Adding Stages to an application

It is often desirable to have an application, or form, transition through a set of phases or stages. At each stage the form might be used by different people in different roles. The form also might be presented in a slightly different manner in each stage, such as having some items or pages hidden, or in a read-only state.

Note: App pages do not have stages; stages apply only to forms.
Each form in an HCL Domino Volt application can have multiple stages. By default, a newly created form has two stages:
  • Start – The initial state of every form. Once the form transitions away from the Start stage it cannot return.
  • Submitted - A submitted form is stored in this stage. Forms in this stage may be updated by users with permission.
Additional stages can be added and configured by clicking the plus (+) icon that appears when hovering over a Stage box or by clicking the Add Stage button in the Properties panel; however, the Start stage is always required and is unique.
Each stage can have multiple stage actions. Each stage action presents itself as a button in the form's footer area and therefore the terms stage action, and stage button are used interchangeably. There are two types of stage actions:
  • Submit – Submits the form data, and transitions the form to the next stage. A single stage can have multiple Submit buttons; each Submit button may have different settings, and may transition the form to a different next stage. A stage that does not have any Submit buttons will be depicted as an "End" stage with a red square icon, however stage buttons may be added at any time.
  • Cancel – Returns the form to its original state before the end-user started making modifications. The form remains within the same stage. A single stage can have only one Cancel button. A stage is not required to have a Cancel button.

During the transition from one stage to the next, there are several activities that can take place: Send an Email, Call a Service, and Assign Users. The Visibility tab also allows the application designer to disable or hide any form item, or entire page, within a specific stage for a particular form. Domino Volt provides control over which users can access or modify the form's data at any particular stage. The setting of these permissions is done by clicking on a stage and navigating to Permissions, or by clicking the Visibility tab. For more information, see Application and Security overview.