Flow form — Editing in Visio Fork shapes

Purpose

Use the fork shape () to represent a point where the flow execution chooses one of a few different paths (connectors) based on tests on the work item. At runtime, the system evaluates the conditions on each outgoing connector, starting with the connector assigned the highest likelihood. The flow execution continues along the first connector that evaluates to True.

Adding a fork shape to the flow

Use these instructions to add a fork shape:

1. Drag the fork shape from the left panel and drop it onto your Visio flow diagram.
2. The Fork Properties panel appears. Complete these fields:

Field	Description
Name	Enter a name meaningful to application users who see this on the work item history display, the breadcrumbs control (for entry points), and the Where-Am-I? diagram.
Entry Point?	Select to indicate that this fork shape is an entry point, which a user can return to using the breadcrumbs control or the standard flow action Work-.Previous. The default is selected. This checkbox works with Perform harnesses that include a breadcrumbs display and with assignments that offer the Previous flow action. In other cases, the checkbox has no effect. Because a fork shape presents no user form, if a user clicks a breadcrumbs control to return to this entry point, flow processing resumes and pauses at the next assignment.
Only going back?	This checkbox appears only when you select the Entry Point? checkbox. Select to restrict users at runtime from jumping ahead to this step without having completed the preceding steps. After having completed this step, users may jump back to it from steps that follow it. For maximum user flexibility, leave this checkbox unselected if your flow accepts inputs in any order. However, this approach is typically not workable for flows that contain fork and decision shapes, or that have intermediate shapes that are not entry points.
Post Action on Click Away?	This checkbox appears only when you select the Entry Point? checkbox. Select to run flow action post-processing when you click away from this entry point.

3. Click  Apply .
4. Connect at least one incoming connector to the fork shape, to place the shape within the flow. Then add two or more outgoing connectors representing the possible choices.
5. Associate a likelihood value between 1 and 99 for each outgoing connector. At runtime, the system evaluates the conditions on connectors in order of decreasing likelihood. Choose distinct likelihood values if you care about the order. (Often, only one of the outgoing connector conditions is true, so the order of evaluation does not matter.)
6. Set up the tests (When conditions or expressions) on each connector so that at least one of them evaluates to True at runtime. You can set the condition on the least-likely connector to ELSE to make it a none-of-the-above choice.

About Flows