Gate (decision point)
A gate sits between two steps of a value chain and records that a decision is made there: go on, wait, go back or stop.
Many processes have points where work does not simply continue but someone decides — a go/no-go before an offer, an investment approval, the acceptance at the end of a project. Such points are more than an edge: they have criteria, a date, an outcome and a role that decides. That is why a gate is a record of its own — with its own history, its own approval and its own validation rules.
The gate is an entity type of its own in the Value Creation module. It is available in every tenant. If you do not need it, you can delete it under Settings › Entity types; it is then not created again.
Creating
Section titled “Creating”On the Value Creation page, the New ▾ button opens a choice: pick Gate. The form shows the gate’s fields, not those of a process step.
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Criteria | What the decision is measured against. |
| Outcome | Open, Go, Hold, Recycle or Kill. |
| Date | When the decision is made. |
| Status | Active or archived. |
In the explorer
Section titled “In the explorer”A gate appears as a diamond — so it can be told apart from a process step at a glance. A coloured dot next to the outcome shows its state: green for Go, yellow for Hold and Recycle, red for Kill. The outcome is always shown as a word as well.
Placing a gate in the chain
Section titled “Placing a gate in the chain”A gate is linked like a step via “depends on” (DEPENDS_ON):
- The gate depends on the step before it.
- The step after it depends on the gate.
The edge leading out of the gate carries its outcome — Go, Hold, Recycle or Kill. It is shown on the line when edge attributes are turned on in the explorer. This also lets you draw several outcomes, such as a go path forwards and a recycle path back.
Who decides
Section titled “Who decides”The deciding role is connected to the gate via “decides on” (DECIDES_ON). The
role then shows which gates it decides on — and validation rules can report, for
example, a gate without a decider.
What a gate does not do
Section titled “What a gate does not do”A gate does not control a process. It documents the decision and its state; no process is stopped or released by it.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Value Creation
- Entity types — several types in one module
- Explorer