Defining Self Approval rules

A Self Approval rule determines whether an approval request can be approved based on an attribute of the requester, such as signature authority. Self approval is immediate and simply tests whether the approval request meets the defined criteria.

A Self Approval rule differs from an Auto Approval rule in that Self Approval rules can use values retrieved from another form. Self Approval rules usually depend on a Get Authority Self or Get Authority rule to retrieve a value from another form. For example, a Get Authority Self rule can retrieve the signature authority value for the requester and write the value to a temporary field on the AP:Signature form. This action makes the signature authority value available for use by a Self Approval rule.

When an approval request meets the criteria in a Self Approval rule, the request moves directly to the Process Done stage. The Approval Server sets the rule state to Approved in the Detail record, which activates an Approval Process Done rule.

Related topics

Defining-actions-for-a-rule

Creating-a-rule

To define a Self Approval rule

  1. Complete the basic information about the rule if not done already; for more information, see Creating-a-rule.
    • In the Rule Type field, select Self Approval from the list.
    • Build a condition statement that tests for a specific field value to determine whether the rule passes. The condition can reference any value of the current approval request or any values retrieved by a Get Authority or Get Authority Self rule.
      For example, test to see whether a signature authority field value is $100.00 and the total approval request amount is less than or equal to $100.00.
  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 leave the Audit Text field blank, a default message is written to the audit log.
  3. Click Save.

Example of a Self Approval rule

The following figure shows an example of a Self Approval rule from the Lunch Scheduler sample application. In this example, the rule condition is a statement comparing the value in the Estimated Total field of the approval request with the value in a temporary field (Temp Decimal 1) on the AP:Signature form, and the value 200.

For this Self Approval rule to work, a Get Authority Self or a Get Authority rule must also be included in the process to retrieve the value for the temporary field. In this example, the temporary field value is a signature authority value pulled from the AP-Sample:Signature Authority form by a Get Authority rule. The Estimated Total field is located on the approval request form (AP-Sample:Lunch Scheduler).

In addition to the rule condition, this sample rule includes a customized audit trail message to be written to the audit log when the rule passes.

Example of a Self Approval rule

22_1_approval_rule_self_approval.png


 

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