Working with WorkFlows: Tracking Deleted Records

May 2017    Tags: Calendar, eNote, PracticeMaster, WorkFlows

One of my calendar entries in PracticeMaster was inadvertently deleted. This caused me to nearly miss the opportunity to file my witnesses. To prevent this in the future, is there a way I can find out if a calendar entry gets deleted and when?

There are a variety of options available to handle this. WorkFlows can be set up to copy any information from the originating record to another location. For example, if a calendar record is deleted, then the WorkFlow can be set up to copy the Due Date, Calendar Code, Description, Comments, Start Time, and more to the new record. The WorkFlow can even be set up to show who made the deletion.

Note: You can optionally set up access rights to only allow certain users rights to delete records. This can help alleviate issues with unauthorized deletions. Access rights can be set up in System Configuration via File | Open | Access Profile.

The following is a list of options where WorkFlows can help track deletions:

• Send eNote to a user – When a record is deleted, an eNote can be automatically sent to one or more users to notify them of the deletion. Sending an eNote will provide real-time deletion notifications and come from the user who deleted the record. Keep in mind that eNotes will be shown in the sender’s Sent eNotes list until deleted. Note: eNote is only available in the Platinum version of PracticeMaster.
• Creating private calendar entries – When a record is deleted, a calendar record can be created for a user or group of users and marked as private. Marking the record as private makes it easy to keep the information inaccessible to users for which you do not want access granted. Only those users with Calendar Rights to view private entries can access it. Set the Alarm Time field to receive a notification, or set the Type field to Task so that it shows up in your Task List.
• Creating records in a custom lookup file – You could create a custom lookup file with all of the desired fields and when a record is deleted, a new record would be added to the lookup file. The lookup file does not have to be referenced from any other file in the software, but can be maintained for deleted records only. Creating a lookup file provides the ability to store the deleted records in one place without being mixed up with other records. However, the additional setup time for the new lookup file should be taken into consideration.

Regardless of which option you choose, a new record will be added to PracticeMaster. The goal is for the WorkFlow to record all critical information that was removed by the deletion. A WorkFlow will need to be added to each file in which you want deleted records tracked.

You can find more information and additional options for using WorkFlows to track deleted records in Knowledge Base Article R11732, “Using WorkFlows to Track Deleted Records.”

For more information on WorkFlows, refer to our new PracticeMaster WorkFlows Guide at Tabs3.com/support/docs.html or Knowledge Base Article R11307, “All About WorkFlows.”