Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2 What can workflow do? ........................................................................................................................ 2 Requirement ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Creating a Workflow ................................................................................................................................. 3 Adding a User Decision to the Workflow .............................................................................................. 3 Adding Activities to the Workflow ........................................................................................................ 6 Adding “Send E Mail” option to the Workflow ................................................................................... 11 Testing the Workflow .......................................................................................................................... 16 Assign Workflow to a System Event.................................................................................................... 18 Configuration Steps............................................................................................................................. 21
Introduction A workflow is an automated electronic representation of a Business Process. Main reasons why companies implement workflows are to improve the SPEED, CONSISTENCY and QUALITY of a business processes.
What can workflow do? Workflow is taking a process and automating it by:
Directing the tasks to the correct person when it needs to be directed.
Having the system do tasks where no-one needs to be involved.
Telling user what he has to do, and here’s the information needed to do it and this is where he has to add his data, etc
Making the process visible to everyone
Making sure that the process finishes on time (i.e. escalating processes) and that everyone is kept informed
Removing the task from task list when it’s done or no longer necessary
Transaction: SWDD IMG Path:
Select the Menu option – Workflow / New or
or Ctrl+Shift+F5
Requirement I’ll use an example to explain this Workflow. At the point of creating a New Material in SAP, user should get an E-Mail message to his SAP Business Work Place - Inbox. From the Inbox he should be able to view the message & select the options of whether to display that Material or not. If he selects “Display Material”, he should be able to view it via MM03. Create a new Material
E Mail at SAP Business Work Place
View Yes Material?
Yes
View the Material
Send an E mail
First we’ll create the Workflow and then assign it to the event of Material Creation.
Creating a Workflow Adding a User Decision to the Workflow Drag & drop the “User Decision” Step Type from “Step Types That Can Be Inserted” box to the “Undefined Double Click for new Step” in the “Graphical Model” area.
Then enter the Title, Decision Text & Outcome Text. o Title – which is appear in the Mail o Decision Text – Text appear in the Button caption of the Mail o Outcome Text – Text that appear in the Workflow Select the Agent as “Workflow Initiator” as the person responsible from the Drop down menu.
Now click on Now you can see the Workflow with the Decision box attached (Please refer the image below)
Now we need to give the relevant activities that should happen when selecting Yes & No options.
Adding Activities to the Workflow Now we’ll add an Activity to display the Material when selecting Yes option. Drag & Drop the Activity option to the “Yes” option.
Create a New Task to display that Material using the Task Drop Down menu.
Give a Task Abbreviation & Name in the “Standard Task: Create” screen
Select an Object Type & Method to display that Material in Object Method area using the List (F4). Since we are using an existing Object, keep Object Category as “BO BOR Object Type”
Press “Yes” for the below message.
Now you have to enter the Text that you can see in the Run time under Work Item text.
To add variables to that Message (Eg: Material No & Material Group, etc) you can use button option.
Eg: I need to add Material No & Material Group to that Message.
Select the button option
From the list select Material No.
To add the Material Group to the same message, use same button option
Final Message will look like this.
Save it Create it under relevant Package. (Eg: $TMP) To assign who is authorize to do that task; select the menu option. Additional Data / Agent Assignment / Maintain
Select the Task & click on Attributes button option,
In order to allow it for any user, select “General Task” option
Select
Select Back option.
Select
Now I need to assign who is authorized to do that task. Select Workflow Initiator from Agent Drop down.
option twice
in the following screen
Click on Based on above configuration, if I select the option “NO” I need to send an E Mail for that.
Let’s see how we can add “Send E Mail” option to the Work flow.
Adding “Send E Mail” option to the Workflow Events are usually some activity that has just happened in the system, for instance document saved, master record created, milestone reached, etc. Events are usually used to start a workflow, but they can also be used to stop a workflow or to confirm that a particular task is completed (e.g. to confirm that data has been saved to the database).
Drag & Drop “Send E Mail” option to the “No” area
Give a subject & Body text to the E Mail.
Click on button Give Task ID & a Name
Click on Give the relevant Package Name & save it.
If you want, you can modify the User decision question with variable as well.
To do so, go to the Workflow screen & double click on “User decision” option.
Then you’ll be in the “Workflow Builder” screen for that activity
To add Material No to the Title, enter “&” Sign in the place where you want it to appear & click on “Parameter 1” field. Select the “Material No” in the Object that you select earlier.
Once you do that, screen will look like this,
Click on
Now Click on Select Workflow Container option from the Drop Down.
Double click on your Object. Go to Properties tab & click on “Import” click
Now click on
Now you can check you workflow using
To Create & Activate Click on Give an ID & Name for the Workflow.
Click on Give the Package Name & Save it.
Testing the Workflow
Click on Click on the Object ID.
Click on the Select the Material from the List.
Now Execute it.
If everything is setup correctly, you’ll see the following screen.
If you select “Yes, I would” option, you’ll be able to view the Material. If you select the”No, Thanks” option, you can view the E Mail from the Business Work Place. Execute it again to test this. Select the “No, Thanks” option.
Now to check the E Mail generated, click on Go to your Inbox. You can see the E Mail in your Inbox.
button.
If these steps are working Ok, your Workflow is fine. Go back to the Workflow screen by clicking Back option twice. Now you can assign this workflow to a System Event. (At Material Creation)
Assign Workflow to a System Event
Go to Menu option, Go to / Basic Data.
Go to Start Event tab
Now I’m going to say, whenever a Material is created, I should get an E Mail message to view that message. Give Object Category, Object Type & Event of the Object from the List.
When a Material is created, I should get an E Mail.
Activate that using
Then Click on
Click on Now Save it. Select Back option.
Activate the Workflow using button. Now you have completed the Workflow. To test this Workflow, you need to create a Material in the system. Using MM01, create a new Material in the System. Go the Business Work Place using Menu option, Menu / Business Workplace or Button option
Now you can see you have got a new Message under Workflow in you Inbox.
button. button.
Select the message & press “Execute” option to go to user decision screen. (See the figure below)
Now based on the selection option you can view the Material or can receive a E Mail for not viewing that Material.
If I select “Yes, I would”, I can view the Material.
If I select “No, Thanks” option, you’ll get a E Mail based on the Workflow settings.
Please Note that this is just a simple test scenario to explain how you can use Workflows in SAP.
Configuration Steps Relevant configuration steps can be done in following path in SPRO. (Please do a research on this area)
Author: Anupa Wijesinghe E-Mail:
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Disclaimer This article is done based on my research and readings, unless otherwise stated. The views expressed are my own and not of anyone else. Author accepts no liability for the content of the articles in this website or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. Using this information is at the users own discretion and responsibility.
