Mapping your own processes#

If you want to map a process on Allegra for the first time, it is not always entirely clear how best to design this mapping. The following are some tips put together.

Item attribute vs. item type#

Depending on the use case, you will be dealing with different types of items. You can map the type of item in two ways:

  • With a separate item type for each

  • Through an item attribute (selection list) as a discriminator

In terms of filtering and searching, both solutions are equivalent. However, the first solution offers some advantages:

  • Item types can have their own input masks

  • Item types can have their own workflows

  • Item types can have their own access restrictions

As a rule, it is more cost-effective to create your own item types and forego discriminator attributes. If you have a lot of different types of items and these need to be flexibly expandable, the discriminator method is advantageous.

Mapping projects#

There are very different perceptions of what a “project” is. You can model your projects as workspaces or items.

The following criteria speak for modeling your project as a workspace:

  • Your project is likely to have several hundred items

  • Your project has a duration of several weeks to months

  • You want to precisely define who has access to project items

  • Your project is divided into phases or has multiple releases

Modeling via items is recommended when

  • Your project consists of fewer than 50 items

  • Your project is active for only a few weeks

  • You have a large number of similar, recurring projects

Hint

In Allegra, workspaces do not have freely configurable attributes. If these are needed, a proxy item (item type is, for example, “project-proxy”) is created at the top project level, which carries the desired attributes of the project.

Mapping workflows#

Workflows can be mapped in Allegra via a sequence of states or a series of child items. Child items are recommended to keep the total number of states manageable. If more than ten states are required for a workflow, you should use child items with their own workflow.