Configuring self approval flows

After you have registered the record, the next step is to configure either self approval flows or approval flows that define how the request gets approved.

An approval request with self approval flows are automatically approved by the system without requiring an approver to approve it. Whereas, approval flows determine the specific person or group of people to approve a request.

You might also configure both self approval flows or approval flows and use them in chained process.  

The following image illustrates the end-to-end process of creating an approval process and approval flows:

The following video (2:19) demonstrates how to create self approval flows.

The video shows an older version of BMC Helix Platform. The previous product name was BMC Helix Innovation Suite. Although there might be minor changes in the UI, the overall functionality remains the same.

 https://youtu.be/VcLnDy7mYUU

To configure self approval flows

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Administration tab.
2. Select Approvals > Approval Configuration. 
3. On the Approval Configuration page, click New.

4. On the Create Approval Flow page, click Self Approval > New Condition.

5. To configure conditions, on the Define Expression tab, perform the following steps and then click Save:

   1. From the list of Available Values, click Record Definition.

   2. Select the record field or associated record field on which you would want to build an expression.
      Alternately, you can use Associations for creating the expressions. To use associations, expand Associations and select the record data.

      While building an expression, ensure that you select a Record Definition that has a GUID value.

   3. To use Foundation data in the expression, click . 

      Define Expression dialog box displays all the Foundation data.

   4. Select the Foundation data.

   5. To find approvers either by functional roles or by the relationships defined between people, location, or support groups.

      Any data selected from Define Expression dialog box returns the GUID of the entity.

      Note

      The approval request is sent only to the approvers with status as Enabled. If an approver is deleted after the approval request is generated, then the approval request is not sent to that approver.

      The following image shows the Define Expression tab:
      
      

6. To define precedence and populate audit information, on the Select Process tab, perform the following actions and click Save:

   1. To define the order of approval flows, from the Precedence option, set a precedence value. Precedence defines the order of flows. Precedence is used to choose the order of expressions while evaluation. If two expressions are same and have different precedence, then the one with the higher precedence gets executed. 
   2. To write a message to the audit log, in the Audit Information field, enter the audit information.
      When the Self Approval flow runs and the Approval Process is marked as Approved, this message is written to the audit log. These are added by the user. For example, "approval for floater request".
   3. To execute a self approval process, in the Self Approval Process Definition section, select the check box next to the preferred process definition. 
      This field lists all self approval processes attached to the record. If the process is selected, the process will get executed before the approval request is processed. If the process is not selected, the approval request is automatically approved.

Where to go from here

Related topic

Approvals