Workflow attachments

Overview

The default workflows in Atoti Limits contain user tasks that let users save files at every point in the workflow. This includes when users:

• approve limits
• reject limits
• review breaches
• comment on warnings

Default Behavior

By default, when a user saves an attachment, the files are saved in the system where Atoti Limits is deployed, relative to the location of the executable starter jar. This is based on the value of the activeviam.apps.workflow-service.settings.file-storage-path property, which defaults to ./limits/workflow/attachments.

Then, if a user saves a file in a workflow action, Atoti Limits will:

1. Check if the folder specified by activeviam.apps.workflow-service.settings.file-storage-path exists.
2. If not, Atoti Limits will create the folder.
3. Atoti Limits will save the file under a timestamped folder, to prevent unintended overwrites.
4. The path of the file will be saved as a workflow variable for future retrieval.

Then, when a user attempts to access the attachment via the audit trail of the workflow, they will be able to load the file via the path variable.

Changing the folder location

If you want to change the folder location, modify the value of the activeviam.apps.workflow-service.settings.file-storage-path property. This value can be absolute or relative.

Customizing the save mechanism

If you want to customize the save mechanism, add your own implementation of IWorkflowFileStorageService and expose it as a Spring Bean.

/**
 * <b>IWorkflowFileStorageService</b>
 *
 * <p>Handles file storage when saving attachments in the workflow.
 *
 * @author ActiveViam
 */
public interface IWorkflowFileStorageService {
  /**
   * Saves a file to the storage.
   *
   * @param file the file to upload
   * @return the path of the uploaded file
   */
  String saveFile(MultipartFile file);

  /**
   * Gets a file from the storage.
   *
   * @param path the path of the file to download
   * @return the downloaded file
   */
  Resource getFile(String path);

  /**
   * Deletes a file from the storage.
   *
   * @param path the path of the file to delete
   */
  void deleteFile(String path);
}

Saving files remotely

To save files to a remote drive location rather than a machine-specific location, for example, a Google Drive or Microsoft Sharepoint, we recommend you use the Attachment Link feature rather than the Attachment feature. This will give you more control over your files.

To do so, you should:

1. Save the file to your remote drive.
2. Save the attachment link in your workflow.

FAQ

What should I do if Atoti Limits says my file is too large?

Large files can cause performance degradations on your server. To help prevent this, we impose that:

• Your file must not be larger than the value of the spring.servlet.multipart.max-file-size property, which defaults to 1MB.
• Your request must not be larger than the value of the spring.servlet.multipart.max-request-size property, which defaults to 10MB.

These are Spring properties that you can set in your application.yml.

Why do I not have access to the attachment?

You may not have access to the folder where the attachments are saved. If so, please contact your system administrator.