Using Workflow and Managing Approvals

This chapter provides an overview of approval workflow and discusses how to:

Define approval workflow processes.
Define the approval transaction registry.
Define notification templates for approval workflow.
Define user lists..
Use dynamic approvals.
Enable email collaboration.
Use escalations.
Using the approval monitor.

Understanding the Approval Workflow Engine

Many daily tasks are part of a larger process that involves several steps and people working together. The term workflow refers to this process, which could encompass, for example, the approval of a requisition or a change request form. To facilitate this type of multiuser process, PeopleSoft can automatically trigger workflow notifications to inform the next approver in the process of work awaiting them.

To address workflow approvals there is a specialized designer. This designer enables you to configure approval workflows using existing components without writing code.

Three types of users come together to set up approvals including application developers, functional business analysts, and the users that include requesters, approvers, and reviewers. The approval workflow framework brings these roles together to define an approval process workflow.

Application developers set up workflow approvals using a transaction-definition component. Examples of a transaction might include a requisition or service order. Transactions are made up of an approval process, routing rules and steps and a set of users who approve and review the transaction.

Using workflow approval processes, you can:

Approve or deny individual line items in a transaction, such as a change request.
Approve and deny multiple transactions at a single time..
Include multiple approvers for individual steps.
Assign additional approvers and reviewers during the approval process.
Escalate approvals.
Approve, deny, push back, and delegate approvals.
Reassign approval tasks to another approver.
Use Worklist and email notifications.

Defining Approval Workflow Processes

This section provides an overview of approval workflow, header and line-level approvals, approval flows, and event notification and discusses how to:

Define approval workflow process stages.
Define criteria for approval workflows.
Set up approval workflow paths.
Define steps for approval workflows.

Understanding Approval Workflow

Approval workflows are triggered when requesters originate a transaction, such as a requisition, and a set of approvers carry out tasks related to the transaction. The PeopleSoft approval workflow process is a framework that enables three levels of users, from technical to end-users, to develop, configure, and use transaction approvals that meet their organizational requirements. For example, the process of submitting a requisition and getting it approved requires defining who should approve the requisition, the order in which they approve it, and how it is routed to approvers.

In contrast to the standard PeopleSoft Workflow, which requires advanced technical skills in PeopleTools to create and maintain, approval workflow provides an alternative workflow that is much easier to create and maintain. For example, all of the steps in approval workflow are defined using PeopleSoft pages rather than underlying PeopleCode, so functional users can design and maintain workflow using these online PeopleSoft pages instead of requiring technical developers to create workflow rules.

The following PeopleSoft products are delivered with integrated approval workflows:

PeopleSoft Supplier Contracts
PeopleSoft Promotions Management
PeopleSoft Expenses
PeopleSoft Strategic Sourcing
PeopleSoft eProcurement
PeopleSoft Services Procurement

To implement this process, the framework for building and interpreting workflow approvals brings together these users:

Application developers

Application developers adapt applications for approval with minimal coding using a defined setup process. Making this possible is the approval workflow engine, which provides a common implementation that other applications can use. Application developers integrate their applications with the approval workflow engine framework using the Approval Transaction Registry page where they register an application with the engine and describe its components, event handler, and records. The register stores approval process IDs developers create for applications.

Note. PeopleSoft delivers the transaction registry for PeopleSoft Supplier Contracts, PeopleSoft Promotions Management, PeopleSoft Expenses, PeopleSoft Strategic Sourcing, PeopleSoft eProcurement, and PeopleSoft Services Procurement

After an end-user creates an application transaction and submits it for approval, the application hands the transaction over to the approval workflow engine that finds the appropriate approval process definition, and launches the approval workflow.
Functional business analysts

Functional business analysts design approval workflow for use with an application. This includes setting up stages, paths, steps, recipients, and notifications for each approval process ID. Analysts identify the application-supplied transaction definition on which to base approval process definitions. They use the Approval Process Definition page to define processes for approving transactions. These processes can be used again and again to guide requisitions through their approvals.

Many businesses need different approval routings for different business units. To support such variation, you can have multiple approval process definitions to be configured for each application. In addition to process IDs, approval process definitions are keyed by setID and effective date. Business units can be mapped to setIDs according to customer-defined configuration.
End users

End users create transactions and then use an approval process with approvers and reviewers within an approval flow. Using this process, the different end users can approve or deny requests, monitor requisition statuses, and audit approvals.

Header- and Line-Level Approvals

Many PeopleSoft transactions have a top-level record (known as a header) with keys that uniquely identify a single transaction in an application. Then, these transaction will typically have other children records (line-level records) of this header record.

The approval workflow process uses an application’s header keys to correlate approval processes and application transactions. For example, when you open an application transaction, the approval workflow engine enables you to submit the request for approval only if you haven’t already submitted it. This check is possible because the system correlates the application header keys with the approval process instance keys.

When you need to track an approval status at a lower level within a transaction, an analyst can configure the approval process so that different line-items in the same request follow different routes. In such cases, the workflow approval engine splits the workflow into constituent line items, and enables analysts to configure the approval process so that different line items in the same request follow different routes. These lines of the workflow are still part of the same request, however, and should be tracked as such.

You can deny some lines of the requisition and approve others, making line-level approvals independent for each line. For example, a requisition can contain multiple lines, and you might want to use special approvers for certain catalog items, such as software or hardware. You can add specialized approvers to approve requisitions that are in their area of expertise.

An approval workflow might have mixed header and line-level approval routings. For example, department managers might exercise budgetary control over the request as a whole, while commodity approvers still examine only those line-items which fall within their expertise. Final approval requires both types of approvers to sign off on the requisition.

When a request is approved, the engine notifies the application, which then takes source end actions:

End actions.

An approval of one transaction often leads to the creation of another transaction, or triggers another business process. The approval workflow engine supports this trigger by providing a call-back mechanism for event notification. For example, when a requisition is approved, it can be sourced—an action follows final approval, which is the end action.
Line-level versus header-level end actions.

Use line-level approvals to make it possible for action to be taken on different line items immediately upon their approval, without waiting for the approval of other line-items in the requisition. This means you can source line items as soon as they are approved.

This is possible only if line-level approval routings are at the end of the process and require no further review. In this case, the application can act on the individual lines as they get approved. The approval workflow engine notifies the application of significant approval-related events.

Approval Flows

After an approval process is defined, validated, and made active, the system can submit an application’s transactions for approval. Each PeopleSoft application typically has a top-level database record that distinguishes one transaction from the next. For instance, the eProcurement application's top-level record is named REQ_HDR.. These top-level records are called header records. When a transaction is submitted for approval, the approval workflow engine combines the approval process definition with the header record instance, and line records if line level approval is configured, to create a unique approval process instance. This approval process instance gets routed from approver to approver, as configured in the approval process definition.

Approvals use two levels of processing—header and line. Business analysts setup the approval process definition that determines the flow of the approval at both levels. The approval process consists of:

Stages

A stage is one part of an approval process that can contain multiple parallel paths but must be at the same header or line record level. The system executes stages in sequence where one must complete before the next one begins. A stage can be at either a header level or at a line level. Stages at a line level makes it possible for approvers to sign off separately on individual line items in a single requisition. The workflow engine sees each header and each line as individual pieces. A line is a child of the header. A header stage acts on the unique header while a line stage acts on each line. A stage consists of one or more paths.
Paths

A path contains a sequence of steps. Within a stage, paths execute in parallel. Path entry criteria determines whether or not a path executes for a given transaction or transaction line.
Steps

A step represents one or more approvers or reviewers. Steps within a path execute in sequence. Separate criteria for each step determines whether or not that step executes. Each step can also have a set of reviewers, who are notified about transactions pending approval by email, if configured, and/or through the Worklist. But, the workflow proceeds without waiting for reviewers to act.

The system notifies approvers by using Worklist and/or email, if configured, of pending approval step which can require one, all, or a fixed number of approvers. You can specify approvers by roles, queries, fixed lists, or by using custom application classes. Once the required number of approvers have approved a step, the approval workflow advances to the next step. If there are no further steps, it advances to the next stage.

Note. While the configuration may require any number of approvers to approve a step before it advances, any single approver can deny. The moment an approver denies, that line or header stops routing further. If it is at the line level, other lines will continue approval routings. If the denial is at the header level, the approval process terminates, and the entire requisition is denied.

This diagram illustrates how the approval process uses stages, paths, and steps for routing approval:

The approval workflow

Approval Features

Using a combination of features, you can create rules for different types of approvals. This section discusses:

Ad hoc approval
Ad hoc review
Self-approval
Route to Requester
Skip Prior Path
Auto approval
Alternate approvers
Push back feature
Approval comments

Ad Hoc Path Approval

During the approval process approvers can add other approvers or reviewers to the current or a later stage of the approval process. For example, if a buyer wants input from an inventory analyst, she can add the analyst as an approver. This is called ad hoc approval and only applies to the approval instance in which the addition occurs and does not affect the underlying process definition used for other requests.

You can insert ad hoc approvers and/or reviewers in serial or parallel with existing approvers. For serial approvals, each approval in the process is sequential. Users can add approvers and reviewers only after the currently pending step, or later. With parallel approvals, the sequence does not matter. Users can insert an ad hoc step in an ad hoc path in any currently pending or subsequent stage.

You can add ad hoc approvers, once the requisition is submitted. The approval workflow engine will launch the previewed approval process instance if requested by the application developer’s code.

If you have an ad hoc approver user list defined in the transaction registry, only the users within that list can be added as an ad hoc approver/reviewer.

See Defining User Lists.

Ad Hoc Review

Ad hoc reviewers are users that an approver or requester would like to review a transaction. Ad hoc reviewers are simply notified and provided with a link in a Worklist entry or email to the transaction, if the process is so configured.

Self-Approval

A requester can also be an approver. If requesters approve their own transactions, it's called self-approval. A check box setting enables self-approval. If enabled, the requester’s approval is assumed, and the process continues; however, you can establish criteria that helps control the requester's approval authority. For example, you can place a limit on the dollar amount for the requester so that if the transaction is over that amount, the requester is not used as an approver.

If self-approval is not enabled, then the requester can't serve as an approver. If the requester appears as an approver for any step, they are blocked from acting. If, because of this, the number of approver available to act drops below the minimum, an error is generated. The process is then routed to the administrator.

If self-approval is enabled, then the self-approval criteria must be specified. Then, if the requester appears as an approver, the criteria is evaluated. If the criteria evaluates to true, then the requester's approval is assumed and the minimum approvers for that step decrements by one.

When a requester is an approver, you can configure the path to skip the steps in that path prior to the requester's step.

Self-approval is configured at the step level.

Route to Requester

Route to requester is a feature that informs the system that an approval should be sent to a requester under certain circumstances:

If self-approval is set up, the criteria to trigger self-approval is not met, and route to requester is not selected, then the requester can't be included as part of the approval path.
If route to requester is selected, and self-approval criteria is not met, the requester will be included as part of the approval path, and the system notifies them of the pending approval.

For example if a vice president orders items on behalf of a direct report at the supervisor level, the system will send a notification to the supervisor the order was made for. The supervisor remains part of the approval process.

Skip Prior Path

When skip prior to requester is enabled, the system begins the approval flow at whatever step in which the requester is an acknowledge approver.

For example, if a vice president orders supplies for herself, the system will skip application approval steps leading up to the step where the vice president is an acknowledged approver.

Auto Approval

When auto-approval is enabled, the system remembers an approver’s action for that process at the header- or line-level, and applies the same action automatically for any subsequent appearance in the approval workflow routing. For example, if the approver approves line one, and the line appears again as a required approval for the specific approver, the approval is remembered for the line. This approval does not pertain to any other line, but header approvals do imply line approval for this feature.

Alternate Approvers

Alternate workflow approvers are those users who are assigned to receive emails and Worklist notifications for the primary approver when that approvers is not available. When you identify an alternate approver, you use a date range during which you want the alternate to fill in. The system determines if the alternate is in place for the date range.

Note. Alternate users are defined in the User Profile. Navigate to PeopleTools, Security, User Profiles, User Profile.

Push Back Feature

Push back takes a currently pending step out of pending status, and requeues the previous step to its approvers The meaning of push back is that the approver is questioning the prior step’s approval, and is demanding a clarification. Push back is only possible within a path, so the first step of a path cannot push back.

Note. The push back feature ignores auto self-approval.

Approval Comments

Requesters can add comments to requisitions, and approvers can associate their comments with the approval process, rather than the request transaction directly. The approval workflow monitor provides a mechanism for associating comments with a particular approval process instance which, in turn, is tied to a particular application transaction. Approvers can view comments added by any approver, but cannot change any prior comments.

Understanding Approval Workflow Tasks

This section details the steps to implement and use approval workflow. It describes tasks that application developers, business analysts, and end users perform in conjunction with approval workflow.

To implement and use workflow:

Application developers register information with the approval workflow engine by using the Approval Transaction Registry page.

As part of defining the registry:
1. Application developers create a record and table in which to store cross-reference information and set up notification templates for events. This determines the pending approval workflow process and tells an application which transaction is being approved or denied.
2. Link the transaction component.
Functional business analysts define the approval process definition for an application transaction.

Essentially, analysts determine the approval transaction registry entry on which the process definition is to be based and then define the details of the process. The approval process definition includes definitions of stages, paths, steps, and criteria.
Requesters submit a transaction for approval.

This launches the approval process. The approval workflow engine reads the approval process definition and queues the transaction for approvers.
The system queues an approval task to an approver or reviewer using email and/or a Worklist entry.

The URL encoded in the Worklist entry points to the corresponding approval component.
Approvers take actions on transactions.

When an error or violation of criteria or rules occur during the approval process, the system notifies the administrator who interacts to resolve the issue.

Note. The error conditions for static steps are no approvers or not enough approvers at a step.
Reviewers can view the transaction.

Pages Used to Define Approval Workflow Processes

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Approval Process Definition	SAC_AW_PRCS_MAIN	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Approval Process For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, Approval Process Definition	Define workflow approval process stages.
Criteria Definition	SAC_CRITERIA	Click the Alert Criteria link on the Approval Process Definition page. Click the Criteria link from the Approval Process Definition page in the Path section. Click the Criteria link from the Approval Process Definition page in the Step section.	Define criteria for workflow approvals.
Path	SAC_AW_PATH_SEC	Click the Path link on the Approval Process Definition page.	Set up workflow approval paths.
Step	SAC_AW_STEP_SEC	Click the Step Details link on the Approval Process Definition page.	Define steps for workflow approvals.
User List Definition	SAC_USER_LIST	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, User List For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, User List Definitions	Define a list of users for approvals.

Defining Approval Workflow Processes

To set up approval processes, use the Approval Process component.

Access the Approval Process Definition page.

Business analysts use this page to define an approval definition process. The process is made up of stages and their paths and steps. The approval steps that you place on the approval path represent the approval levels that are required for a transaction.

You can develop approval processes that:

Meet organizational or tiered approval limits.
Use alternate hierarchies, such as commodity approvers (procurement) and financial approvals (expenses) and so on.
Use multiple parallel tracks, such as procurement and inventory approvals at once.
Use staged tracks, such as first receiving commodity approval and afterward receiving financial approval.

Typical approval processes might include:

Employees or supervisors who can approve purchases up to a given amount.
Two different approvers for each step, where both approvers at a step must approve the request for it to advance to the next step.

Preview	Use this link to view what an workflow instance would like if it were running.
Approval Process Builder	This is a graphical tool to view each stage, path, and step of the approval process. Note. When you are viewing the graphic tool in the Approval Process Builder page, if you elect to make changes the system will return you to the standard Approval Process Definition page.
Set ID	Identify the set ID for the approval process. See PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools 8.46 PeopleBook: PeopleSoft Application Designer
Approval Process ID	This is the Approval Process created in the Approval Transaction Registry. See Understanding the Approval Transaction Registry.
Effective Date	Indicates the date on which this approval process became effective and ready for system use. This applies to approval processes for a particular approval process ID and setID and includes PeopleSoft functionality associated with effective dated entities. For instance, if multiple approval processes are active with the approval process ID, setID and effective date specification, then the system uses the latest active effective dated process.
Status	Select the current state of this approval process. The values are: Active: Indicates the approval process is available for use. Inactive: Indicates the approval process is not available for use.
Admin Role (administrative role )	Select the user list role used by workflow to route the transaction to all users filling that role in case of an error during approval processing. Note. The error conditions are no approvers or not enough approvers. See Defining User Lists.
Alert Criteria	Click to access the Criteria Definition page where you can define user and field criteria along with monetary and application class criteria for this stage. This criteria can be evaluated by applications to highlight conditions of a transaction to be approved. For example, a one time shipping address used only on this requisition. See Defining Criteria for Approval Processes.
Take action on line completion	Select to source individual requisition lines after each line has completed the approval process. This setting applies to approval processes that have a line-level stage at the end of the process. The system supports line-by-line sourcing only when the last stage is at the line level. This assumes that the line-level stage is the last stage of the approval process. Note. If the check box is clear, all lines must be approved before you can source the requisition.
User Auto Approval	Select to enable the system to remember an approver’s action for this process. The next time this approval process is presented to the approver, the system automatically applies the approvers selections. The automatic application of steps in the process is left in place until you clear the User Auto Approval check box. This applies to the specific line or header the approver had previously approved in this process only. A header approval implies line approvals for all lines.
Route to Requester	Route to Requestor works in conjunction with the self-approval flag. If the approver failed to meet the self-approval criteria, the approval could still be routed if this check box is enabled. If the check box is not enabled and the approver fails to meet the self-approval criteria, then the system routes the approval to the administrator.
Stage	Enter the sequence in which you want this stage of the approval acted upon. You can also enter a description for the stage in the Description field. A stage is a logical grouping within a process such as commodity or fiscal approval. You can define a single stage or use multiple stages, in which case the stages execute in strict sequence. Before the second stage starts, the first stage must end. Each stage must be either at the header level or at the line level. This is the additional constraint on header- versus line-level approval configurations. A header-level stage acts on the single header. A line-level stage acts (simultaneously) on all the lines under the header.
Level	Select the level at which you want approvals to be processed. All paths within the stage are at the same level as the stage itself. Available values are: Header: At a header-level stage, the system enables the same request (header) to be routed to two or more parallel paths. Line: Line-level stages can have multiple paths with selection criteria that distinguish the line-item’s content, such as software line items going to software approvers. These allow each line to route differently, if appropriate. See Understanding the Approval Workflow Engine.
Approval Path	Enter a value that identifies this path. A path is a sequence of steps. Examples of paths might include a hardware path where approval steps are defined for when hardware items are in a requisition. Another example could be a department path where a requisition requires approval up a department hierarchy. Within a stage, paths execute in parallel with each path at the level from the stage to which it belongs. Path-entry criteria determines whether a path executes for a transaction header or line. For example, for a line-level stage, each line in the transaction is presented to each path; the path criteria decides whether or not that path is triggered for that line. If the system evaluates the criteria you enter for a path to be false for a header or line, then it bypasses the path for that header or line. When a stage becomes active (approvers in the stage get pending work), all its contained paths become active simultaneously. All the paths of a stage queue work to approvers in parallel. The stage is complete only when all paths in it complete.
Source	Select the method by which steps are instantiated during the approval process. Values are: Static: Select this source to indicate that you want the system to use the individual user-defined steps when it processes an approval. Dynamic: A dynamic path definition contains only one step. When begun, the single step definition could yield any number of instances in sequence. When using the Dynamic source, the system uses the user list on the step definition to initialize the steps in the path. The single step definition is repeatedly run, until the step's user list returns no more approvers. All these instances are queued in sequence. Note. User lists are associated with roles, queries, and classes using the User List Definition page. To access the page, select Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, User List Definition. See Defining User Lists.
Path Details	Click to access the Path page where you can define path criteria and escalation parameters, such as whether or not to notify the requester's supervisor.
Criteria	Click to access the path's Criteria Definition page where you can define field criteria along with monetary and application class criteria. You can define criteria for the approval process using most records and fields in the database.
Step Number	Enter the sequence in which you want this step performed during the approval process.
Approver User List	Select the approver list you want to use for this step. A user list is an entity which groups users in the system. Roles, queries and application classes are examples of user lists. The system then uses the list and its users to run automated business processes. The list defines the user sources who can be used in approval steps. When configuring approval workflows, business analysts use user lists to assign approval tasks to the approvers and reviewers who are to act on the request being considered for approval. The approval engine has two types of contextual information available to the user list definition: the previous approvers in the path, and the transaction (header or line) keys. The previous approver of the first step of a path is always the requester, regardless of which stage the path belongs to. In the case of SQL queries, the context is provided by bind values. The bind values are the prior approver (one per call, in case there are multiple prior approvers), and the keys of the header record. The key values are provided in the order in which they are defined in the corresponding record object. See Defining User Lists.
Step Details	Click to access the Step page where you can define approver requirements, self-approval details, and reviewers.
Criteria	Click to access the step's Criteria Definition page where you can define field criteria along with monetary and application class criteria. You can define criteria for the approval process using most records and fields in the database.

Defining Alert Criteria

Access the Criteria Definition page using the Alert Criteria link.

This page works similarly to the other Criteria Definition pages used for paths and steps, with two striking differences:

The description field is the actual alert text that is then displayed on the approval page.
The criteria determines if an alert should appear on the approval page, as opposed to routing a line or header for approval.

Access the Criteria Definition page.

Use this page to define the different types of criteria you want to apply to a workflow approval process. You can create definitions consisting of a field with a logical operator and a value or definitions consisting of an application class that takes in transaction data to process the approval.

Criteria is an entity that evaluates to true or false. It programs the approval workflow engine, using transaction-specific information to change, for example, routing paths. In order to set the context for the criteria, the engine provides the transaction keys as bind values.

Criteria Type

There are three different types of criteria you can enter:

The system will only follow paths that evaluate as true. Always True informs the system to trigger this workflow approval process. No criteria is needed.
With the criteria type Application Class you define which specific application class the system uses to determine if the workflow approval task evaluates as true.

Note. Use the Application Class criteria type when the user entered criteria does not contain the necessary level of detail.
Use the criteria type of User Entered Criteria to enter all record and field combinations either value or monetary based, that will trigger the workflow to evaluate as true.

All Criteria Needed to Satisfy

This check box indicates that all criteria defined on the Criteria Definition page must be met in order to trigger the workflow to evaluate as true.

User Entered Criteria

Use this section to define additional criteria for the approval.

Description

Enter purpose of the alert.

For example, if you are using a one time ship to address, you create a description that indicates that a one time ship address is attached to the requisition.

Field Criteria

Use this section to select a record and field on which to control and filter ranges of data or types of data placed in the file you want to use in the approval process.

Record Name	Select a record that you want to use in defining approval criteria. For example, if you were indicating a one time address you would identify the PO_ADDR_REQ_VW as the record.
Field Name	Select a field you want to use to define approval criteria. The values you define in the remaining field criteria grid are those that are used in determining the approval criteria.
Criteria Operator	Determines the action the system applies to the criteria you enter in the Value fields. These operators are available: Between:Use only values between the two values you enter as criteria. Equals: Use only values equal to the entered criteria. Greater Than:Use values equal to or greater than the entered criteria. Is Blank Is Not Blank Less Than:Use any record value that is less than the value entered in the Operator Criteria field. Not Equal To:Use any record value that is greater than or less than the entered criteria.
Value	Use the two Value fields to define a range upon which you want the operator criteria to evaluate. The second value is only used when the Criteria Operator evaluates using Between.

Monetary Criteria

Use this section to establish approval criteria for requisition amounts. The system uses the values you define to determine the routing for approving the requisition. When the system evaluates the criteria for an approval process or a step or path within the process, it uses monetary values you define in this section.

The system uses values from fields in this section in conjunction with the Operator field to determine whether to run a step.

Amount Record	Select the record name to be used when comparing the requisition to the minimum amount required to trigger the step. Note. If this approval process ID is used to trigger workflow for changes in amounts within requisitions, you need to use PV_CHGRST_AMTVW.
Amount Field	Select the field within the amount record to be used when comparing the requisition to the minimum amount required to trigger the step. The system uses the value you select to evaluate the Amount field.
Currency Field	Select the currency field that corresponds to the currency code you select in the Currency Code field.
Operator	Select a value that determines how the system processes the values in the Amount fields. Values include Between, Greater Than, and Less Than.
Amount	Use the Amount fields to define an amount range for use with the Operator field. In the first field, enter the minimum amount required on the requisition in order to trigger the step. The system identifies all lines in the requisition that meet the criteria defined in the Amount Record and Approval Field fields. The amounts on these lines are totaled based on the amount record and amount field specified. If the requisition total is higher than this minimum amount, the criteria is met. If no amount is specified, zero is considered the minimum. Note. If you use the Criteria Operator with a value of Between, a second Amount field becomes active.
Currency Code	Select the monetary unit you want to use for the approval.
Rate Type	Select how the system arrives at the currency value, such as the current rate or a financial rate.

Application Class Criteria

Use this section to assign application packages as criteria for the approval process definition. When you define a class, the system uses it along with other criteria you enter to process the approval.

Root Package ID	Select the primary application package. This is the parent class for other packages or for child application classes.
Application Class Path	Select a path that describes a specific class within the root package.

Defining Paths for Approval Process

Access the Path page.

Use this page to set up additional parameters that determine how the system processes an approval path. Use the escalations feature to define time elements for when an approver takes too long to approve or deny a pending request.

Approval Path	Displays the path name that you are creating or updating. The path provides the sequence of approvers of a request, usually from a single reporting (or other) hierarchy.
Criteria	Click to access the Criteria Definition page where you can define user and field criteria along with monetary and application class criteria.
Step Source	Static: Select this source to indicate that you want the system to use the individual user-defined steps when it processes an approval. Dynamic: A dynamic path definition contains only one step. When begun, the single step definition could yield any number of instances in sequence. When using the Dynamic source, the system uses the user list on the step definition to initialize the steps in the path. The single step definition is repeatedly run, until the step's user list returns no more approvers. All these instances are queued in sequence. See Defining User Lists.
Skip Prior Steps for Requester	Select this indicates that if one of the approvers in this path is also the requester, then this option instructs the system to skip all steps in this path prior to that approver's step.
Options	Advanced Approval: Skip the current approver. Notify: Sends an email, or whatever notification is defined in the transaction registry, to the individual. Reassign: Reassigns to an operator ID or a user list. Note. If you select Advanced Approval and defined a User List a notification is sent to the user list members. See Defining User Lists.
Number of Days	Enter the number of days a transaction can remain at one workflow step before being escalated. This is the length of time an approver has to do something such as approve or deny a transaction.
Number of Hours	Enter the number of hours a transaction can remain at one workflow step before being escalated. This field is combined with number of days to determine the total time an approver has to take action on an approval request.
User List	Select the list of users the workflow should be routed to. See Defining User Lists.
Reassign	If you have selected Reassign as the option, you can enter a user name or a specific user list. Note. A user list will reassign to the first user in the list that does not match the current user. See Defining User Lists.

Defining Steps for Approval Process

Access the Step page to set up additional parameters for the step definition.

Step Number	Enter the number for this step. It's the sequence in which an approval is routed. Each step typically represents a routing to an approver. However, it is possible to route to multiple approvers or reviewers in a step as well.
Criteria	Click to access the Criteria Definition page where you can define field criteria along with monetary and application class criteria.
Approver User List	Select the type of approver you want to use for this step based on the user list. See Defining User Lists.
Approver Role Name	In addition to a User List, a role can be added to check for additional authorization checking. Select a role that specifies the authority that a user has. The approval workflow engine filters approvers returned by the user list for this role. It also enforces the role at the time the approver acts. If the role assignment changes, such as the approver is no longer in the role, the approver is blocked from acting on the requisition.
All Approvers Required	Select to indicate that all approvers at this step are required to approve the requisition at this step. You can select to have all approvers or some approvers approve the requisition at this step.
Some Approvers Required	Select to indicate that it's not required for all approvers to sign off on a requisition. If you select this option, you can define the number of approvers required in the Number of Approvers Needed field.
Number of Approvers Needed	Enter the minimum number of approvers you want to sign off for a requisition at this step. When an approval process is launched and this number can't be met, the system notifies the approval Admin Rolename.
Self Approval	Select to indicate that requesters can also approve their own requisition. This only applies if the requester also appears as an approver in the step. You can establish criteria that controls the requester's approval authority by using the Self-Approval Criteria link. If the associated criteria evaluate to true, then self-approval is acceptable. For example, you can place a limit on the dollar amount for the requester so that if the transaction is over that amount, the requester is not used as an approver. If you select self-approval and the criteria is not met, the approval workflow engine requires that there be at least one more step after this one in the path. This does not apply to ad hoc steps. Clearing the check box means that self-approval is never acceptable. Note. If the criteria is not met, and there is no later step, the system inserts an additional step. This is then routed to the administrator.
Self-Approval Criteria	Click to access the Criteria Definition page where you can set up self-approval criteria for a user, including field criteria and monetary and application class criteria.
Reviewer User List	Select the type of reviewer you want to use for this step. Use a user list to map users to certain functional roles. The system then uses the list and its users to run automated business processes. The list defines the user sources who can be used in approval and review steps. See Defining User Lists.

See Also

Approval Features

Maintaining System Users and Roles

“User List Roles,” PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools 8.46 PeopleBook: PeopleSoft Workflow

Defining the Approval Transaction Registry

This section provides an overview on the approval transaction registry, prerequisites, and discusses how to register approval transactions.

Understanding the Approval Transaction Registry

The approval transaction registry is the interface application developers use to register an application with the approval workflow engine. Transactions that require approvals are candidates for being linked to approval workflow engine. You use the Approval Transaction Registry page to link the components, event handler, records, and classes that you created into the approval process for an application transaction, such as a requisition or purchase order. Application developers register the main records and components that make up the transaction, then functional business analysts select the approval transaction on which to base the approval process definition.

Note. Any PeopleSoft delivered approvals will already have the Approval Transaction Registry populated. No additional configuration will typically be needed.

Prerequisites

Before defining the transaction registry:

Create a Transaction Handler Application Class which extends an approved event handler class delivered by approval workflow.
Create notification templates for the events to include approval and denial for headers and for line levels.
Create transaction data sources, as needed.
Create views on transaction tables that will serve as criteria sources.
Create view to serve as source for ad hoc users.
Create view to serve as source for approver contact information.

Pages Used to Define the Approval Transaction Registry

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Approval Transaction Registry	SAC_AW_TXN	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Approval Transaction Registry For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, Approval Transaction Registry	Register the approval transaction. The transaction definition is the metadata that describes the transaction make up to the approval workflow engine.
Configuration Options	SAC_AW_TXN_NOTIFY	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Approval Transaction Registry, Configuration Options For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, Approval Transaction Registry, Configuration Options.	Use the Configuration Options page to configure how the system uses the particular implementation of approval triggers.

See Also

PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools 8.46 PeopleBook: PeopleCode Developers Guide

Registering the Approval Transaction

Access the Approval Transaction Registry page.

Application developers use this page to register a PeopleSoft application, such as eProcurement or Service Procurement, with the approval workflow engine. Using the page, you can define how the system interacts with portions of the application that you have defined for approvals. The transaction definition is the metadata which describes the transaction make up to the workflow approval engine. In some cases, you might add a transaction to enhance an existing transaction or make changes to a transaction.

Use this page to define:

Worklist approvals.
Approval event handler class.
Transaction approval levels.
Email notifications.
Ad hoc approver class logic.

Approval Process ID

Enter a name the system uses to track this approval workflow process for a transaction. You can also enter a description for the approval process.

Object Owner ID

Select the PeopleSoft application to which this object belongs.

Cross Reference Table

Select the table used to manages application specific transaction records and associate them with the approval process run time instances. Each time a request launches an approval process, the system tracks the process by the header and line-level records of the application. To relate the approval process instance to the transaction instance, the cross-reference table holds the correspondence.

For a given application transaction record, this cross-reference information helps you determine the pending approval workflow process and to define to the application which transaction is being approved or denied.

Application developers must create a record containing the applications keys, and include an approval workflow engine-supplied subrecord. Developers must also build the underlying table.

Default Notification Options

Identify whether you will be using email or worklist notificatication, or both.

Enable Notifications	Determine what type of notifications your company will use. The options include: Disable Email and Worklist Email Notification Only Enable Email and Worklist Worklist Notification Only
Notification Strategy	It allows the email to be processed immediately(Online Processing)or offline(Offline Processing) through NEM (Notification and Escalation Manager.)
Use Email Approvals	Defines that you are going to use email approvals with workflow.
From Generator Package Root	This package root reads the threads provided by the Form Generator Class, and creates a form from an existing email collaboration definition.
From Generator Class Path	Calls the From Generator Class which receives a list of threads to be approved and a language code. This class returns a runtime class, which will add the appropriate recipients and send the emails.

Default Approval Component

Identifies the default component that users should go to when selecting a worklist entry.

Menu Name	Select the menu name that contains the component you want to register for the Worklist.
Approval Component	Select the component on which the approval is going to be based.

Approval Event Handler Class

Use this section to define the application class used to monitor events for this transaction. Each time an event occurs, the approval workflow engine notifies the application. For applications to receive the notifications, application developers must extend the event handler class, ApprovalEventHandler.

When a transaction results in an action from the approval workflow engine, the event handler class you specify determines how to proceed with the transaction.

The event handler base class defines the handler methods that you can override by extending classes. The extending class must have a no-argument constructor, since the system instantiates the class with no arguments.

This table explains the various event handler methods for which the system passes arguments to provide the specific context for each event, and gives examples of how an application, in this case PeopleSoft eProcurement, may act:

Event	Parameters	Possible Application Actions
PROCESS_LAUNCHED	Header record Approval Process Instance	Disable edits of the application transaction. Display status information.
HEADER_DENIED	Header record	Delete transaction. Disable resubmission. Log the event on the transaction, possibly highlighting previous denial if the system allows resubmission.
LINE_DENIED	Line-level record	Deduct the line amount from the header, and delete or otherwise deactivate the line item.
HEADER_APPROVED	Header record	Source the transaction if it’s a requisition. Reimburse the employee if it’s an expense report.
LINE_APPROVED	Line level record	Source the line item if it's configured for sourcing.
PROCESS_TERMINATED	Header record	Log the event on the application, possibly highlighting changes since the previous submission. This might be useful for approvers who acted on the previous submission of this request.
ALL_LINES_PROCESSED	Header record	Note. The system calls this method only if the last stage is at the line-level, and the analyst has configured the process to trigger LINE_APPROVED end calls as individual lines are approved. The action the system takes depends on how the application developer defines the line sourcing. If the lines are sourced as they are approved, then nothing has to be done when all the lines are processed. This event is distinct from HEADER_APPROVED, and having a distinct notification simplifies the process.

Root Package ID	Select the parent application class through which events are exposed. This defines the action to take based on events.
Path	Select a path that uses a specific class within the root package.

See PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools 8.46 PeopleBook: PeopleCode Developers Guide

Approval Status Monitor

Use this section to control how the system processes ad hoc approvers. any approver can add or remove ad hoc approvers.

Adhoc Package	Select the ad hoc application class package that yo want to use for ad hoc approvals.
Adhoc Class	Select the ad hoc application class path. Adding approvers and reviewers is handled by the class you define here. If no class is specified, then the system default class is used. The default class allows s to be added. If the transaction has further restrictions an application developer needs to create a class that will be defined here.
Thread Description Package	The package here defines how the transaction details are displayed in the system in the status monitor. Behind the scene approvals are define with a sequence number. this allows for a user friends display.
Thread Class	Enter the specific class within the thread description package that sets the display details.

Transaction Approval Levels

Use this section to define if the transaction is to be approved at the header or line level and what level the application supports.

Header or Line Level	Define what levels are enabled by the application for approvals. The first row will always be the header level. If you select the header level
Record (Table) Name	Select the database table that represents this transaction level.

Defining Configuration Options for Transaction Registry

Access the Configuration Options page.

Use this section to select and define elements that determine what triggers a notification, who receives the notification, and the content of the notification. Notifications are mapped to work with the approval transaction registry and include menus and components and SQL definitions. The events for which the system sends notifications include:

Launch of the approval process on a transaction.
Queue of approval step to an approver.
Queue of a review step to a reviewer.
Denial of a line or header.
Approval of a line or header.
Completion of the approval process.

Recipients of notifications include requesters, the approvers, and reviewers, who can receive their notifications through either Worklist entries or email. When using email notifications, business analysts must create email templates.

Ad Hoc Approver Options

Use the AdHoc Approver Options section to define the view approvers see, and a list of available approvers to use when adding approvers during the approval process.

Approver User Info View

Provides details about which view a user seens when using the approval monitor.

Note. Data in this view dictates what is displayed in the approver links.

Ad Hoc User List

This is a filter used to display only a list of users who can be ad hoc approvers.

Notification Options

Use the Notification Options section to further define the email notification process.

Email Approval User List

Specify exactly which users should be allowed to do their approval via email.

Note. If the user receiving the notification also falls into the email approval user list, then they receive an email approval rather than a standard email notification.

Delivery Method

Define whether you wish the users to receive their email approvals as text within the email, or as attachments.

Perform Sent-To Security Check

Selecting this check box informs the system that you want it to verify the security of the person the notification is sent to.

Note. This security check is only performed on new approvals.

Events

Use the events section to define event parameters to trigger workflow notification.

Level	Select the level at which you want a notification sent for an event. For each of these events to be notified, you must select the level of the transaction, either Header or Line.
Event	Select the event for which you want to send a notification. By default values, the approver is always notified of an event and when an error occurs the system notifies the requester and the system administrator. Event values include: Ad Hoc Delete Ad Hoc Insert Hold Step Locked Out On Error On Escalate On Final Approval On Final Denial On Process Launch On Reactivate On Reassign On Step Complete On Terminate Processing Complete Route for Approval Route for Review Note. Lock Out, On Error, On Escalate, On Process Launch, On Terminate, and Processing Complete are for header level only.
Menu Name	Select the menu name that contains the component you want the notification recipient to link to. This identifies where the person should go upon notification. If you do not enter values, the recipient is sent to the same menu and component that is defined for the Worklist Approval component.
Approval Component	Select the component you want to make available to the notification recipient.
Page Name	The page defined is the page approvers are redirected to from the URL sent within the email notification.
Menu Action	This is the action of the page users see when directed to the page from the URL sent within the email notification.
SQL Object Identifier (structured query language object identifier)	Select the SQL definition identifier you want to use to get content for the email. The SQL must accept bind inputs equal to the number of keys at the notification level. For example, header or line keys.

Event Notifications

Use the Notification section to define who will be notified and how the notification takes place.

Participant	Define the user who is notified when this event takes place. Admin Approver Dynamic Requester Reviewers User List
Channel	Defines how the participant will be notified. Both Email None User Worklist Note. Routing preferences can also be set up in PeopleTools, Security, User Profiles, Workflow. From there you have two options. You can select Worklist User and/or Email User.
User List	Select either Dynamic or User List as the Participant. The option becomes active when you select one of these values.
Template Name	Select the generic template you want to use for the email content of this notification. You define the contents of the email using the Generic Template page. To access the page, select Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Generic Templates.

Defining Notification Templates for Approval Workflow

This section discusses how to enter generic template definitions.

Pages Used to Define Notification Templates for Approval Workflow

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Generic Template Definition	WL_TEMPLATE_GEN	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Generic Templates For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, Email Notification Templates	Enter generic template definitions.
URL Maintenance	URL_TABLE	PeopleTools, Utilities, Administration, URLs	Use this page to identify the URL that the notification process places within the email. This URL is then used to navigate the user back into their system to perform the required task. Note. An example of the format to use is http://servername/psp/employeeportaldomain/.

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Generic Template Definition

WL_TEMPLATE_GEN

Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Generic Templates
For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, Email Notification Templates

Enter generic template definitions.

URL Maintenance

URL_TABLE

PeopleTools, Utilities, Administration, URLs

Use this page to identify the URL that the notification process places within the email. This URL is then used to navigate the user back into their system to perform the required task.

Note. An example of the format to use is http://servername/psp/employeeportaldomain/.

Entering Generic Template Definitions

Access the Generic Template Definition page.

You use generic templates to establish common formats for ad hoc notifications.

For approvals, the first bind variable is used to store the URL displayed in the email.

See Also

“Using Notification Templates,”PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools 8.46 PeopleBook: PeopleSoft Workflow

Defining User Lists

This section discusses how to create user list definitions.

Page Used to Create User List Definitions

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
User List Definition	SAC_USER_LIST	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, User List For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, User List Definition	Create and maintain user-list definitions.

Defining User Lists

Access the User List Definition page.

Use this page to define user sources for use with steps in the approval process. PeopleSoft delivers a set of default user list roles corresponding to the roles within an organization.

When you select a user list source type, you must also select a corresponding value. You can add a new user list or change a current list.

Note. You can only select one user list source for a user list.

Role	Select to use a role as the source for this user list. A role is a list of users who perform the same type of work, such as buyers or managers. Each role has a set of parameters that determine the limits what the roles can and cannot do in the organization and in the workflow process. Note. The SQL definition, Query, and Application Class user list sources are dynamic, and can use input values to help identify users.
SQL Definition (structured query language definition)	Select to use an SQL definition as the source for this user list.
Query	Select to use a query as the source for this user list. When a source is defined as a query, the system determines who should receive a work item based on the field values on the page that triggers the routing.
Application Class	Select to use an application class as the source for this user list. When you select to you an application class, the system passes in the originator of the transaction and then determines the approver for that originator. For subsequent approval steps, the system passes in the approver from the previous step.
Include Users as Input	When you select the check box, the system uses the originator of a transaction as the first step in each path. For subsequent steps in each path, the system uses the approver from the previous step.
Transaction Keys as Input	Select to have the system base the approval routing on transaction keys. Transaction keys are key fields in a database table. System actions depend on the approval level at which a user list is being used. If the approval is at the header level, the system uses transaction record keys from the header record.

See Also

PeopleTools PeopleBook: PeopleCode Developers Guide

Using Dynamic Approvals

This section provides an overview of dynamic approvals, discusses how to:

Define user lists for dynamic authorizations.
Set up approval authorizations.
Define dynamic approval paths.

Understanding Dynamic Paths

To do dynamic approvals, you create one approval step that is used to determine a list of approvers without setting up every step individually within the path.

Workflow processes are defined in stages, paths, and steps. The system looks at the stage to determine if the trigger for the workflow is recognized at the header or line level. Within each stage, there is a minimum requirement of one path. The path contains steps, which define the workflow triggers and the action to take if the criteria is met. Without dynamic paths, the administrator creates a step for every possible approver. With dynamic workflow, the administrator creates a single path where the system users a user list for the approval hierarchy.

Note. When self-approval is utilized, if the requisition creator is on the list of authorize approvers, that is counted as one approval.

See Also

Defining User Lists

Understanding Dynamic Approval Authorizations

PeopleSoft applications use workflow to configure approval paths in two manners. The first configuration is to define every approval in step-by-step fashion. The second manner is to create dynamic approvals. The dynamic approvals allow you to create a single step that systematically identifies every potential approver, searches to find out if that approver has enough authority to complete the approval, and creates a visual path for users to view of all necessary approvers in the process. You can configure a dynamic path allowing supervisory roles to approve or deny a transaction, and stop the approval path when the system has determined that all criteria have been satisfied. The administrator creates a user list that the system uses to select the appropriate supervisory approvers for a transaction and then check for authorization. The dynamic path takes the prior approver into consideration.

To configure the dynamic approval authorization, the administrator must:

Define user lists.
Create an approver authorization.
Define a dynamic approval path.

Two keys to creating a approval authorizations for dynamic paths are the system’s ability to:

Check authorizations.
Skip unauthorized users.

The system looks at the user list and the approval authorization to determine which users are required to complete the authorization. The system displays the non-required users as a skipped step, instead of a pending step in the event that Skip Unauthorized is selected.

This diagram represents an example of a workflow routing setup to skip unauthorized users.

Skip Authorized

In the example, the criteria for the workflow approval path is set up for Chris Baker to have approval authority for less than 1,000.00 USD, Patrick Sanchez has authority for anything less than 5,000.00 USD, there is a VP approval of anything less than 25,000.00 USD, and if the requisition is over 25,000.00 USD, the CEO needs to approve.

Kelly Jones creates a requisition for 10,000.00 USD.

If the system is not set up to skip unauthorized users, the system displays Chris Baker, Patrick Sanchez, and the VP as a pending step in the approval path.

If the system is set up to skip unauthorized users, the system displays the approval path with the VP as the only listed approver, and will show Chris Baker and Patrick Sanchez as skipped.

See Also

Defining User Lists

Understanding Approval Authorizations

You can identify the approval authorization by role or user in conjunction with a dynamic step. To accomplish this, the approval workflow engine selects the appropriate supervisory approvers from the user list and verifies that the approver meets the criteria for authorization.

You establish approval authorizations for each transaction. The authorization can accommodate approvals by role or user ID.

You can set authorization across all SetIDs or for a specific SetID.

For each authorization the system checks the specific user ID to see if that individual could be a potential authorizer for the transaction. If found it checks the authorization criteria. If criteria are met, the user has the authorization in question.

If no authorization is found for a specific user ID, then the system looks for role-based authorizations using the an approval hierarchy.

For approval hierarchy, the system first looks for authorization by SetID. If no authorization is found, the system then seeks authorization for rows with a blank for the SetID. If no authorization is matched authorization approval criteria, the system process is deemed “Not Authorized”.

You can establish dynamic authorizations established for either the header or line level, but not both.

When workflow is initiated for a change order or requisition, the system compares the approval authorization data to the user list to verify the approval process. To verify the approval, the system:

Checks the user list, and assign the first approver to the first user returned from the user list.
Looks to the roles established for the user ID.
Identifies the approval limits set for that individual user ID.
Routes the requisition status to the first approver if the amount is satisfied for the requisition and the approver list is complete.
Continues to look for additional approvers until all conditions are met.
Routes the approval to the administrator if the approver criteria is never met.

See Also

Defining User Lists

Pages Used to Define Dynamic Approval Authorizations

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Approval Authorization	SAC_AW_AUTH.GBL	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Approval Authorization For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, Approval Authorization.	Authorize roles and approvers for dynamic paths.
Approval Process Definition	SAC_AW_PRCS_MAIN	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Approval Process For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, Approval Process Definition	Define workflow approval process stages.
Criteria Definition	SAC_CRITERIA	Click the Alert Criteria link on the Approval Process Definition page.	Define criteria for workflow approvals.
Path	SAC_AW_PATH_SEC	Click the Path Details link on the Approval Process Definition page.	Set up workflow approval paths.
Roles	PT_ROLEMAINT.GBL	PeopleTools, Security, Permissions and Roles, Roles For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain System Users and Roles, Roles	Set up roles for workflow.
Step	SAC_AW_STEP_SEC	Click the Step Details link on the Approval Process Definition page.	Define steps for workflow approvals.
User List Definition	SAC_USERLIST.GBL	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, User List For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, User List Definition	Set up list of users for workflow approval.
User Profile	USER_GENERAL.GBL	PeopleTools, Security, User Profiles, User Profiles	Set up user IDs and assign roles

Defining User Lists for Dynamic Authorizations

Access the User List Definition page.

The approval workflow engine delivers a default user list SAC_AW_SUPERVISOR that addresses the most common approval scenario of routing an approval to a supervisor. If, for instance, the requester is an end user, and their immediate supervisor can’t authorize more than 5,000.00 USD, and the requisition is for 6,000.00 USD, the requisition moves up the ladder to the next level supervisor. The user ID for the direct supervisor is listed on the user profile.

Note. To enable the SAC_AW_SUPERVISOR approval routing, you must have a supervisor assigned to your user ID on the user profile page.

See Also

Defining User Lists

Setting Up Approval Authorizations

Access the Approval Authorization page.

If you don’t specify a SetID, the authorization is generic across all SetIDs. To create an approval authorization for specific SetIDs, you must add a line for each SetID.

Note. If you activate self-approval on the Approval Authorization page, it replaces the self-approval on static path steps.

Defining Dynamic Approval Paths

Access the Path page.

Check Authorizations	Select to enable the approval authorization.
Skip Unauthorized Users	Select to enable the approval process to skip users within the user list if the system determines that they can't satisfy all of the criteria for approval.

Note. When creating criteria within the path that will trigger the workflow engine to activate, be certain that you set up the final approver as a Greater Than so that there are no gaps.

Enabling Email Collaboration

This section provides an overview of email collaboration, and explains how to enable email collaboration.

Understanding Email Collaboration

The email collaboration framework allows applications to send, receive, and process emails with interactive content. You can send an HTML form to the user, and they will not need to log into their system to perform tasks.

This diagram illustrates the flow of email collaboration.

Email collaboration process flow

Pages Used to Set Up Email Collaboration

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Gateways	IB_GATEWAY	PeopleTools, Integration Broker, Configuration, Gateways	Use the Gateways page to update the URL for your local gateway.
Properties	IB_NODE	PeopleTools, Integration Broker, Integration Setup, Node Definitions Select the Properties tab.	Use this page to modify the node properties required for email collaboration to function.
Connectors	IB_NODECONN	PeopleTools, Integration Broker, Integration Setup, Node Definitions Select the Connectors tab.	Use this page to modify the node connectors required for email collaboration to function.
Transactions	IB_NODETRXLIST	PeopleTools, Integration Broker, Integration Setup, Node Definitions Select the Transactions tab.	Define the message transactions for this particular node.
Form Element Designer	SAC_EMC_ELEMENTS	Set up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Email Collaborations, Form Element Designer	Define metadata used as system data when you deliver an email collaboration. Note. The grid is autopopulated with all the fields in your message definition, excluding those that are part of the EMC required records and any that are marked as include in your message definition.
Form Layout Designer	SAC_EMC_LAYOUT	Set up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Email Collaboration, Form Layout Designer	Defines the layout of the email.
Approval Transaction Registry	SAC_AW_TXN	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Approval Transaction Registry For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, Approval Transaction Registry	Set up the registry to use collaborative emails as part of notification.
Configuration Options	SAC_AW_TXN	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Approval Transaction Registry, Configuration Options For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain Workflow, Approval Transaction Registry, Configuration Options	Configure how a specific approval process uses email notification options.
Recurrence Definition	PRCSRECURDEFN	PeopleTools, Process Scheduler, Recurrences	Defines how often you want the process schedule to run processes.
Application Engine Request	AE_REQUEST	PeopleTools, Application Engine, Request AE	Set up the Request AE for SAC_EMC.
Email Addresses	USER_EMAIL	PeopleTools, Security, User Profile, User Profile Select the Edit Email Addresses link. For PeopleSoft eProcurement, use eProcurement, Administer Procurement, Maintain System Users and Roles, User Profile Select the Edit Email Addresses link.	Modify email addresses.

Enabling Email Collaboration

To set up email collaboration:

Enable the Pub/Sub field to configure the application server.
Configure the Integration Broker node PSFT_EMC_GETMAIL.
On the properties page, enter the email address of the email repository in the EMC_REPOSITORY_EMAILADDRESS property.
(Optional) On the properties page, enter appropriate values for BCC and CC to automatically send a copy of all collaborative emails to the address specified.

On the connectors page, modify these properties according to your server setup:

MCF_AttServ	Enter the URL to your attachment server.
MCF_Password	Enter the password for the email repository account.
MCF_Server	Enter the server on which the email repository resides.
MCF_User	Enter the user name needed to log into the email repository.

Specify an interval for the process scheduler recurrence.
Create a request for the application engine to run the process SAC_EMC. Specify the process schedule server and the recurrence.
On the Configuration Options page, enter values for the notification options.

See Defining the Approval Transaction Registry.

Using Escalations

This section provides an overview of escalations and discusses how to:

Set up escalation event types.
Set up the escalation event.
Set up the notification and escalation manager (NEM).

Understanding Escalations

Escalations are used when an approver has not responded within a predefined time period to a pending approval. You can specify the time period (timeout), and alternate approvers to whom to escalate or forward the approval for further action. Timeout options are defined on the path details.

Pages Used to Set Up Escalations

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Event Types	SAC_NEM_EVENTS	Set up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Notifications and Escalations, Event Types	Associate certain events to a particular server.
Setup Event	SAC_NEM_SETUP	Set up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Notifications and Escalations, Setup Event	Define the evaluation and action details.
Schedule JobSet Definitions	PRCSDEFN	PeopleTools, Process Scheduler, Schedule JobSet Definitions	Define the job to run, and how often you wish it to run.

Setting Up Escalation Types

Access the Event Type page.

Event Type	The system is delivered with an event type of Escalation.
Server Name	Select the server on which to run the escalations.

See Setting Up and Using the Message Dashboard.

Setting Up the Escalation Event

Access the Setup Event page.

Event Type	The server information that was entered on the Event Type page.
Event Types Description	The value entered in the Description field on the Events Type page.
Active	Select to enable the escalation process.
Recurrence	Enter a time interval at which to run the evaluation process.
Repeat Time	Enter a time period to limit the number of times the action step is run.
Evaluation Type	Select a method for evaluation. PeopleCode: Select if you are using a custom application package/class written using PeopleSoft Application Designer. Query Object: Select if you are using a query set up using the PeopleSoft Query Manager tool. SQL View: Select if you are using a record object created using the Application Designer. Note. For escalations, the evaluation type should be SQL View.
Action Type	PeopleCode: Select if you are using a custom application package/class written using the PeopleSoft Application Designer. Email: Enter an email address and notification template. Note. For escalations the action type should be PeopleCode.
Package	Select the application package that contains the escalation utility. Note. For escalations the package should be SAC_AW.
Class	For escalations, select Escalator.

Setting Up Notification and Escalation Manager in the Process Scheduler

Access the Schedule JobSet Definitions page.

Schedule Name	Select SAC_NEM for the notification and escalation manager.
Job Name	Select NEM_MAIN for the notification and escalation manager.
Status	Select Active for the notification and escalation manager.
Run Control ID	Enter the run control that has the run configuration desired.
Recurrence Name	Enter a value that specifies how often the process runs.

Using the Approval Monitor

This section provides an overview of the approval monitor and discusses how to utilize the approval monitor.

Understanding the Approval Monitor

The approval monitor gives administrators a view into all approvals to which they have access, as well as the ability to take necessary actions on pending approvals. Actions available for the administrator are:

Reassignment	Allows the system administrator to reassign to one or more approvers all pending approvals based on search criteria.
Approve	Allows the administrator to act on behalf of the assigned approver. The approval is initiated for a specific user, wherever that user may be pending within a specific transaction. Once the administrator takes action, the approval resumes the approval process.
Denial	Allows the administrator to act on behalf of the assigned approver. The denial is initiated for a specific user, wherever that user maybe pending within a specific transaction.
Ad Hoc	Allows the administrator to add a reviewer or approver to a specific transaction.

Understanding Approval Reassignment

You can reassign pending tasks to another approver, or an administrator can reassign all of specific approver’s tasks to another approver. Use reassignment in the following situations:

The approver chooses to redirect the task to another approver, thus delegating a specific task (step) to another approver.
The administrator decides to reassign all of an approver’s pending tasks within a step to another approver. This is usually done when an approver is unexpectedly absent, and the administrator reassigns all pending tasks to another.

When you redirect a workflow task to another approver, you can modify the approval process map.

Note. The approval workflow engine is set up for administrative reassignment and escalations only.

Pages Used to Utilize the Approval Monitor

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Monitor Approvals	SAC_AW_ADM_MON_SRC	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Monitor Approvals	Use the Monitor Approvals page as a system administrator to search on approval processes, and perform mass reassignments.
Monitor Approvals	SAC_AW_ADM_MON_ACT	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Monitor Approvals Select the link for the approval step you want to modify.	Use this page to perform an action on a specific approval process.

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Monitor Approvals

SAC_AW_ADM_MON_SRC

Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Monitor Approvals

Use the Monitor Approvals page as a system administrator to search on approval processes, and perform mass reassignments.

Monitor Approvals

SAC_AW_ADM_MON_ACT

Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions, Approvals, Monitor Approvals

Select the link for the approval step you want to modify.

Use this page to perform an action on a specific approval process.

Utilizing the Approval Monitor

Access the Approval Monitor page for a view of the approval process.

Approval Process	Select an approval process. The list of approval processes available is determined by the administrator role associated with the approval process definition. If a user is associated with the role specified in the Admin. Role field on the Approval Process Definition page they can view, or act, or both on that process ID within the approval monitor. See Defining Roles, Actions, and User-List Definitions.
Header Status	Select a status in this field to display the selected status. Choices are: Approved Complete Denied Hard Denied Initial Not Active Pending Terminated
Approver	Select an approver. You can view or take action on approval processes for a specific approver.
Approver Status	Select a status from those available. This field is only available when a specific approver has been selected in the Approver field. The statuses available for selection are based on the statuses that specific approver has in the cross reference table associated to the approval process ID.
Originator	The user who entered the transaction that started the approval process.

Using the Approval Monitor for a Specific Approval Process

Access the Approval Monitors page to take action on a specific approval process.

Approver	Select an approver. Listed are all approvers associated with pending steps within the approval process.
Comments	Enter text to appear under the approval graphic in an Approval Comment History section.
Reassign To	Select an approver to whom to reassign all pending steps within the approval process. See Defining Approval Workflow Processes.
Allow Self-Approval	Select to enable self-approval. When it is enabled, the approval is assumed, and the process continues. See Approval Features.
Allow Auto-Approval	Select to enable auto-approval. When it is enabled, the system remembers an approver’s action for that process at the header or line level, and applies the same action automatically for any subsequent appearance in the approval workflow routing See Approval Features.
Approve	Click the Approve button to act on behalf of the selected approver. This action applies to all tasks pending for the approver selected within the context of the approval process. See Approval Features.
Deny	Click the Deny button to act on behalf of the selected approver. This action will apply to all tasks pending for the approver selected within the context of the approval process.

Reassigning Tasks Assigned to You

To reassign your tasks to another approver, select a step assigned to you as an approver and request that the step be reassigned to an alternate. You must have an administrator role.

The approval workflow engine (AWE) reassigns that step to the newly appointed approver, and deletes the original approver’s worklist entry. The system creates a new worklist entry for the new approver, and notifies the new approver.

The AWE adds a comment to the approval thread to log the reassignment.

Reassigning Tasks as an Administrator

To reassign a specific approver’s pending tasks to another approver:

Filter the display to show pending approval processes for the specific approver.
Indicate the steps to be reassigned and the users affected.

The system submits a request to the AWE to reassign all of the pending steps.

Once you have reassigned the pending tasks to a new approver, the approval path is updated and the approval transaction is routed to the new approver.

Note. You can create reassignments through the user profile, but workflow reassignments through the user profile don't alter the actual approval process. Reassigning using the Manage Approvals component performs the reassignment and creates the worklist for the new user.

The administrator also can take action instead of reassigning.