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Workflow Status & Activity

This page explains where you can see a workflow's status and how workflow-related progress shows up around the app. It's important to be clear about what DocLock does today: the workflow tools are a design-time capability. You build and manage workflow definitions, and each definition has a status. There is no live workflow "engine" screen that tracks a running instance step-by-step.

Workflow status tags on the definitions list

Where workflow status appears​

On the Workflow Definitions list​

Every workflow card on Workflow Definitions carries a colored status tag:

StatusColourMeaning
ActivegreenThe workflow is finished and marked as live.
DraftamberThe workflow is still being built and isn't live yet.
ArchivedgreyThe workflow has been retired.

The filter pills at the top of the list also show a count for each status, so you can see at a glance how many Active, Draft, and Archived workflows exist.

In the Workflow Designer​

When you open a workflow, the same status is reflected in the header. If the workflow isn't Active, an Activate button is available to switch it to Active once it has at least one step.

How a workflow's steps describe activity​

A workflow definition documents the expected activity of a process. Each step records:

  • What happens — the step's title and description.
  • Who is responsible — the assigned role (e.g. Reviewer, RPA Bot, System).
  • How long it should take — the SLA in hours or days.
  • Where it goes next — for Decision steps, the Yes/No branches.

Reading a workflow top-to-bottom on the canvas is the way to understand the full sequence of activity a process is meant to follow. Several built-in samples (such as Document Review & Approval) even include explicit Start ("Trigger: …") and End ("Workflow Complete") steps that describe what kicks the process off and what marks it done.

How document progress shows up​

DocLock workflows are about documents, and a document carries its own status that moves as work progresses. These document statuses — not a separate workflow tracker — are what you watch for day-to-day progress:

Document statusWhat it usually means
DraftBeing created or edited; not yet submitted.
In ReviewSubmitted and under review.
ApprovedSigned off, pending publication.
PublishedLive and available.
ArchivedRetired and read-only.

You'll see these statuses on the document in the Document Explorer and on the document's detail view.

The workspace Activity feed​

The clearest "what happened, and when" view lives in the Activity tab of a workspace (see Inside a Workspace). It's a live feed of actions — uploads, edits, approvals, comments, locks, shares, and more — each showing who did it and when. This is where review and approval activity becomes visible after the fact.

A document's activity feed

What to be aware of​

  • No step-by-step instance tracker. DocLock doesn't show a "you are here" marker walking a specific document through a specific workflow's steps. Progress is reflected through the document's status and the workspace Activity feed, not a live workflow dashboard.
  • Status is the definition's status. When this app refers to a workflow being Active, Draft, or Archived, that's the definition's status — whether the process is published for use — not the state of an in-flight run.

Tips​

  • To follow a document's progress, open its workspace Activity tab and watch for approval and status-change entries.
  • Keep workflows you no longer use in Archived so the Active list stays focused on current processes.
  • Use the definitions list filter pills as a quick health check of how many processes are live versus still in draft.

Troubleshooting​

ProblemLikely cause and fix
I can't find a "running workflow" screenThere isn't one. Track progress via the document status and the workspace Activity feed.
A workflow is stuck in DraftIt was never activated. Open it in the designer and click Activate (it needs at least one step).
Approvals aren't showing anywhereCheck the relevant workspace's Activity tab, which logs approval and review actions.
The status tag colour doesn't match what I expectConfirm the workflow's status in the designer header; statuses are Active (green), Draft (amber), Archived (grey).