Using Copy & Paste to Create Similar States & Transitions in SOLIDWORKS EPDM Workflow

States and transitions, have a large number of settings, which include permissions, conditions, actions and notifications. Having to manually duplicate settings between states and transitions can be time consuming, and there is always the chance of forgetting to recreate a setting. similar states and transitions can be created quickly and precisely by using copy and paste.

To show how this works here is an example workflow:

Example Workflow

The  transition called Released Documents contains a number of actions. Notifications are defined and permissions are set.

Transition actions

For this workflow we would like to have a transition that bypasses the approval process and we also require the same settings as the Release Documents transition. Instead of manually creating these settings, we can right click on the Release Documents transition and select Copy

Copy Transition

And then right-click on a blank area of the workflow and choose Paste from the shortcut menu.

Paste Transition

We are prompted to select the source state

Select Source State

And then the destination state.

Destination State Selected

All settings including permissions, conditions, actions and notifications are copied. All that is left to do is to rename the transition.

Rename the Transition

The change to the workflow is now complete.

New Workflow

The same process can be used for changing states, as well as workflow links. Items can also be copied between workflows.