Defining the status of change requests using the Status Flow tab
The states (and lifecycle) of change requests are completely dependent on the settings defined in the Status and Status Reason fields on the Status Flow tab of the Approval Process Configuration form. When the Status and Status Reason fields for the change requests match the value specified in the Begin column, the approval process starts.
Whenever there is a change in the Status and Status Reason fields for a change request, the workflow searches the Approval Process Configuration form to see if there are any approval configuration records for the current process combination. If a configuration record is found, the process name is returned to the change request and the application command to the Approval Server to start the approval process is issued.
When the approval process starts, the Status and Status Reason fields are locked to prevent further changes to the change request record until there is a decision (approved or rejected) from the approvers.
Approval configuration records are defined for change requests by company, so you can configure several configuration records as needed.
The following table describes the approval states:
Approval state | Description |
|---|---|
Begin | This state is an indicator to the Approval Server for starting the approval process. By default, the Review phase does not begin until the change request reaches the status of Request for Authorization. |
Approved | If one or all approvers have approved the change request, the Approval Server changes the Status and Status Reason fields values on the change request to match the values configured here. By default, if the change is approved in the Review phase, it then moves to the status of Request For Change. At that time, the locked Status and Status Reason fields on those records are unlocked and the records go through the rest of their lifecycle. The Approved state is based on the rules set up in the Approval Server (in the AP:Rule Definition form). To access the AP:Rule Definition form from the AP:Administration Console, click the Rule tab, select a rule, and then click View. For more information about rules in the Approval Server, see Approval rules in the Action Request System documentation. For auto-approvals, the change moves to the status selected in this field, and not to the status selected under No Approvers state. |
Rejected | This state defines the values of the Status and Status Reasons fields for change requests if a record is rejected. |
No Approvers | If the Approval Server does not find any of the mapped approvers, the Status and Status Reason field values on the two forms are changed to the values specified. For the Change Ad Hoc process and Change Management Chain process, the No Approval state transition does not apply. If approvers are not found, the change moves to the Pending state with the status reason of Approval Error. For example, if for an Ad Hoc process, if the Change Manager is not defined, we get an error. |