In simple cases, a participant maps to a user, group, or role. However, as discussed in Task Assignment and Routing, workflow supports declarative patterns for common routing scenarios such as management chain and group vote.The following participant types are available:

• Single approver

  This is the simple case where a participant maps to a user, group, or role.

  For example, a vacation request is assigned to a manager. The manager must act on the request task three days before the vacation starts. If the manager formally approves or rejects the request, the employee is notified with the decision. If the manager does not act on the task, the request is treated as rejected. Notification actions similar to the formal rejection are taken.

• Parallel

  This participant indicates that a set of people must work in parallel. This pattern is commonly used for voting.

  For example, multiple users in a hiring situation must vote to hire or reject an applicant. You specify the voting percentage that is needed for the outcome to take effect, such as a majority vote or a unanimous vote.

• Serial

  This participant indicates that a set of users must work in sequence. While working in sequence can be specified in the routing policy by using multiple participants in sequence, this pattern is useful when the set of people is dynamic. The most common scenario for this is management chain escalation, which is done by specifying that the list is based on a management chain within the specification of this pattern.

• FYI (For Your Information)

  This participant also maps to a single user, group, or role, just as in single approver. However, this pattern indicates that the participant just receives a notification task and the business process does not wait for the participant's response. FYI participants cannot directly impact the outcome of a task, but in some cases can provide comments or add attachments.

  For example, a regional sales office is notified that a candidate for employment has been approved for hire by the regional manager and their candidacy is being passed onto the state wide manager for approval or rejection. FYIs cannot directly impact the outcome of a task, but in some cases can provide comments or add attachments.

For more information, see Assigning Task Participants.