Workflow to request approval

Before you begin

Create the following process variables:

• A process context variable (see Capturing process context information)
• The following process input variables (see Adding-process-input-variables-to-a-workflow):
  • Text variables (maximum of 10 variables)
  • Integer variables (maximum of 2 variables)
  • Decimal variables (maximum of 2 variables)
  • Date variables (maximum of 2 variables)
  • Date/time variables (maximum of 2 variables)

To insert a request for approval

A request for approval action requires a Call Activity element to call an external process named Request Approval. The called Request Approval process is hidden from the list on the Workflows page to prevent unintentional edits.

1. From the palette, drag a Call Activity element onto the canvas.

   

   
   

   Warning

   Do not use the Create Request Approval Stub Entry element to generate approval requests. This element is used inside the Request Approval process that the workflow calls.

2. Enter a descriptive name for the Label.
   The name must be unique from all the other elements in the same workflow, for example, Call Request Approval.
3. In the Properties panel, expand Called Process.
4. Search for the built-in process named Request Approval, and verify that All Processes > MyITSB-Approval > Request Approval appears, as shown in the following illustration:
   
5. Click Request Approval to select the process.
6. Click Call Activity, and submit all required input parameters for the Request Approval called process.
   
   
   1. Click Click to build an expression to open the expression builder for any of the available parameters. 

   2. Expand the process context process variable (identified as requestInfo) to insert the specified variables into each parameter, as shown in the following table.

      Parameter	Required	Example	Comments
      Requesting For User ID	Required	LOGIN NAME	Use the following parameter from the process context variable: Process Variables > context > Requested For User > Login Name
      Approval Summary	Required	"Request for "+SERVICE NAME+ "by "+FULL NAME	The Approval Summary field appears in the request for approval notification in BMC Helix Digital Workplace. Create a descriptive summary by adding helpful parameters and text in this field. Example: To send text that includes the service name and the requestor's full name, use the following parameters from the process context variable: Process Variables > context > Service > Service Name Process Variables > context > Requested For User > Full Name Concatenate the text to complete the following expression: "Request for "+SERVICE NAME+ "by "+FULL NAME
      Service Name	Required	SERVICE NAME	Use the following parameter from the process context variable: Process Variables > context > Service > Service Name
      SB Service Request ID	Required	SERVICE REQUEST ID	Use the following parameter from the process context variable: Process Variables > context > Service Request > Service Request ID
      Requesting User ID	Optional	LOGIN NAME	Use the following parameter from the process context variable: Process Variables > context > Requested By User > Login Name
      Service ID	Optional	SERVICE ID	Use the following parameter from the process context variable: Process Variables > context > Service > Service ID
      Approval Process Name	Optional	"SB Request Manager Approval"	If the Approval Process Name is blank, the action will call the default SB Request Manager Approval process in the Approval Server. If the Approval Process Name is specified, the action will attempt to call a process of the same name in the Approval Server. For information about calling a custom request for approval, see Calling-a-custom-approval-process.
      Process Name	Optional	None	Leave blank.
      Process Instance ID	Optional	None	Leave blank.
      Order ID	Optional	ORDER ID	Use the following parameter from the process context variable: Process Variables > context > Service > Order ID
      Reject Reason	Optional	None	Use the Receive Task element to suspend the workflow until the external system sends a response back to BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog. The Receive Task  element waits for the response in the form of a Signal Parameter. For more information, see Responses returned from the request for approvalbelow.
      Approval Status	Optional	None

   3. (Optional) To send user input to the called custom approval process, populate one or more of the following flexible input fields with your process input variables:

      Input parameter name	Input variable data type
      Flex_Char_01	Text
      Flex_Char_02	Text
      Flex_Char_03	Text
      Flex_Char_04	Text
      Flex_Char_05	Text
      Flex_Char_06	Text
      Flex_Char_07	Text
      Flex_Char_08	Text
      Flex_Char_09	Text
      Flex_Char_10	Text
      Flex_Int_01	Integer
      Flex_Int_02	Integer
      Flex_Dec_01	Decimal
      Flex_Dec_02	Decimal
      Flex_DateTime_01	Date/Time
      Flex_DateTime_02	Date/Time
      Flex_Date_01	Date
      Flex_Date_02	Date
      Flex_Time_01	Time
      Flex_Time_02	Time

      Tip

      To populate the Flex fields with user input, create the required process variables. For more details about process variables, see Data-handling-in-workflow-activities.

      To pass text input from the service requester, create a text process input variable. For more details about process input variables, see Adding-process-input-variables-to-a-workflow.

      To pass date and time information, create date and time process input variables. To pass the current UTC time of the server, you can use one of the available general variables: the Current Date, Current Time, Current Date and Time.

      When you have created a workflow, create a questionnaire, and map the process input variables that you have used to populate the Flex fields with the process questions. For more details about process questions, see Exploring-the-workflow-designer.

      Click here to view the JSON of the example workflow

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      By populating any of the flexible fields, you send the information from BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog to the fields that are available on the Flexible Fields tab of the SB:ServiceRequestStub form:

      
      The information that you send to the SB:ServiceRequestStub form is saved on the Flexible Fields tab, and can be used for creating approval rules. 
      

7. Click Save to close the expression builder.

   When fulfilling a service, the inserted Call Request Approval activity send a request to run a process on the Approval Server.
   
   

To verify the request for the approval process

A quick way to verify that the approval system is configured correctly is to route an output from a Call Request Approval process into an in-app notification, as shown in the following illustration:

The in-app notification appears on the dashboard of the administrative user you specify as the receiver.

To connect an in-app notification

1. From the palette, drag a Send In App Notification element onto the canvas.

2. Open the expression builder, complete a field, and click Next > to advance to the next field.

   Parameter	Example with comments
   Receiver	"hannah_admin" Manually enter the user name (without the @domain extension) of the administrator who should receive the notification.
   Title	requestInfo > Service > Service Name + "approval process testing" Expand and click to insert the process variable Service Name, and then manually concatenate the additional text.
   Content	Activities > Call Request Approval > Status + " " + Activities > Call Request Approval > Reason Expand and click to insert the Status and Reason signal parameters, and then manually concatenate the space between the parameters.

3. Click Save to close the expression builder.
   The workflow is defined to send the Status and Reason returned from the approval process to the administrator's dashboard upon completion.

   Tip

   To test that the workflow itself is being called, you can also insert a Send In App Notification element before Call Request Approval, for example:

   

   
   

To verify this workflow in a service

1. Attach this workflow to a service in the Service Options panel.
2. Complete the rest of the service publishing and entitlement process to view the service in BMC Helix Digital Workplace.
3. Open BMC Helix Digital Workplace as a user and request the service.
   The service should appear in your requests.
4. In a separate browser session, open BMC Helix Digital Workplace and log in as the user's manager.
   The service request should appear in the manager's updates list.
5. Approve the service request, or reject it, and provide a reason.
6. Open the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog dashboard while logged in as the user specified in Send In App Notification.

To incorporate a request for approval in a workflow

When you have confirmed that the approval configuration is correct, and it sends the appropriate notifications, you can incorporate the element into a workflow by using exclusive gateways.

Responses returned from the request for approval

You can expand the called Request Approval process to view its steps. As a service catalog administrator or internal service supplier, consider the following steps:

• The Create Approval Stub Entry (form SB:ServiceRequestStub) is created.
• The Receive Task element returns a Work Status.

Values returned when running the default approval process

The approval rules and messages returned upon the receipt of signatures is configured in the process named SB Request Manager Approval in the Approval Server.

The Request Status signal parameter returns one of the following values:

You can test for these returned values, and insert exclusive gateways to direct the sequence flow based on conditions.

To troubleshoot issues

If the workflow triggers a Fault error in BMC Helix Digital Workplace, check the configuration. Most common configuration issues include:

• BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog and BMC Helix Digital Workplace are not configured to connect with each other. See Enabling-and-configuring-the-enhanced-catalog-for-BMC-Helix-Digital-Workplace.
• The Request Approval workflow has not been deployed.
• The BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog server needs to be restarted.

Required licensing

SaaS subscribers who use BMC Helix ITSM or BMC-Helix-Virtual-Agent-Basic-service are entitled to this feature.

Where to go from here

Calling-a-custom-approval-process