Workflows and Process Automation
What to know
AEM Forms supports AEM Workflows (OSGi, Granite workflow engine) and legacy JEE Process Management. Know workflow models, steps (participant, process, OR split/join, choice), and variables (metadata maps, payload). Understand Forms Workflow steps: Assign Task, Submit to FDM, Generate PDF, Send Email. Know task assignment (assignee, group, dynamic via variable) and forms in inbox.
Automation concepts
Know how to trigger workflows from form submission (submit action → workflow), from watched folders, and via scheduled or API invocation. Understand payload (the JCR node the workflow acts on) and metadata propagation. Know process steps that call OSGi services or ECMA scripts.
Traps
A frequent trap is payload vs metadata: the payload is the content node; metadata is a map of variables. Another is OR-split vs AND-split behavior - OR split activates all branches whose conditions are true; join semantics differ. Questions also test that a participant step waits for human action while a process step executes automatically. Watch for confusion between workflow models (definitions) and instances (running executions).
Rule of thumb
Design the payload as the node you want to persist; pass transient data through workflow metadata/variables rather than stuffing it into the payload.
Worked example
A loan form submission triggers a workflow: participant step assigns review to a group, OR-split routes based on amount, process step calls a service to generate a PDF, then Send Email. The payload is the submitted data node; the reviewer name travels in metadata.