Currently the success and error messages presented to the user in notifications only depend on whether workflow is installed or not.

However it can be the case that workflow is installed but the instance of the action still performs simple activation (currently the case in contacts/dam/secuirty) - as the type of activation depends on the catalog of the activation command that is called by the activation action.

The confusing result - is that if you publish a contact you get a message "Publication workflow has been launched", when in fact the item is immediately activated.

Note: The keys for CE activation are currently in module-ui-framework-messages_en.properties.

actions.activate.successMessage=Publication workflow has been launched.
actions.activateRecursive.successMessage=Publication workflow has been launched.
actions.activateDeleted.successMessage=Publication workflow has been launched.
actions.deactivate.workflowErrorMessage=An error occurred during un-publication.
actions.deactivate.workflowSuccessMessage=Un-publication workflow has been launched.

The keys for EE workflow activation will be stored in the workflow module.