Defining Auto Approval rules

An Auto Approval rule determines whether the request can be automatically approved at the time it is submitted, without action from any approver, and regardless of the submitter's signature authority. Automatic approval occurs when an approval request transaction passes any Auto Approval rule included in the process.

Creating Auto Approval rules is optional. If you do not define an Auto Approval rule, no automatic approval occurs. Auto Approval rules cannot use values retrieved from forms other than the current request. To retrieve values from another form, use a Self Approval rule. For more information, see Defining-Self-Approval-rules.

If an Auto Approval rule's condition is met, the request moves directly to the Process Done stage. When an approval request meets the criteria in an Auto Approval rule, the Approval Server sets the rule state to Approved in the Detail record. This action activates an Approval Process Done rule.

Related topics

Defining-approval-rules

Defining-Self-Approval-rules

To define an Auto Approval rule

  1. Complete the basic information about the rule; for more information, see Creating-rules.
    • In the Rule Type field, select Auto Approval.
    • Write a rule condition to test for a specific field value from the approval request form, for example, checking whether the value for an Estimated Total field is less than $15.00.
  2. (Optional) Enter an Audit Text message.
    This message is written to the audit log when the condition for this rule passes. The audit text can include embedded field references that are filled when the rule condition passes. If you do not enter an audit message, a default message is written to the audit log.
  3. Click Save to save your changes.

Example of an Auto Approval rule

The following figure illustrates an Auto Approval rule. In this example from the Lunch Scheduler sample application, the value in the Estimated Total field of the approval request form is tested to see whether it is less than $15. If this rule passes, the customized audit trail message in the Audit Text box is written to the audit log.

 Example of an Auto Approval rule
22_1_approval_rule_auto_approval.png

 

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