A lifecycle defines the different stages a file goes through as it is created, edited, approved, and, eventually, retired. For example, an employee might create a new human resources form, another employee might review it and return it for revision, and a third employee might give the approval necessary to make the file available to all employees. The lifecycle defines which stage the file is in at each point in the process. Each file in a repository has a lifecycle.
When a file is created, Webtop automatically assigns a lifecycle and puts the file into the first state in the lifecycle. You can advance or demote files manually, or Webtop can advance or demote them automatically. The lifecycle determines what conditions must be met for automatic advancement. Depending on your WDK-based application, an item can also be demoted to a previous lifecycle state.
A basic Webtop lifecycle has the following states:
When content is newly created or newly versioned, Webtop places it in the Start state, for initialization purposes, and then immediately promotes it to the WIP state.
WIP is used for content in draft or review.
When content is complete and ready for testing, a user or workflow promotes it to the Staging state. By default, Webtop does not allow you to change an item if the item’s lifecycle state is Staging or beyond. For example, you cannot edit the item’s content, change its location or change its properties. However, administrators can set a system-level option that allows users with certain permission levels to override this.
Administrators design lifecycles. In a lifecycle, the first state is the base state. The lifecycle moves through each state in single step increments called step states. The last state is the terminal state.