Practical Workfolow for SAP
The administrator plays a key role in the success of the workflow and on publishing this sucess to the stakeholders. although very little time needs to be spent on these duties, awareness of these duties is important and they must be taken seriously. If a problem does arise, the adminstrator will need to resolve it quickly and confidently.
Preface from the Industry................................ 17
Preface from SAP........................................... 21
Who Should Read This Book?........................ 23
Acknowledgements....................................... 25
Part 1
Using SAP Supplied Workflows..................... 27
1 Introduction to SAP's WebFlow Engine........ 29
1.1 What is SAP's WebFlow Engine?.............. 29
1.2 Workflow or WebFlow?.......................... 32
1.3 Can I Do Without SAP's WebFlow Engine?....... 33
1.4 In Which Situations Should I use SAP's WebFlow Engine?.............. 35
1.4.1 Primary Factors........................................................ 35
1.5 High-Level Overview of What Can be Achieved With SAP's WebFlow Engine .............40
1.6 Brief Overview of Features............................................. 41
1.6.1 Robust Integration into the mySAP.com Components.................. 41
1.6.2 Graphical Workflow Builder........................................ 42
1.6.3 Graphical Status Visualization...................................... 42
1.6.4 Routing Mechanisms................................................. 43
1.6.5 Deadline/Escalation Management............................... 43
1.6.6 Synchronization Management................................... 43
1.6.7 Integration with Groupware Products and mySAP.com............ 44
1.6.8 Ad Hoc Process Enhancers (Queries, Attachments, Forwarding)........... 44
1.6.9 Integration with Other Systems Across the Internet................................ 44
1.6.10 Desktop Integration (Microsoft Word, Lotus SmartSuite, etc.)............. 44
1.6.11 Information System........................................................... 45
1.6.12 Robust Extensible Architecture........................................ 45
1.7 Summary.................................................................... 46
2 Requirements Gathering Strategy...................................... 49
2.1 Introduction .............................................................49
2.2 Understanding the Business Process........................... 50
2.2.1 Business Drivers for the Process................................ 51
2.2.2 Expected Benefits of Workflow................................. 53
2.2.3 How Does the Process Work in Theory?................ 54
2.2.4 How Does the Process Work in Practice?................. 55
2.2.5 Unions and Workers Councils.................................. 56
2.3 Gathering Object Data.................................................. 57
2.3.1 What Data is Needed by Workflow.............................. 57
2.3.2 Where to Look for Data............................................... 58
2.3.3 What Data Already Exists........................................ 59
2.3.4 Making the Most of the Data Collected............................ 59
2.4 Determining the Agents .....................................................62
2.4.1 Who are Your Agents?................................................ 63
2.4.2 Criteria for Finding Agents................................... 64
2.5 Determining Work Item Delivery Routes............................. 66
2.6 Confirming the Workflow Design........................................... 67
2.7 Workflow Administration ....................................................69
2.8 Planning for Production Start.............................................. 69
2.9 Planning for Future Enhancements...................................... 70
3 Configuring the System........................................................ 73
3.1 Quick Start: Configure SAP's WebFlow Engine in seconds...... 74
3.1.1 Automatic Workflow Customizing.................................... 74
3.1.2 What Auto-Customizing Does............................................ 76
3.1.3 IMG-Activities for Authorization Management..................... 80
3.2 Workflow-Scenarios: Task Specific Customizing........................ 81
3.2.1 Maintaining the Organizational Plan........................................... 81
3.2.2 Agent Assignment for Tasks.................................................... 81
3.2.3 Activating the triggering events for a workflow or a task............ 81
3.3 Transport and Client Copy........................................................ 82
3.3.1 Transport of Cross-Client Tasks ............................................82
3.3.2 Transport of Client-Specific Tasks ........................................82
3.3.3 Transport of Settings for Tasks and Workflows .......................82
3.3.4 Transporting a Workflow Definition ...........................................83
3.3.5 Client Copy ...............................................................................83
3.4 Overview: Customizing for SAP's WebFlow Engine......................... 83
4 Work Item Delivery ...................................................................85
4.1 The Human Factor ..................................................................85
4.2 Inbox Features......................................................................... 87
4.2.1 Work Item Text..................................................................... 88
4.2.2 Attachments........................................................................... 91
4.2.3 Reserving and Replacing a Work Item...................................... 92
4.2.4 Executing a Work Item............................................................ 93
4.2.5 Synchronous Dialog Chains........................................................ 95
4.2.6 Multiple Execution..................................................................... 97
4.2.7 Executing a Work Item Outside the Inbox..................................... 97
4.2.8 Forwarding ..............................................................................98
4.2.9 Priority.................................................................................... 99
4.2.10 Resubmission................................................................... 99
4.2.11 Queries............................................................................... 99
4.2.12 Logs................................................................................. 99
4.2.13 Preview Mode ....................................................................101
4.2.14 Enhancing the Work Item Display........................................... 101
4. 2.15 Outbox...................................................................................... 102
4.2.16 Rejecting Work Items............................................................... 102
4.3 Table of Features Available in the Principle Inboxes............................. 103
4.4 Successful Strategies for Work Item Delivery.................................... 104
4.4.1 E-Mail Notifications ........................................................................104
4.4.2 Groupware Integration ..................................................................105
4.4.3 Portal Integration .........................................................................105
4.4.4 External Users ......................................................................106
4.4.5 E-Mail Decisions ..............................................................108
4.5 Other Considerations ..............................................................109
5 Agents......................................................................... 111
5.1 Understanding Agent Assignment.................................. 112
5.1.1 Possible Agents .........................................................113
5.1.2 Responsible Agents ....................................................115
5.1.3 Excluded Agents ..........................................................117
5.1.4 Recipients..................................................................... 117
5.1.5 Actual Agent .................................................................118
5.1.6 Assigning Multiple Agents per Work Item .........................118
5.1.7 Deadline and Notification Agents ......................................119
5.2 Agent Assignment Using the Organizational Structure ..............120
5.2.1 The Basic Organizational Plan .............................................121
5.2.2 The Extended Organizational Plan .........................................124
5.2.3 Doing without an organizational plan .......................................125
5.3 Agent Assignment Using Task Groups ........................................126
5.4 Implementing and Maintaining the Structure in Practice ................127
5.4.1 Strategies for Organization Plan Maintenance ............................127
5.4.2 Transporting Organization Plans .................................................128
5.4.3 Reassigning Work Items from One User to Another ......................129
5.4.4 Substituting Users .............................................................130
5.4.5 When Do You Choose to Refresh the Org Environment? ................131
5.4.6 Training and Encouraging Agents ...................................................132
6 Workflow Administration ....................................................................133
6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................133
6.2 Reporting on Workflows ...................................................................134
6.2.1 Reporting on Workflow Progress ..................................................135
6.2.2 Reporting on Workflow Performance .......................................135
6.2.3 Work Items by Processing Duration ......................................136
6.2.4 Work Items with Monitored Deadlines ...............................137
6.2.5 Work Items per Task ....................................................137
6.2.6 Reporting on Agent Behavior ...............................................137
6.2.7 Identifying and Justifying Potential Improvements .................138
6.3 Error Resolution .........................................................................139
6.4 General Techniques for Resolving Runtime Errors ..........................141
6.4.1 Basic Settings for Error Monitoring .............................................141
6.4.2 Finding and Fixing Work Items .................................................142
6.4.3 Working with the Work Item Display .........................................143
6.4.4 How to Work with the Work Item Container Display .................147
6.4.5 Working with the Workflow Log ............................................147
6.5 Resolving Agent Determination Errors .......................................152
6.5.1 Fixing Work Items with No or Wrong Agents ..........................153
6.5.2 Preventing Agent Determination Problems from Reoccurring... 154
6.5.3 Support Tools for Agent Determination Problems .................155
6.6 Resolving Buffering Errors (The Cinderella Principle) ..........155
6.6.1 Fixing Work Items with Buffering Problems .................156
6.6.2 Preventing Buffering Problems From Reoccurring........ 157
6.6.3 Support Tools for Buffering Problems ....................157
6.7 Other Support Tools ............................................158
6.8 Help-Desk in the Intranet ..................................159
6.8.1 Web-based Help Desks .................................159
6.8.2 Self Help .....................................................160
6.9 Day in the Life of a Workflow Administrator ......................161
6.9.1 Who Should be the Workflow Administrator? ......................162
6.9.2 Who Makes the Business Decisions in the Event of Failure? ..........164
6.9.3 Crisis Response ...............................................................166
6.9.4 Day-to-Day Monitoring ...................................................167
6.9.5 Periodic Reality Checks ............................................168
6.9.6 Housekeeping and Archiving ....................................169
6.9.7 Making the Most of a Precious Resource.................. 170
Part 2
Developing Your Own Workflows .......................................173
7 Creating a Workflow .....................................................175
7.1 Introduction ..................................................................175
7.2 Workflow Builder Basics ..............................................176
7.2.1 Look and Feel of the Workflow Builder .......................176
7.2.2 Building Your First Workflow .......................................178
7.2.3 Saving, Activating and Testing .......................................180
7.2.4 Deadline Monitoring ..................................................................182
7.2.5 Creating Container Elements in the Workflow Container .....................184
7.2.6 Changing Container Elements .......................................................186
7.3 Intermediate Workflow Builder (Steps, Tasks and Objects) ....................187
7.3.1 How to Access Data and Activities .......................................187
7.3.2 How to Create and Use Tasks ............................................190
7.3.3 How to Create Containers and Bindings for Tasks ...............194
7.3.4 Using Asynchronous Tasks .................................................195
7.4 Advanced Workflow Builder—Step Definitions .......................197
7.4.1 What Other Step Types Exist? ...............................................197
7.4.2 How to Insert New Steps ........................................................199
7.4.3 What Kinds of Outcomes Exist? ................................................200
7.4.4 Containers and Bindings in Depth ..............................................201
7.4.5 Which Task and Step Attributes Affect Work Item Execution? ....................205
7.4.6 How to Influence the Generation and Termination of the Work Item............ 206
7.5 Advanced Workflow Builder—Special Workflow Techniques ............206
7.5.1 Reusing Workflows as Subworkflows .........................................206
7.5.2 How to Use a Modeled Deadline? ............................................208
7.5.3 How to Implement Parallel Processing ....................................210
7.5.4 Linking Workflows Within or Between Systems........................ 214
7.5.5 How to Influence a Currently Executing Workflow ..................214
7.5.6 Ad-Hoc Features to Change Workflows on the Fly ..................215
7.5.7 Documenting Workflow Definitions ...........................216
7.5.8 Translating a Workflow into Other Languages ...........................216
7.5.9 Transporting New Versions of a Workflow ...............217
7.5.10 How Do You Share Workflow Development Within a Team? ..........218
8 Business Objects ...............................................................219
8.1 Business Object Basics .......................................................220
8.1.1 Business Objects: Some Basic terminology ............................222
8.1.2 Relationships Between Business Objects ...............................223
8.1.3 Business Object Tools ........................................................225
8.1.4 Viewing Existing Business Object Types .................................227
8.2 Creating your own Business Object Types ..............................236
8.2.1 Extending Existing Object Types Via Delegation ....................240
8.3 Creating Business Object Type Components ........................241
8.3.1 Creating Key fields ........................................242
8.3.2 Creating Attributes .........................................243
8.3.3 Creating Methods .........................................246
8.3.4 Creating Events ..........................................254
8.4 Business Object Type Programming .........................255
8.4.1 Key fields and the Object Declaration ......................256
8.4.2 Programming Attributes ..............................................258
8.4.3 Programming Methods .................................................265
8.5 Some useful predefined Object Types ................................270
8.5.1 Object Type SELFITEM ................................................270
8.5.2 Object Type WF_TASK .................................................271
8.5.3 Object type SYSTEM ..................................................271
8.5.4 Object Type FORMABSENC ........................................272
8.5.5 Object type USR01 ....................................................272
9 Agent-Determination Rules ...................................................273
9.1 Determining Agents Through Rule Resolution ........................273
9.2 Rule Basics......................................................................... 274
9.3 Agent Determination Rule Resolution in the Workflow Step ...........278
9.4 What Happens If Rule Resolution Has No Result ...................279
9.5 Responsibility Rules ...............................................................281
9.6 Evaluation paths as rules ..............................................285
9.7 Function Modules as Rules ......................................................286
9.8 SAP Organizational Objects as Rules ........................................291
9.9 Other Options for Responsible Agent Assignment ...................293
10 Business Interfaces ...........................................................295
10.1 Introduction ..................................................................295
10.2 Understanding Events ........................................................295
10.3 Defining Events ..................................................................297
10.4 Raising Events from Business Applications ..................................297
10.4.1 Raising Events Via Change Documents .................................299
10.4.2 Raising Events Via Status Changes ......................................300
10.4.3 Raising Events Via Message Control ...................................301
10.4.4 Events Raised by Changes to HR Master Data ..................302
10.4.5 Events Raised Via Business Transaction Events ...............303
10.4.6 Raising Events by Calling a Workflow API .......................304
10.5 Using Events in Workflows ................................................304
10.5.1 How to Use Events in Workflows ......................................304
10.5.2 Triggering events ............................................................305
10.5.3 Terminating Events ..........................................................309
10.5.4 Event Queues ............................................................312
10.6 Generic Object Services ................................................313
10.6.1 Starting Workflows Manually ...............................................314
10.6.2 Viewing the Logs of Related Workflows ................................316
10.6.3 Subscribe to an Object Instance ..........................................316
10.6.4 Sending a Mail ..................................................................316
10.7 Starting Workflows from Messages ..........................................317
11 E-Process Interfaces............................ 319
11.1Internet and Beyond .........................319
11.2 Wf-XML ................................................................................320
11.2.1 A Collaborative Scenario Example .........................................321
11.2.2 The History of Wf-XML .................................................323
11.2.3 What You Can Do with Wf-XML ....................................323
11.2.4 Configuring the System .............................................................324
11.2.5 SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) .........................................327
11.2.6 Allowing Your Workflow to Be Started by a Wf-XML Message ...........327
11.2.7 Viewing the Wf-XML Documents as the Workflow Proceeds............. 328
11.3 Inside-Out: Web Services .................................................329
11.3.1 Parameter Transfer .......................................................332
11.3.2 Callback Services ........................................................332
11.3.3 SOAP .........................................................................333
11.3.4 WSDL (Web Services Description Language) ..................334
11.3.5 Defining a Service ........................................................334
11.3.6 How the User Calls the Web Service ...............................339
11.4 Inside-Out: SAP Business Connector ...................................339
11.4.1 Business Connector Methods ......................................339
11.4.2 XML Generation for Wf-XML Content ......................340
11.5 Inside-out: Integration With Other Systems ..................340
11.6 Outside-in: Calling APIs to the WebFlow Engine............ 340
11.6.1 SAP_WAPI Calls ......................................340
11.7 Outside-in: Wf-XML ..............................340
11.8 E-Process Security Issues ...................................341
11.9 Other Options for Communicating with External Systems .........343
12 Forms ..................................................345
12.1 Introduction ...................................345
12.2 Simple Forms ..............................346
12.3 WebForms ................................349
12.4 WebForms That Call an Internet Application Component................ 351
12.5 Native WebForms .......................................................352
12.6 PC Document Forms (Including Microsoft Word)............. 354
13 Custom Programs ............................................357
13.1 The Engine ................................................357
13.1.1 Work Items ..............................................357
13.1.2 Container ..............................................360
13.1.3 Events .......................................................362
13.1.4 Work Item States ...............................................................362
13.2 The Workflow APIs ...................................................................364
13.2.1 WAPI (Workflow Application Programming Interfaces) .........................365
13.2.2 Function Modules .......................................................................368
13.3 Advanced Business Interface Techniques ..........................................368
13.3.1 When Should I Start a Workflow with an Event? ..........................368
13.3.2 Raising Events by Calling a Function Module .............................370
13.3.3 Advanced Event Linkage......................................................... 375
13.3.4 Adding Generic Object Services to Your Own Transactions ....................378
13.3.5 Implementing the Workflow Toolbox in Your Own Transactions .............379
13.4 Office Document Interfaces .....................................................................380
13.5 Configuring RFC Destinations ............................................................382
14 Advanced Diagnostics .....................................................................383
14.1 The Tools of the Trade............................................................... 383
14.2 The Diagnosis Logs ....................................................................384
14.2.1 The Workflow Log ...............................................................384
14.2.2 The Event Trace............................................................... 385
14.2.3 The Workflow Trace .........................................................387
14.2.4 The RFC Log .................................................................390
14.2.5 The XML log .................................................................390
14.3 Debugging with the ABAP Debugger .................................390
14.4 The Diagnosis Transaction .............................................391
14.5 An Apple a Day ..............................................................393
14.5.1 Testing New or Changed Workflows .............................393
Part 3
Examples of the Use of WebFlow in mySAP.com ....................397
15 WebFlow in Enterprise Buyer Professional ........................399
15.1 Workflow in EBP .......................................................399
15.1.1 Standard EBP WebFlow Features ..............................400
15.1.2 EBP Shopping Cart Approval Versus R/3 Backend Requisition Release Strategy................ 404
15.1.3 Configuring the WebFlow Engine for EBP ..........................................407
15.1.4 Special Patterns and Techniques in EBP Workflows ................................408
15.2 Changing Shopping Cart Approval Workflows ...................................412
15.2.1 Creating Your Own Start Condition Criteria ......................................412
15.2.2 Creating Your Own Shopping Cart Approvers ................................413
15.2.3 Finding Agents Via Backend Rules/Organizational Plans .....................416
15.2.4 Adding More Approval Levels ...................................................417
15.2.5 Parallel and Dynamic Approvals .................................................418
15.2.6 Commissioning/Decommissioning Workflows ................................418
15.3 Changing Confirmation and Invoice Approvals ...............................419
15.3.1 Changing the Auto-Approval Criteria and/or the Approvers .........419
15.3.2 Changing the Administrator ..................................................419
15.4 User Approval Workflows........................................................ 420
15.4.1 Adding Another Approver ......................................................420
15.5 Understanding the Procurement Card Reconciliation Workflow........ 420
15.6 Tracking Workflow Instances ..................................................421
15.7 Advanced Troubleshooting and Solutions.................................... 421
15.8 Basics of EBP Architecture from a Workflow Perspective............ 423
15.9 Business Object Types ....................................................426
16 WebFlow in mySAP CRM ..................................................429
16.1 mySAP CRM and Workflow............................................. 429
16.1.1 Some Technical Observations..................................... 429
16.1.2 mySAP CRM from a Workflow Viewpoint ..................430
16.2 Customizing .......................................................432
16.3 'Specials' of mySAP CRM ..............................432
16.3.1 BUS20001 (Business transaction), OneOrder Concept ............433
16.3.2 Starting Workflows Via Actions .......................................435
16.3.3 Partner Processing .........................................................436
16.4 Using Your Own Workflows with mySAP CRM .....................436
17 Setting Up an SAP-Provided R/3 Workflow .............................439
17.1 Introduction ........................................................................439
17.2 What is the Business Scenario?................................................ 440
17.3 Which SAP Workflows are Involved? .....................................441
17.4 How is the Workflow Started? ...............................................442
17.5 How Do I Activate This Scenario? .........................................442
18 WebFlow and ArchiveLink ...................................................447
18.1 Intelligent Organization and Distribution of Business Documents............. 447
18.2 What Is ArchiveLink ..........................................................447
18.2.1 The Technical View of ArchiveLink .................................447
18.2.2 The Business View of ArchiveLink .................................449
18.3 ArchiveLink Standard Scenarios ........................................450
18.3.1 How WebFlow Integrates ArchiveLink ...........................451
18.4 Business Object Types .......................................453
Appendix ..................................................................455
A Tips and Tricks ..........................................................457
A.1 Working with Wizards .........................................457
A.2 Working with E-Mails ..........................................458
A.2.1 The Send Mail Step ............................................459
A.2.2 Working With Attachments.................................... 461
A.2.3 Determining Recipients Via Rule Resolution................ 462
A.2.4 Offline Work Item Execution Via E-Mail .................463
A.2.5 Customizing Considerations ..................................465
A.3 Showing the Decision Maker in a Follow-On Step ......466
A.4 URLs in the Work Item Display ..............................467
A.5 Creating your Own User Decision Template ............468
A.6 Using Secondary, Before, and After Methods ...........468
A.6.1 Secondary Methods ............................................468
A.6.2 Before and After Methods...................................... 470
A.7 Looping Through a Multiline List ...............................471
A.8 Creating Object References Dynamically ...........................472
A.9 Deadlines Based on the Factory Calendar ..........................472
A.9.1 Creating the Deadline Object .....................................473
A.9.2 Using the Deadline Object in Your Workflow ...............476
A.10 Making the Most of Modeled Deadlines .....................477
A.10.1 Taking Alternative Action ....................................477
A.10.2 Modeled Deadlines for (Repeated) Notifications ..........477
B Checklists ..................................................................479
B.1 Gathering Requirements.......................................... 479
B.2 Return on Investment (ROI).................................. 484
B.3 Quality Assurance Design Review ........................488
B.4 Verification Tests ..............................................493
B.5 Quality Assurance Implementation Review........... 496
B.6 Going Live .............................................501
B.7 Housekeeping ...........................................503
C Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Guide ......................................505
C.1 A Workflow That Does Not Start ..........................................505
C.2 A Workflow that Stops in Mid-Track .......................................509
C.3 The Most Likely Causes (and How to Avoid Them).................. 510
C.4 Binding Problems with the Workflow Trace .............................514
C.5 Why Duplicate or Multiple Workflows are Triggered................... 515
C.6 Why an Agent Does Not Receive a Work Item ......................516
C.7 Why the Wrong Agent Receives the Work Item ..................517
C.8 Why the Work Item Follows the Wrong Route............ 518
D A dministrator's First Aid Guide .........................................519
D.1 Resolving Work Item Errors ............................................519
D.2 Resolving Workflow Instance Errors.................................. 523
D.3 Finding Workflows That Appear to Have Disappeared............ 525
D.4 Resolving Event Linkage Errors ...................................525
D.5 Resolving Internet-Specific Errors ................................529
E Workflow Macros ..........................................................531
E.1 Macros Specific to Object Type Programs ...................531
E.2 Macros for General Workflow Programming................ 532
F SAP Workflow Training ..............................535
F.1 BC600 Workflow Introduction...................535
F.2 BC601 Build and Use Workflows ..............535
F.3 BC610 Workflow Programming................. 535
F.4 BIT603 Web Scenarios and the WebFlow Engine ......536
F.5 TAWF10 Workflow Academy ...............................536
F.6 Further Information ....................................................536
G Glossary ..................................................................537
Authors ........................................................................545
Index ...........................................................................547
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