Change workflow default state with hook_form_alter()

Question

How can I programmatically access and alter the Workflow module settings with hook_form_alter() on a node edit form?

I can see the Workflow] module settings in its own field-set on the node edit form, but I cannot find any mention of it when I look at the output of dd($form), dd($form_state), or dpm($form).

I would have expected to find it somewhere similar to the following.

$form['edit_workflow']['value'];

Answer 1

$form['workflow'] is accessible using #after_build within the Form API.

function hook_form_alter($form, &$form_state) {
    $form['#after_build'][] = '_manage_workflow';
}

function _manage_workflow($form, &$form_state) {
    $form['workflow'] = ''; //Do workflow alterations here...
    return $form;
}

Answer 2

It seems your implementation of hook_form_alter() runs before the one provided by the Workflow module. Implement hook_module_implements_alter() to change the order in which implementations of hook_form_alter() are executed. Alternatively, give your module a higher weight than the Workflow has.

Beware that this approach does not work for changing the order of implementations of hook_form_FORM_ID_alter() specifically. Implementations of hook_form_FORM_ID_alter() are always executed in the same order as those of hook_form_alter(). This is due to the way how drupal_prepare_form() calls drupal_alter().