Configuring an approval process

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

The system automatically approves approval requests that have self-approval process without requiring an approver to approve it.   For more information, see Configuring-self-approval-process. Conversely, an approval process determines the specific person or group that is required to approve a request.

An approval process varies depending on how your organization configures and implements it.

Related topics

Approvals

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

23_3_Configuring_approval_process.png

The following video (2:44) demonstrates how to create approval flows.

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

icon_play.png https://youtu.be/7mjz5BmQ9D0

To configure 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 Approval configurations UI, select Approval Flows > New Flow Group.

  5. In the New Flow Group, enter the new flow group name in Flow group name field, and click Add.
    A flow group contains single or multiple approval flows. You can create one or multiple approval flow groups.

    Important

    After the Flow Group is created, go to the approval process and under Element Properties > Flow Group Name, enter this flow group name. Make sure that the approval process is in the Enabled state. For more information, see Approval-processes.

  6. From the Selected flow group list, select one of the following options:

    • New level up flow:

      New General Flow

      If you want to create a general approval flow or process chaining, specify the following parameters:

      Field

      Description

      Flow name

      Enter a name for the new general flow.

      Qualification

      Define an expression to configure the conditions based on which the approval flow should be executed.

      To define an expression, perform the following actions:

      1. Click Click to build an expression.
      2. From the list of Available Values, click Record Definition.

      3. 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 expression. To use associations, expand Associations and select the record data.

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

      4. Click OK.

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

      Approvers

      Select approvers by using the Foundation data. You can set multiple approvers for one request. 

      You can select approvers by filtering specific approvers by functional roles, company, people data, or from the list of fields on the record definition in the Available Approvers list. This method enables you to narrow your selection by limiting the approvers and avoiding selection of an entire group or organization.

      Important: The approval request is sent only to the approvers who have their status as Enabled. If an approver is deleted after the approval request is generated, the approval request is not sent to that approver.

      1. To select an approver, click Edit.

        In the Select Approvers dialog box, only users with the Enabled status appear in the approver list.

      2. Select the following options based on your preferences:
        • Functional Roles: Select the specific approvers from the list of functional roles.
        • Company: Select the specific approvers from the company, support company, department, or organization.
        • People: Select the specific approvers from the list of People data.

        • Field Identifying Approval: Select the field on the record definition in the Available Approvers list.

          During runtime, the field value is assigned as the approver.
          Important          : If you select a record definition field as the approver, you cannot modify the approver after you save the approval flow.

      3. Click Next Select approvers arrow.png.
      4. Click Save.

      Qualify approvers

      Define an expression to select approvers.

      To define a qualification that will select approvers, perform the following actions:

      1. Click Click to build an expression.
      2. From the list of Available Values, click Person to create an expression by using the person attributes. 
      3. Click OK.

      Important: The approval request is sent to the approvers who have their status as Enabled. If an approver is deleted after the approval request is generated, the approval request is not sent to that approver.

      If Multiple Approvers

      Select one of the following options:

      • One Must Approve—Use this option when only one of the approvers needs to approve the request.
      • All Must Approve—Use this option when all approvers must approve the request.
      • N% Must Approve—Use this option when a specific percentage of approvers must approve the request.

      Value of N%

      Select the percentage of approvers that must approve the request.For example, if the request is sent to five approvers and you have specified the percentage as 60, the request is approved only after any three approvers approve the request.

      This option is displayed only if you select the N% Must Approve option from the If Multiple Approvers field.

      Important: If the result of the percentage is a decimal value, the result gets converted to the nearest integer value.

      For example, if the result of the N% is 3.5, the request is approved only after any four approvers approve the request.

      Process to invoke on flow outcome action section

      On approve

      From the list, select the process that you want to be run if the approval status is approved.

      On rejection

      From the list, select the process that you want to be run if the approval status is rejected.

      On error

      From the list, select the process that you want to be run if the approval status is errored.

    • New level up flow

      New level up flow

      •  If you want to create a level-up approval flow, specify the following fields:

        Field

        Description

        Flow name

        Enter a name for the new level-up approval flow.

        No of Levels

        Enter the number of levels the approval request must go through.

        Qualification

        Define an expression to configure the conditions based on which the approval flow should be executed.

        To define an expression, perform the following actions:

        1. Click Click to build an expression.
        2. From the list of Available Values, click Record Definition.
        3. Select the record field or associated record field on which you would want to build an expression.
        4. Click Save.

        Important: The approval request is sent to the approvers who have their status as Enabled. If an approver is deleted after the approval request is generated, the approval request is not sent to that approver.

        Process to invoke on flow outcome action section

        On approve

        From the list, select the process that you want to be run if the approval status is approved.

        On rejection

        From the list, select the process that you want to be run if the approval status is rejected.

        On error

        From the list, select the process that you want to be run if the approval status is errored.

  7. Click Save.

Where to go from here

Action

Reference

Create notifications when an approval request is approved, rejected, reassigned; an error exists in an approval signature; and so on.


 

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