Grouper forms, workflow and approvals

In a patch in Grouper 2.4, Grouper will have a electronic forms workflow / approvals capability.  This will start simple and we can add more features later.  There will be the capability to have an interface so external workflow services can satisfy the request

High level description

Think of this like a paper form, but electronic.  It is simple and if you need something more complicated likely you might need a BPM or workflow system and integrate with it.

• Grouper admins (or members of etc:workflowEditors group) can configure a workflow on a group
  • Specify which groups need to approve the request
  • Configure the workflow and form fields with JSON
  • Configure the form itself with HTML
• Workflow daemon will run to send out notifications
• Screens to view and manage the requests
• Automatic provisioning into group(s)

• A copy of the form being submitted will be stored at every state of the form to AWS S3 or the file system.  That includes the history of the form and who approved it when

• There is not a lightweight open source workflow library to add to grouper core, so we will create our own
  • The first part of this task is to confirm this statement
• Note: the workflow should be able to be kicked off by the daemon when the status is "initiate".  So that workflow can be kicked off by web service.  Daemon should check every 5 minutes.  If this is the UI it should be immediate, send the email, and go to the next state.   

Configuration

The configuration will follow the same attribute structure as other Grouper modules like reporting

Attribute definitions for config

Attribute names for config

Note: for non-grouper workflows configured in grouper.properties, only the marker and type will be set.  For Grouper workflows, all the attributes will be available

{
  states: [
    {
      stateName: "initiate",
      
      // optional, if no group specified, then whoever has OPTIN
      allowedGroupId: "abc123def456"     
    },
    
    {
      stateName: "supervisor",
      approverSubjectId: "${initiatorSubject.attribute['supervisorSubjectId']}",
      approverSubjectSourceId: "mypeople"
    },
    
    {
      stateName: "dataOwner",
      //who can approve
      approverGroupId: "sdgf76gdf87",  
      //who is notified, if blank, then use approverGroupId
      approverNotifyGroupId: "dfkjh234kjb"
    },
    
    {
      stateName: "complete",
      //if blank use the selected groups from form or just the group
      //the workflow is assigned to
      actionAssignToGroup: "sgk234kh234" 
    }
  ]
}

{
  params: [
    { 
      paramName: "agreeToTerms",
      type: "checkbox",
      editableInStates: "initiate",
      required: "true"
    },
    {
      paramName: "notes",
      type: "textarea",
      editableInStates: "initiate"
    },
    {
      paramName: "notesForApprovers",
      type: "textarea",
      editableInStates: "supervisor, dataOwner"
    },
    {
      paramName: "reason",
      type: "textfield",
      editableInStates: "initiate"
    }
  ]
}

Fill out this form to be added to this group.<br /><br />
Several approvals will take place which usually take less than 2 business days<br /><br />
State the reason you would like this access: <input type="text" name="reason" id="reasonId" /><br /><br >
<input type="checkbox" name="agreeToTerms" id="agreeToTermsId" /> I agree this this institutions' <a href="https://whatever.whatever/whatever">terms and conditions</a><br /><br />
Notes: <textarea rows="4" cols="50" name="notes" id="notesId"></textarea><br /><br />
Notes for approvers: <textarea rows="4" cols="50" name="notesForApprovers" id="notesForApproversId"></textarea><br /><br />

Attribute definitions for instance (a workflow that was run)

This attribute is assigned to the same owner as the config attribute (e.g. the same group/folder)

Attribute names for instance

Note: the ID is the attribute assign id of the marker (this is passed in URLs/emails etc)

Changes to group drop down

Under groups, in the more actions, should be "Electronic forms", which goes to View forms screen.  

"Join" a group could kick off a workflow too

Notifications

Emails should be sent out to approvers when they need to approve forms.  Emails should be sent out when the state changes, or daily (in a digest per user)

Hooks on workflow

Workflow should have hooks at various place so it can be customized

View electronic forms screen

This is the default screen.   Drop down with the following options:

1. View forms
2. Edit forms

Miscellaneous → Forms

1. My forms - see forms the current user submitted
2. Forms waiting for my approval - see forms that need approvals
3. Form search - for form admins, can search for forms, see status, search by submitter, able to approve forms for approvers

To Do later

• Enable kicking off workflows from other events (e.g. folder create, group create, membership add , membership remove , attribute values add/change/remove, etc…)