Parallel Workflow
In a parallel workflow, a change request is sent to multiple approvers parallelly in order to be approved. All approvers must approve the change request for the process to be completed. The approvers the change request is sent to are based on meeting whatever conditions are selected in the table in the opening parallel node. These conditions can be based on attribute values or attribute changes.
Create Opening Parallel Node
A parallel workflow may have additional approvers inserted into the process. For this reason, it has opening and closing nodes, to allow for additional approvers to be added between them if required.
- From the Change Request select the workflow position and Parallel Flow
- Enter Description for the Parallel Workflow (optional). If entered, the description will be included with the name of the workflow step for use in business rules and field properties.
Parallel Workflow Based on Attribute Values
The workflow may be configured to compare by attribute values or compare by attribute changes. If comparison by attribute values is required, follow these steps.
1. Compare by Attribute Values will already be selected as the default option. After attributes are added, this selection cannot be changed.
2. Add Attribute and Entity/Attribute to be used as the condition for the Parallel workflow. Select Add Column.
3. Select Add Rule Enter details for rule. Select to add additional rules. Enter the required information for each row.
- Attribute Value
- Approver Type
- Approver
- Step Type
For this Parallel workflow scenario, for each state selected, the change request will go to both approvers listed. Additional states and approvers may be added as required. If the value of the attribute RFE_POST in the change request is not given in the table, an error in the workflow process will result, so it is imperative that all possible values are included in the table.
Select , then select TR and Package to store the changes.
Parallel Workflow Based on Attribute Changes
If comparison by attribute changes is required, follow these steps.
1. Select Attribute Changes from the Compare By box. After attributes are added, this selection cannot be changed.
2. Add Rule and select Entity/Attribute to be used as the condition for the Parallel workflow. Repeat to add as many attributes as required. Enter the same attribute multiple times if multiple approvers are required for that condition.
3. Enter Approver Type, Approver, and Step Type for each row.
For this parallel workflow scenario, if the value of ACCRESPU changes before this point in the approval process, the change request will be routed to the approver in the first row. If the value of ACCFSTGRP changes, the change request will be routed to both of the approvers in the last two rows.
Select , then select TR and Package to store the changes.
Connect to the Closing Parallel Node
1. After saving the conditions, both the opening and closing nodes of the parallel workflow can be seen (here shown as A1 and A2). If required, additional approvers may be added from A1. The workflow will merge together at A2.
2. Connections from the Requestor node can be defined as described in the previous Standard Workflow.
3. Add connections from the opening parallel node (A1) to any additional approvers between A1 and A2, or directly to A2 if there are no other approvers between them.
In this case there are no additional approvers, so connections are made directly from A1 to A2. Select to create the parallel node connections.
Edit Action Targets:
- Assign a sign and status for each step sign, in this case
- Positive for CR approvals
- Negative for rejections that can be sent back to the Requestor for revision
- Select Save
Edit Merge Node Action Targets:
- Assign a sign and status for each step sign, in this case
- Positive for CR approvals
- Negative for rejections that can be sent back to the Requestor for revision
- Select Save
4. Create connections between the parallel merge node (A2) and any additional approvers, or to Activation. In this case there are no additional approvers.
5. Validate the workflow . A confirmation message will be displayed if a successful workflow path has been created.
6. Save to complete the workflow and generate BRF tables. Assign the TR and package to save the changes and activate the workflow.