Using Workflow

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

Send and receive notifications.
Work items.
Use timeout worklists.

Understanding Workflow

Many of the tasks that you perform throughout the day are part of larger tasks that involve several steps and several people working together. For example, when you enter an invoice, you are also initiating an approval and payment process: someone else reviews and approves it, and a third person submits payment to the vendor. The term workflow refers to this larger process.

To facilitate this type of multiuser process, PeopleSoft automatically triggers workflow routings—notifications to inform other people of the work awaiting them. So when you enter an invoice, PeopleSoft automatically notifies the appropriate approver that the invoice has been submitted and is awaiting review.

Sending and Receiving Notifications

This section discusses how to:

Send notifications.
Use worklists to receive notifications.

Page Used for Sending and Receiving Notifications

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Send Notification	PT_WF_NOTIFY	Click the Notify button in the toolbar at the bottom of any transaction page.	Use to enter a personal message and send an email or worklist notification to an individual or group when a relevant event has occurred.
Worklist	WORKLIST	Select Worklist, Worklist from the menu pagelet or select Worklist from the universal navigation header.	Use to view and work from an organized list of the work items awaiting your attention.
Worklist Details	WORKLIST_DETAILS	Select Worklist, Worklist Details from the menu pagelet.	Use to view additional information about items on your worklist.

Sending Notifications

The system sends notifications automatically as part of the standard workflow routings. You can also send notifications from most PeopleSoft components by using the Notify toolbar button. This button picks up any available notification templates for that component.

In both cases, you can send notifications by way of worklist or by email.

Access the Send Notification page:

To	Enter the user names or email addresses of those who need to take action. This field can contain one or more email addresses or user names separated by a semicolon.
CC (carbon copy)	Enter the names or email addresses of CC recipients, who are made publicly aware of the notification.
BCC (blind carbon copy)	Enter the names or email addresses of BCC recipients, who are made aware of this notification privately.
Priority	Select a priority level for the notification: low, medium, or high. This priority is reflected in the notification only if the %NotificationPriority variable is in the template text.
Subject	Enter the topic or a brief description of the notification. The subject value may appear by default from a template, but you can edit it.
Template Text	Displays the template text, which is based on a predefined notification template. The text in this field is sent in the language of the recipient. However, the notification template has to be defined with template text for each language.
Message	Enter your own comments. The message text is sent in the language of the sender.
Lookup Recipient	Click to access the Lookup Address page. Enter the first characters of a recipient and click Search to receive a list of people who match your search. To use someone as a recipient, select the check box for the type of recipient (To ,cc, bcc) and click Add to Recipient List.
Delivery Options	The check boxes are populated based on the delivery options that are defined in the recipient's user profile. The Worklist check box is unavailable for external email addresses.

Using Worklists to Receive Notifications

PeopleSoft offers two types of workflow notifications: worklist and email. Although this chapter focuses on worklists, you may also receive workflow notifications through email. When you receive an email notification, the notification may include a link to the PeopleSoft system where you will perform the necessary work.

When you are using a workflow-enabled application, the most obvious change in your day-to-day operations is the use of worklists.

A worklist is an organized list of the work items awaiting your attention. Select items to work on from a worklist, and an item automatically returns the pages that you need. This enables you to bypass any other navigational structure and work directly from the worklist.

Viewing a Worklist

The Worklist page provides summary information about all items on your personal worklist. This page also provides links enabling you to:

View additional details about the work.
Perform the indicated work.
Reassign work items.

Access the Worklist page. The Worklist grid is customizable. You can define the sorting and customize the columns in the grid.

Work List Filters

Enables you to select a worklist to view. You can only view worklists to which you are assigned. The system maintains the filter you have selected until you sign out of the PeopleSoft system.

Note. If you complete all of your work items in a worklist and mark them as "worked" during your current PeopleSoft session, the system displays Invalid Value. This is because the worklist is empty; it contains no more work items.

From

Displays who triggered the work item.

Date From

Displays when the work item was triggered.

Work Item

Displays the work items, which are the types of activities that you need to carry out. You can have multiple entries all with the same work item. For example, if you approve expense reports, you may have several entries with Expense Approval in the Work Item column. Each of these entries represents a different expense report that requires your attention.

Worked By Activity

Displays the activity that needs to be worked by the worklist item.

Priority

Rank the worklist entry by importance. Priority values include: 1 for high, 2 for medium, and 3 for low.

Link

Click a link to access the target page—the page where you work the item. The target page is specific to the type of work that you are doing. For example, the link for an expense approval item accesses the page where you can review and approve expense reports.

Note. You cannot sort on this column. In addition Find won't work on it and Download to Excel won't download this information.

Mark Worked

Click to remove an item from your worklist without actually accessing the target page. You should not use this option unless the item is a simple notification and no additional work is required.

Reassign

Click to forward the item to another user and remove it from your list.

Refresh

As items are added to and removed from your worklist, click this button to update the page with the most recent changes.

By default, all work items assigned to you are visible from the oldest to the newest. Click any of the column headings to sort work items according to the data in that column.

Performing Work

To work an item on its target page, click the link on the Worklist page for the item that you want to work. The system transfers you to the page where you can perform the required task. When you have worked the item, it automatically disappears from your worklist.

If you need to manually mark an item as worked—such as when an entry is a simple notification with no necessary followup—select the Mark Worked button. The item disappears from your worklist.

Reassigning a Worklist

You can also reassign a worklist item to another user. Your organization can choose to prevent particular types of items from being reassigned.

To reassign a worklist item to another user:

Click the Reassign button.

The Reassign page appears.
Enter the user ID of the person to whom you are reassigning the item.

Click the Search button if you need help finding the appropriate user ID.
(Optional) Enter a comment.

The comment becomes part of the worklist item when it appears in the assignee’s worklist.
Click OK.

Viewing Worklist Details

Access the Worklist Details page.

The Worklist Details page provides additional information about items on your worklist; it includes all of the information from the Worklist page, along with the additional details described here.

Timed Out Dttm (timed out date and time)	Displays the date and time when the item will time out if it is not already worked.
Previous User	Displays the user whose action triggered this item.
Selected Dttm (selected date and time)	Displays the date and time when you first selected this item (to work the item).
Comment	Displays the comment (if any) entered by the user if the item was forwarded from another user.
Timed Out	Indicates whether the item has timed out.
Instance	Displays a unique identifier for each item of the same type.
Transaction	Displays a unique identifier for each item in the worklist.

Working Items

Depending on how the worklist item has been defined, there are different requirements for what actions are sufficient before the item is considered worked and removed from your worklist.

Although you cannot differentiate between the different types of worklist items just by looking at them, understanding these different types will clarify why different items respond to different actions:

Worklist Type	Description
User Specified	A work item is not marked as "worked" until you click Mark Worked. This option is typically used when you may need to return to the same work item several times or wait for supporting information.
Saved	A work item is marked as "worked" when you save your work on the page assigned to the worklist. This option is typically used when you can complete the item in one visit to the target page.
Selected	A work item is marked as "worked" as soon as you select it from the worklist. This option is typically used when the work items serve primarily as a notification.
Programmatic	A work item is marked as "worked" by behind-the-scenes processing attached to the page. This option is typically used when the data on the page must be evaluated to determine whether the item can be considered worked.

Using Timeout Worklists

Items in your worklist contain built-in timeout parameters. Depending on how your organization handles timeout processing, you may receive an email or another worklist entry if you have not worked an item by the time it times out.

When you open a timeout notification in your worklist, you are transferred to the Worklist Timeout Data page. You can also open this page by selecting PeopleTools, Workflow, Monitor Worklist, Update Timeout Data.

On this page, you can view information about the timed-out work item, enter a comment about the item, or reassign the item to another user.

Work List Filters	Enables you to select a worklist to view. You can only view worklists to which you are assigned. The system maintains the filter you have selected until you sign out of the PeopleSoft system. Note. If you complete all of your work items in a worklist and mark them as "worked" during your current PeopleSoft session, the system displays Invalid Value. This is because the worklist is empty; it contains no more work items.
From	Displays who triggered the work item.
Date From	Displays when the work item was triggered.
Work Item	Displays the work items, which are the types of activities that you need to carry out. You can have multiple entries all with the same work item. For example, if you approve expense reports, you may have several entries with Expense Approval in the Work Item column. Each of these entries represents a different expense report that requires your attention.
Worked By Activity	Displays the activity that needs to be worked by the worklist item.
Priority	Rank the worklist entry by importance. Priority values include: 1 for high, 2 for medium, and 3 for low.
Link	Click a link to access the target page—the page where you work the item. The target page is specific to the type of work that you are doing. For example, the link for an expense approval item accesses the page where you can review and approve expense reports. Note. You cannot sort on this column. In addition Find won't work on it and Download to Excel won't download this information.
Mark Worked	Click to remove an item from your worklist without actually accessing the target page. You should not use this option unless the item is a simple notification and no additional work is required.
Reassign	Click to forward the item to another user and remove it from your list.
Refresh	As items are added to and removed from your worklist, click this button to update the page with the most recent changes.