This FAQ covers the calculation of object and document cycle times. Object and Document reports are supported in 25R1.
How do cycle time functions work?
Cycle time functions are report-only expressions that calculate values based on state changes captured on the State tables. Users can add formula fields to the report and use cycle time expressions to create a function.
State tables capture state information when a record’s state changes. All state changes are captured by default, and Admins do not have to select the Audit data changes in this object checkbox in Admin > Configuration > Objects to capture these changes. All state changes made before 24R3 have been migrated from the existing audit tables. If the Audit data changes in this object checkbox was not selected prior to 24R3, Vault cannot report on those state changes.
We have renamed the states. Will expressions look at all the labels for the same state?
The calculations are based on the label that is added to the expression, but you can combine multiple expressions to get a final value. For example:
durationInState(object_v.lifecycle_state__v,"New State")+ durationInState(object_v.lifecycle_state__v,"Old State")
A record has gone through a state multiple times. Will the duration in the state be calculated across those instances?
Yes. The reporting engine iterates over all instances and returns a final result.
Does it support internationalization? Can I do calculations in Spanish or Japanese labels? Will the results be shown in my preferred language?
Cycle time expressions are calculated based on the Vault’s base language. The results are also in the Vault’s base language.
I do not see cycle time functions in Document with Previous Version reports. Why is this?
As of 25R1, Document with Previous Version reports do not support cycle time functions. We plan to support versions directly in the formulas in future releases.
Why am I getting the state type as empty for my document?
Not all states are associated with the state type.
My configuration shows that a particular state is associated with multiple state types. Which value is picked by the cycle time function?
If there is no Steady state or more than one Steady state (such as when the same state exists as a Steady state in multiple lifecycles), Vault stores the first value when the states are captured. If there is a Steady state, it is preferred.
I am not getting the correct first-time value for the state type. Will I only get the results in a Steady state?
When the state change happened, the state added to the formula did not have an associated state type.
I changed my state to a state type configuration. Will I get the results based on the new configuration?
No. The states are captured during writing and will not reflect the new changes.
Is the DateDiff function supported in the report expression editor?
No. Admins can subtract one date from another to calculate the differences in dates.
Why do I get blank results when I add my cycle time functions in reports?
State changes are automatically captured. You can report on historical state changes, though only for changes captured after the Audit data changes in this object checkbox was selected on the object. Audit data is not copied to clones or sandboxes, or the label might have been renamed, which could contribute to blank results.
Why do I get a blank value when I combine multiple cycle time functions?
The formulas check if the return value is blank: if(isBlank(cycle time expression)) + if(isBlank(cycle time expression)). We plan to improve this in a future release by providing a feature to include zero (0) as the default value if Vault cannot find any matching values in the underlying tables.
How many formula fields can I add to the reports?
Vault supports up to ten (10) formula fields in the report. Multi-pass reports can also include up to ten (10) formula fields in the underlying views.
Will Vault support name values instead of labels for process reporting?
As of 25R1, process reporting is based on labels. It is not yet determined if we will support name values instead of labels in a future release, but the underlying tables do contain the necessary data.
Are there plans to support State tables in Direct Data API and VQL?
We plan to support the state changes records in both Direct Data API and VQL, but the release date has not yet been finalized.
What was captured in state record migration from the audit tables?
The state migration job in 24R3 brought all the state, state type, and stage-related data from existing audit tables. State labels are based on record audit entries, but all stage and state-type labels and relationships are based on migration time configuration.
The migration was completed with the 24R3 release. The Enable Cycle Time Functions checkbox is selected by default in Admin > Settings > Reporting, and the cycle time functions are displayed on the report’s formula fields function list.