Check for links to archived processes and documents at approval stage

When a process has a link to an archived process, Process Manager won’t allow it to be published (since the process it’s linked to is no longer available).

However, the check for invalid links is at the Publish stage, allowing the process to get through the approval stages before the issue is identified. This is creating rework with processes needing multiple approvals to get published.

We don’t normally have Publishers so Auto-Publish is turned on. Recently we found some processes stuck “Waiting for Publishing” - when we tried to publish them, we discovered it was because they had links to archived processes. These had to be sent back to the process editors to fix, then resubmitted for approval. This creates significant rework, especially where a process needs technical or regulatory approval prior to publishing.

Proposed Fix: Process Manager should also complete the check for invalid links and documents at the time of ‘Submit for Approval’ – this would allow the process editor to fix the issues before it goes through approval. For clients without process approval, the check would continue to be completed at Publish.

I wouldn’t expect Process Manager to block a Save/Quick Save if there is a link to an archived process, although it might be helpful to have a warning to alert the editor.