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Clear State

The Clear State activity resets the visual status of specified workflow activities from green (completed) back to gray (pending).

Purpose​

Use the Clear State activity to:

  • Reset activity states when looping back in workflows
  • Visually indicate that activities need to be re-executed
  • Improve workflow visualization after rejection or retry scenarios

Configuration​

Clear State Activity Editor

Activity Selection​

  • Select one or more activities whose state should be reset
  • Activities are referenced by their names
  • Can reset multiple activities at once

Behavior​

  • Visual Only: This is purely a visual change in the workflow diagram
  • No Functional Impact: The workflow logic continues to work without this activity
  • Status Change: Changes activity color from green (done) to gray (pending)
  • Execution: The activities will need to be completed again as the workflow progresses

Common Use Case: Approval Rejection Loop​

Without Clear State​

Data Load ──> Approval ──[Rejected]──> Correction Action ──> Loop back to Data Load

Problem: When looping back, Data Load and Approval still show green even though they need to be redone.

With Clear State​

Data Load ──> Approval ──[Rejected]──> Clear State (reset Data Load, Approval) ──> Correction Action ──> Loop back

Benefit: Data Load and Approval turn gray, clearly indicating they must be completed again.

Example Configuration​

Scenario​

  1. Data Load activity completes → Green
  2. Approval activity completes → Green (but rejected)
  3. Clear State activity executes → Data Load and Approval reset to Gray
  4. Workflow loops back to Data Load
  5. User can see that both activities need to be redone

Activities to Reset​

Typically reset:

  • The activities that need to be re-executed
  • Any activities between the Clear State and the loop target

Usage Notes​

  • Purely Visual: Does not affect workflow execution logic
  • User Experience: Improves clarity for users working through workflows
  • Audit Trail: Actual execution history is preserved; only current visualization changes
  • Optional: Workflows function correctly without it, but are less clear visually
  • Loop Scenarios: Most useful in workflows with loops and retry logic

Best Practices​

  • Use in rejection and retry scenarios
  • Reset all activities that genuinely need re-execution
  • Place Clear State activity before looping back
  • Don't overuse - only reset activities that will actually be re-executed
  • Consider user experience when deciding which activities to reset

Technical Note​

The workflow maintains two separate concepts:

  1. Execution History: Permanent record of what was executed (preserved)
  2. Current State: Visual representation for active workflow (modified by Clear State)

Clear State only affects the current state visualization, not the execution history.