Create Workflows to Connect Business-Process Tasks

The workflow is divided into three sections:

1. When Event This is where the trigger is selected. Examples of trigger could be:

   • A master data record is changed
   • A journal line is created
   • an Incoming document is created or released
   • Approval of a document is requested

2. On Condition of The conditions are related to the event and opens for creating filters for when the event is triggered

3. Then Response The Responses responds to what the next step in the work are.

For both types of events, the events are system-defined. New events must be added through the development of an extension.

To create a workflow

1. Choose the icon, enter Workflows, and then choose the related link.

2. Choose the New action. The Workflow page opens.

3. In the Code field, enter a maximum of 20 characters to identify the workflow.

4. To create the workflow from a workflow template, on the Workflows page, choose the Create Workflow from Template action. For more information, see Create Workflows from Workflow Templates.

5. In the Description field, describe the workflow.

6. In the Category field, specify which category the workflow belongs to.

7. In the When Event field, specify the event that must occur to start the workflow step.

   When you choose the field, the Workflow Events page opens where you select from all the workflow events that exist.

8. In the Condition field, specify one or more conditions that must be met before the event in the When Event field can occur.

   When you choose the field, the Event Conditions page opens where you choose from a list of filter fields that are relevant as conditions for the event in question. You can add new filter fields that you want to use as event conditions. You set event condition filters just as you set filters on report request pages.

   If the workflow event is the change of a specific field on a record, then the Event Conditions page opens with options to select the field and the type of change.

   1. To specify a field change for the event, on the Event Conditions page, in the Field field, select the field that changes.
   2. In the Operator field, select either Decreased, Increased, or Changed.

9. In the Then Response field, specify the response that will follow when the workflow event occurs.

   When you choose the field, the Workflow Responses page opens where you select from all workflow responses that exist and set response options for the selected response.

10. On the Options for the Selected Response FastTab, specify options for the workflow response, by selecting values in the different fields that appear, as follows:

    1. To specify options for a workflow response that involves sending a notification, fill the fields as described in the following table.

       Field	Description
       Notify Sender	Specify if the approval requestor is notified instead of the approval request recipient. If you select the check box, the Recipient User ID field is disabled because the requestor of the approval, the sender, will be notified instead. The name of the workflow response changes accordingly, to Create Notification for <Sender>. If the check box is not selected, the name of the workflow response is Create Notification for <User>.
       Recipient User ID	Specify the user who the notification must be sent to. Note: This option is only available for workflow responses with a placeholder for a specific user. For workflow responses without placeholders for users, the notification recipient is typically defined by the approval user setup.
       Notification Entry Type	Specifies if the workflow notification is triggered by a record change, an approval request, or a passed due data.
       Link Target Page	Specify another page that the link in the notification opens instead of the default page. Note that the page must have the same source table as the record involved.
       Custom Link	Specify the URL of a link that is added to the notification in addition to the link to page.

    2. To specify options for a workflow response that involves creating an approval request, fill the fields as described in the following table.

       Field	Description
       Due Date Formula	Specify in how many days the approval request must be resolved from the date when it was sent.
       Delegate After	Specify if and when an approval request will automatically be delegated to the relevant substitute. You can select to automatically delegate one, two, or five days after the date when the approval was requested.
       Approver Type	Specify who the approver is, according to the setup of approval users and workflow users. When the field is set to Salesperson/Purchaser, that setting specifies that the user who is set up in the Salespers./Purch. Code field on the Approval User Setup page determines the approver. Approval request entries are then created according to the value in the Approver Limit Type field. For more information, see Set Up Approval Users.
       Show Confirmation Message	Specify if a confirmation message is shown to users after they request an approval.
       Approver Limit Type	Specify how approvers' approval limits affect when approval request entries are created for them. A qualified approver is an approver whose approval limit is above the value on the request being made.The following options exist: Approver Chain specifies that approval request entries are created for all the requester's approvers up to and including the first qualified approver Direct Approver specifies that an approval request entry is only created for the requester's immediate approver, regardless of the approver's approval limit. First Qualified Approver specifies that an approval request entry is only created for the requester's first qualified approver.

    3. To specify options for a workflow response that involves creating journal lines, fill the fields as described in the following table.

       Field	Description
       General Journal Template Name	Specify the name of the general journal template that the specified journal lines are created in.
       General Journal Batch Name	Specify the name of the general journal batch that the specified journal lines are created in.

11. Choose the Increase Indent and Decrease Indent buttons to indent the event name in the When field to define the step's position in the workflow.

    1. Indicate that the step is the next in the workflow sequence by indenting the event name under the event name of the previous step.
    2. Indicate that the step is one of more alternative steps that may start depending on its condition by placing the event name at the same indentation as the other alternative steps. Order such optional steps according to priority by placing the most important step first.

    [!NOTE]
    You can only change the indent of a step that does not have a subsequent step.

12. Repeat steps 7 through 11 to add more workflow steps, either before or after the step that you have just created.

13. Select the Enabled check box to specify that the workflow will start as soon as the event on the first step of type Entry Point occurs. For more information, see Use Workflows.

[!NOTE]
Do not enable a workflow until you are sure that the workflow is completed and that the involved workflow steps can start.

[!TIP]
To see relations between tables that are used in workflows, Choose the icon, and then enter Workflow – Table Relations.

Example of creating a new workflow using existing events

In the following example a new workflow is made to approve changes to the name of en existing vendor:

1. Choose the icon, enter Workflows, and then choose the related link.

2. Choose the New action. The Workflow page opens.

3. In the workflow section, fill in the fields as described in the following table.

   Field	Value
   Code	VENDAPN-01
   Description	Vendor Name Change Approval
   Category	PURCH

4. To create the first workflow step, follow these steps.

   1. In the When Event field, specify A vendor record is changed.
   2. In the On Condition field, choose the word Always, and then, in the Event Conditions page, choose the Add a condition for when a field value changes link, and then select the Name field.

   The result of this step is that the condition reads as Name is Changed.
   3. In the Then Response field, choose the Select Response link, and then, in the Workflow Responses page, in the Select Response field, choose the Revert the value of the <Field> field on the record and save the change response, and then, in the Options for the Selected Response section, specify the Name field.
   4. Choose the Add More Responses link, and then add an entry for the Create an approval request for the record using approver type <%1> and <%2>. response.
   5. In the Options for the Selected Response section for the new response, change the Approver type field to Workflow User Group, and then, in the Workflow User Group field, specify the relevant user group.

   For more information, see Set Up Approval Users.
   6. Add a third response, Send approval request for the record and create a notification.
   7. Add a fourth response, Show message "%1", and then, in the Options for the Selected Response section, in the Message field, specify An approval request has been sent.
   8. Choose the OK button to return to the workflow step.

5. In the next line, add a new workflow step for the An approval request is approved. event.

   1. In the When Event field, specify An approval request is approved.
   2. Choose the line menu, and then choose Increase Indent.
   3. In the On Condition field, choose the word Always, and then, in the Pending Approvals field, specify 0.

   The result of this step is that the condition reads as Pending Approvals:0 to indicate that this is the last approver.
   4. In the Then Response field, choose the Select Response link, and then, in the Workflow Responses page, in the Select Response field, choose the Send approval request for the record and create a notification response.
   5. Choose the OK button.

6. In the next line, add a second workflow step for the An approval request is approved event.

   1. In the When Event field, specify An approval request is approved.
   2. In the On Condition field, choose the word Always, and then, in the Pending Approvals field, specify >0.

   The result of this step is that the condition reads as Pending Approvals:>0 to indicate that this is not the last approver.
   3. In the Then Response field, choose the Select Response link, and then, in the Workflow Responses page, in the Select Response field, choose the Send approval request for the record and create a notification response.
   4. Choose the OK button.

7. In the next line, add a workflow step for the An approval request is rejected event.

   1. In the When Event field, specify An approval request is rejected.
   2. In the On Condition field, leave the value as Always.
   3. In the Then Response field, choose the Select Response link, and then, in the Workflow Responses page, in the Select Response field, choose the Discard the new values response.
   4. Choose the Add More Responses link, and then add an entry for the Reject the approval request for the record and create a notification response
   5. Choose the OK button.

8. In the next line, add a second workflow step for the An approval request is rejected event.

   1. In the When Event field, specify An approval request is rejected.
   2. In the On Condition field, leave the value as Always.
   3. In the Then Response field, choose the Select Response link, and then, in the Workflow Responses page, in the Select Response field, choose the Send approval request for the record and create a notification response.
   4. Choose the OK button.

9. To enable the workflow, choose the Enabled field.

The following illustrations provides an overview of the result of this procedure.