Displaying approval requests from custom applications

Workflow for displaying approval requests

As an administrator, complete the tasks described in the following table to display approval requests from custom applications developed by using Developer Studio:

Before you begin

Make sure that you have configured the approval process for your custom application by completing the following steps in Mid Tier: 

Task 1: To create a rule that specifies the details you want to display in the approval request

By default, the approver name and the approval status is displayed in the details of an approval request. You select the Request ID and Summary fields to populate this information for end users. 

1. Open the AP:Administration form.
2. On the Rule tab, click Create.
   The  AP:Rule Definition form opens in New mode.

3. On the Basic tab, complete the fields as described in the following table: 
   
   

   Field	Description	Example
   Rule name	Enter a unique and meaningful name for the rule. Rule names can be up to 30 characters. For ease of administration, use a rule name that reflects the application or process, the rule type, the rule function, or some combination. Example: Display approval fields
   For process	Select the approval process that will be triggered by this rule.  Example: Simple-PTO is a process created in the custom application for PTO requests.
   Rule type	Select Prep Get Next Approver.  This rule gathers information to be used by the Get Next Approver rule. In the rule name; "prep" is an abbreviation for "prepare." This rule type uses the Set Fields action to assign values in certain fields.
   Order	Enter an execution order number (the default is 0). This number determines the execution sequence for this rule when two or more of the same rule type exist for a specific process. Example: 1
   Status	Select one of the following values: Inactive—While you are developing a set of rules for a process, it might be helpful to use the Inactive status. Inactive rules do not run when the process runs. Active—When you are ready to test your rules, change the status to Active.  If you save a rule with the Status field empty, the rule is saved as Active.

4. Click the Set Fields tab and complete the fields as described in the following table: 
   
   

   Field	Description	Example
   Set Fields Type	Select Value.
   Field name	Select the following IDs: 14516 14506
   Value	Set the format in which you want to display the Request ID and Summary fields for the end users.  Example:  The Request ID field can be displayed as $PTORequestID$ The Summary field can be displayed as $Application$ + ":" + $Short Description$

5. Click Save. 

You have selected the approval fields from which data is displayed for end users.
The following image shows how data is displayed from the sample custom application for a PTO request: 

Task 2: To enable approvals

BMC Helix Digital Workplace supports several types of approvals. You enable each type of approval request from the Admin console. To enable the Others type of approval for custom applications in Developer Studio, see To enable approval types. 

Task 3: To verify the approval type

1. As an administrator, log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio. 
2. On the Workspace tab, click Digital Workplace.
3. On the Records tab, click the checkbox next to the FeatureSettings record and click Edit Data.
4. Open the Approvals record instance. 
5. In the MetaData field, verify that the unknown type of applications are enabled in the query: 
   "supportedApprovalTypes":["change","knowledge","purchase","release","service_request","service_request_definition","sbe_request","on_hold_button","unknown"]
   
   The following image shows a sample record instance of Approvals: