About Routes

The route creator defines each route task to be completed and for each task specifies these details:

• The order in which the tasks need to be completed
• The name of the task
• The route member who needs to complete each task, called the task assignee; this can be a person or a user group
• When each task is due
• The action the task assignee needs to perform, such as approve, comment, or notify only
• Specific instructions for how the person needs to complete the task
• Whether the task assignee can delegate the task to someone else
• Whether the route creator needs to review the task before it is completed

More than one task can be active within a route at one time or tasks can become active sequentially. If more than one task is active at once, the route creator can specify whether only one task needs to be complete or they all must be complete before the next set of tasks become active.

When the route creator starts a route, the system activates all tasks with an order number of 1 and notifies the assignee for each task. If the assignee is a user group, one person in that group must accept the responsibility for the task. That person then becomes the task assignee. The assignees complete the task as defined in the route, then mark the task as complete. The system then creates a task for the next person in the route and so on.

You can use any of these methods to create a route:

• Creating Simple Routes. A simple route has one or more users, each with the same route action (for example, Approval, Comment, or Notify Only) and the same due date. Simple routes cannot be created from templates.
• Creating Routes Using a Wizard. The wizard creates a complete route, optionally using a route template, and it can specify multiple levels of users, route actions, and due dates.
• Creating Routes with Only Basic Information. The route contains only basic information and no tasks. You must later define the route's content, member access, and tasks before you can start the route.

The scope for a route determines who can be assigned tasks in the route, who can access the route, and what content can be added to the route. A route's scope could be:

• Organization. The route creator can add only people from his/her own company.
• All. The route creator can add people from any company, including access roles and groups.
• Bookmark Root , Bookmark, Sub Bookmark. Only people who have at least Read access to the Bookmark Roots, Bookmarks, or Sub Bookmark can be added to the route. Only content from the Bookmark Root, Bookmark, or Sub Bookmark can be added to the route.

You can add files to a route that are not initially in the scope of the route by uploading an external file to the route. However when adding the file, you must place the external file in a Bookmark within the route's scope.

Route members are the individuals and user groups who can be assigned tasks for the route and who can access the route when it is started. The route creator can add members to the route even after the route has started. The creator can also remove a member as long as there are no tasks assigned to that member. Bookmark Root owners can view a route in the Bookmark Root if they are a member of the route.

You can also assign tasks to groups.

You can add these types of members to a route.

Member Type	Description
People	People added individually to the route.
Buyer Desk Person	People added to the Bookmark Root because they belong to an associated Buyer Desk.
User Group	When the system creates the task assigned to the user group, it notifies all people who belong to the group. The first person who accepts the task is designated as the task assignee and can complete the task.

Every route member must be assigned at least one task before starting the route. When you start a route, the system removes any members who do not have at least one task assigned. If you create a route based on a route template that includes members, the template members are automatically added to the route. You can remove these members, add new ones, change their route access, or leave them unchanged.

This list describes the actions members can perform for each route access level:

Access Level	Description
Read	Every person and user group included in the route is assigned at least Read access for the route. This means the member can view the Properties page for the route, including all tasks, history, and accesses for the route. The member can also view and download route content but only the items the person has Read access to are listed. Read access also lets members subscribe to the route.
Read Write	A person with Read Write access to the route has Read permissions and can also check in files to the route.
Add	A person with Add access to the route has Read Write permissions and can also add content to the route.
Remove	A person with Remove access has Read Write permissions and can also remove content from the route.
Add Remove	A person with Add Remove access has the accesses defined for both Add and Remove access.

When two users have the same credentials, those users have the same access to the route, including modify and delete, regardless of which user owns the route. If you add a user as a member of the route with reduced access (such as Read), that does not override the access granted by their credentials.

You can simplify the process of creating similar routes by saving routes as templates. A route template contains the frequently reused components of a route, such as the route description, members, task order, and instructions.

See Route Templates.

The components of a route that are typically unique for each route--the route name, the content being routed, and the access levels assigned to route members--are not saved in the template.

A route template's availability determines who can use the template to create routes. A route template's availability can be:

Availability	Description
User	Only the template owner and anyone else who has the same credentials (combination of organization, collaborative space, and access role) can use it. Any person can create a User route template.
Enterprise	Anyone can use the template to create a route. Only Company Representatives can create Enterprise-level route templates.

Collaboration and Approvals lets you create Route Templates for use in both Collaboration and Approvals and Route Management. For a template to be used in Route Management, it must meet these requirements:

• All tasks must use Assignee-Set Due Date.
• For Route Task Edits, the template must be defined to use Modify/Delete Task List.
• Tasks must not be assigned to None.

Route templates can be saved with no members and therefore no task assignees. If you create a route based on a template that has no members, you have to add members and assign tasks before starting the route. If the route template has members, some tasks may still be unassigned and you have to assign these tasks before starting the route.

If the template is based on a route that has a scope item defined (a Bookmark Root, for example) and it contains members who do not have at least Basic access to the scope item, they are not included in the route. Any tasks these people are assigned are removed from the route.

Routes created from a template cannot change the value of the Route Base Purpose setting.

A route template can be defined to allow one of the following four levels of editing. The pages that let you define the tasks for a route indicate the tasks that come from the template with a (t).

Edit Type	Description
Maintain Exact Task List	Route creators must use the exact task list, with no tasks added or removed. Other fields can be changed, including the task assignee.
Extend Task List	Route creators must use the exact task list, but more tasks can be added to an existing route order number or a new number. The route owner can make any changes to tasks the owner adds to the route.
Modify Task List	Route creators can change all information for template tasks except the task name. The route creator can add new tasks but cannot delete template tasks.
Modify/Delete Task List	Route creators can change and delete any task and can add new tasks.

You can link route templates in a series to break down a longer, more complicated route into smaller routes. You can only link routes defined with a Route Base Purpose of Standard. You cannot link routes defined for Approval or Review.

The route template includes a "Start Route On Completion" field that lets you select another route template. When the current route completes, a route created from the linked template is started. All content from the first route is included in the subsequent route. The person who owns the first route is defined as the owner for the subsequent route. Route creators can user 3DNotification to choose to be notified when a linked route is started.

You can link any number of route templates together as required to define a workflow. You can only link route templates, you cannot link routes that are not created from a route template.

For each route template that includes a following route, you can define the Route Completion Action for that following route. For example, if a route is part of a series of routes, you can choose Notify Only so that the route owner will be notified when that route completes and the next route begins. For the second to last route in the series, you can choose Promote Connected Objects so that when the last route in the series is completed, the connected objects are promoted.

If an error occurs in a route or any approval task in a route is rejected, the linked route is not created. If a task in the linked route is assigned to a user group and has "Select User(s) from User Group(s)" specified, then the subsequent route will be created but will not be started until a specific user is selected.