the folder event. For example, this workflow may begin when a
new folder is created, or when an existing folder is copied, moved, or deleted,
or when a collaborator added.



And as with a file event, you must specify where this event is to take place --
that is, the folder in which this triggered folder resides, or to which it will
be moved or copied. To do this, click the Select a folder box and follow the
prompts to specify the folder you want.



 


FILE WITH METADATA OPTIONS

Here, you are starting the workflow when a metadata template you specify is
applied to a file.



Then you choose which metadata template.



Important

If you do not enable metadata in your organization, Relay cannot complete any
workflows that employ metadata in any way. Typically metadata is enabled in most
organizations. If you aren't certain whether metadata is enabled, contact your
Box Administrator.

You can also add one or more pairs of metadata attributes and values to further
filter the content that initiates the workflow. In that way you can be highly
granular with the type of file around which you want to build your workflow --
for example, a contract from a specific vendor that exceeds a specific budget
amount.

To do this, after you select the metadata template, click Add a condition. The
Select an attribute menu displays. Click the Select an attribute down arrow to
display a drop-down list of all the possible metadata values you can specify.



In the below example, you're limiting the workflow to files with the Background
Check Alert metadata template applied and whose start date is July 21.



As with file and folder events, your next choice is to specify in which folder
this event is to take place. To do this, click the Select a folder box and
follow the prompts to specify the folder you want.

 


TASK EVENT OPTIONS

Here, you are starting or continuing the workflow with a task event.



And then you select when the assignee has completed a general task.



 

... or has approved or rejected an approval task.



 


MANUAL START OPTIONS

Here, the workflow does not kick off automatically, with no intervention on your
part.  Instead, you partially pre-configure a workflow, directly from a document
or set of documents that already exist in a Box folder.  Another individual --
the workflow starter -- selects one or more files, completes the incomplete
steps of the workflow (such as designating task assignees), and only then
manually initiates the workflow.  



A manual workflow is especially useful when task assignees vary -- for example,
when a contract must be reviewed by different sets of corporate executives who
are assigned by different department heads.  More details on manual start
workflows.

 


FILE REQUEST OPTIONS

File Request is a separate feature, available to every paid Box Business Plan
account (or higher).  Basically, File Request enables you to create a Web form
in seconds that anyone can use to upload content to Box. When you specify File
Request as a workflow trigger, the workflow launches automatically each time
someone completes your File Request form and uses it to submit content to the
Box folder you’ve designated.



This is especially useful when gathering content from someone is the first step
in a workflow.  For example, Finance teams can use File Request to solicit
vendor invoices and have Relay route those invoices through an approval
process.  More details on using a File Request to kick off a workflow.

 


SCHEDULED EVENT OPTIONS

Here you can create a Relay workflow and schedule it to begin at a later date,
and at regular occurrences (daily, weekly, monthly, and so on) so you only need
to activate it once.

Among the reasons you may wish to do this:

 * Month-end close process – review and approval of financial statements at the
   end of each month to close the books
 * R&D capitalization check – engineering confirmation that quarterly resource
   allocations are correct for capitalization purposes
 * Business review – department leads update quarterly objectives in a shared
   PowerPoint deck
 * Compliance check – once a year employees across an organization confirm
   they’ve read the employee handbook



Your next choice is to specify a start date, a repeat frequency (daily, one or
more times a week, monthly, annually), and an end date (at a designated time,
after a certain number of occurrences, or never, if there is no end date). 
Click each box to display a drop-down menu from which you can then click your
desired options.




SIGN EVENT OPTIONS

Relay allows you to define workflows based on the results of electronic
signature events in Box Sign. Here, you are starting the workflow by selecting a
Sign event.



Your next choice is to select a Sign event for the workflow, and then select
which folder those Sign events will occur.



 


OUTCOME ACTIONS

The next step, regardless of what trigger you have chosen, is to specify an
outcome. The choices in selecting an outcome vary somewhat.

 * With file events the process of specifying an outcome is essentially the same
   as that of selecting a trigger, and is self-explanatory.
 * With folder events the process of specifying an outcome is also essentially
   the same as that of selecting a trigger, with one exception:
   * If you select Apply Classification as the folder outcome, you then must
     also click the Select a classification drop-down arrow and click the
     security classification you want (collaborators only, company employees
     only, short-term sharing, and so on).
   * Optionally, if you want the classification policy you select to take
     precedence over all other security classifications that may be in place on
     that folder's files and subfolders, check Overwrite all existing
     classifications with this value.



The process for creating metadata and task outcomes differs from creating
metadata and task events. These are explained below.

 


METADATA OUTCOME OPTIONS

As a result of a trigger event, you can:

 * specify the file or folder to which you want to apply a metadata template,
   then specify the metadata template you want to apply.
 * add or update metadata attributes in that template

Here’s an example:

 * You apply a “press release” metadata template to a newly-created press
   release.
   * One of the attributes in this template is “Status.”
 * You create a workflow such that, as the press release is developed, its
   status changes with each step, from “in progress” to “in review” to
   “approved.”

Admin Permissions

You can specify and apply multiple attributes within the same template, but you
cannot apply an attribute across multiple templates. To apply metadata values
across multiple templates, you must create a separate outcome for each template.

 

To apply a metadata template as an outcome and specify an attribute to change:

 1. Under What is the next action? click Add Metadata.
 2. Under What file do you want to apply metadata to? click the down arrow and
    select the file.
    
    * This adds the template to the file you’ve just specified.
 3. Under What metadata would you like to apply? click anywhere in the box to
    display a list of the metadata templates.
 4. Click the template you want.
 5. To add a new metadata attribute-value pair, click Add a Value. Then click
    Select an attribute. From the list of attributes that displays, locate the
    attribute you want to update, and then click the down arrow next to it to
    select a value.

Repeat the above steps and add discrete metadata outcomes to change the metadata
attribute value to appropriately reflect the status of the workflow. For
example, in the press release workflow, select the Status attribute and add a
discrete value for in review when the release forwards to a reviewer, and when
the release is ready to be published create an outcome with a status attribute
of approved.

Get more information on creating a metadata structure for your enterprise.

 


TASK OUTCOME OPTIONS

As the result of a trigger event, you can assign a task. For example, when a
vendor uploads a contract proposal to the folder you specify, you can configure
Relay to assign a task on that file to a specific individual for review or
approval. You can also re-route the workflow if someone rejects the task they've
been assigned. Regardless, when a task is approved or completed, Relay
automatically moves the workflow forward.

Any one of the four triggers can result in a task outcome.

To create a task outcome

 1. In the Outcome box, click Assign a Task.



 2. Decide what type of task this is. If this you want the assignee merely to
    accept or reject the task -- for example, approving or rejecting a budget --
    under What type of task would you like to assign? click Approval Task. For
    any other activities -- for example, copy editing a blog or filling out an
    invoice -- click General Task.
 3. Under What are the task details? click the Assignee(s) box and begin typing
    the name or email address of the assignee. Relay displays a list of possible
    assignees. Click the assignee you want.
    * You can assign a task to the person who first initiated this workflow.
      This person displays in the list of possible assignees as the Workflow
      Starter. This is useful when you create a workflow that could be initiated
      by any number of people -- for example, when any one person from a group
      of loan underwriters submits a loan application for review and approval.
      (In one specific circumstance the workflow starter may not be the person
      who initiates the workflow. For details, see the note at the bottom of
      this article.)
    * You can assign a task to multiple individuals.
    * If you do assign a task to multiple individuals, every assignee must
      complete the task before Relay advances the workflow. If instead you want
      the workflow to move forward when just one assignee completes the task,
      check Only one assignee is required to complete this task.
 4. In the Message box, enter a specific description of the task.
 5. Optionally, enter the number of days or hours you want to allow the
    individual to complete this task.
 6. In the Assign the task to a file box, specify on which file the task is to
    be assigned.



If a task assignee rejects the task, by default Relay ends the workflow. You
have three options:

 1. Do nothing and preserve the End the flow default.
 2. Send Relay back to an earlier task outcome, essentially rerunning the
    workflow from that point forward.
 3. Assign a general task.
    * You can assign this general task to the workflow starter, if you wish.

To send Relay back to an earlier task outcome

 * Click Go to Outcome [outcome step #].
   * You must select a previous task outcome (either general or approval). For
     example, if someone rejects a task you cannot select a file copy or
     metadata update action.
   * You cannot select a task outcome later in the workflow.

To assign a general task

 1. Click Assign a general task.
    * This can help you establish a review cycle. For example, if the vice
      president rejects a contract, you can route the contract back to the
      original sales rep. The sales rep can modify the terms of the contract
      accordingly and the workflow eventually makes its way back to the VP for
      approval.
    * You can only assign a general task -- not an approval task.
 2. Choose what happens after this general task completes. Either:
    * continue the process from a previous task outcome; or
    * continue the process from the task outcome for which you've configured the
      rejection route.

As with other events, Relay logs and tracks rejected tasks. It tracks steps that
have been repeated due to a rejection as separate successive events.

 


NOTIFICATION OUTCOMES 

Use notification outcomes to apprise stakeholders of key developments in
workflow progress -- for example, when a process has ended or a file has been
rejected.  Relay sends an automatic message to the people you designate, via the
Box Web app and email.  If you're the workflow creator, you can customize the
message Box sends, to ensure clarity or suggest another action for the message
recipients.

 

More on rejection routing

More on creating a new workflow

More on file and folder security classification

More on watermarking

More on using Box File Request

 

Note: When the workflow starter is not the workflow starter

When a file upload triggers the workflow AND when the person uploading the file
does so via a Box File Request link, then Relay assigns the role of workflow
starter to the person who created the File Request link – not the person who
actually used the link to upload a file.

In all other cases – including when a file is uploaded directly into a folder
either via drag-and-drop or by selecting from File Explorer or Finder – the
workflow starter is the person whose action kicks off the workflow.

 

Tips
 * If you have multiple outcomes and multiple tasks assigned, the list of
   workflow steps may become a little harder to track, Use the collapsible
   workflow summary view, in the lefthand navigation, for a quick but
   comprehensive visual overview of the workflow you're creating.
 * When a rejected task prompts Relay to rerun some workflow steps, any file
   copy actions it repeats could result in orphaned files and affect your
   version control. For that reason, consider moving files, rather than copying
   them.

 

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RELATED ARTICLES

 * Creating a New Workflow in Relay
 * Introducing Box Relay
 * Box Relay FAQ
 * Creating and Running a Manual Start Workflow
 * Routing your Workflow when a Task is Rejected

Articles in this section
 * Understanding Triggers and Outcomes in Relay
 * Envisioning a Workflow in Relay
 * Creating a New Workflow in Relay
 * Using Templates to Build Workflows Quickly
 * A Sample Workflow - Marketing Campaign Budget Approval

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