BIT600

SAP Workflow – Concepts, Inboxes,

Reporting, and Working with
Delivered Templates

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PARTICIPANT HANDBOOK
INSTRUCTOR-LED TRAINING
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Course Version: 16
Course Duration: 2 Day(s)
e-book Duration: 13 Hours 30 Minutes
Material Number: 50146321
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Typographic Conventions

American English is the standard used in this handbook.

The following typographic conventions are also used.

This information is displayed in the instructor’s presentation

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Related or Additional Information

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© Copyright. All rights reserved. iv
Contents

vi Course Overview

1 Unit 1: Introduction

2 Lesson: Workflows: Concept, Terminology, Example Use

9 Lesson: The Five Basic Characteristics of a Business Process

23 Unit 2: Organizational Structure

24 Lesson: Organizational Management

31 Lesson: Creating an Organizational Plan

42 Unit 3: SAP Workflows

43 Lesson: Finding, Adjusting, and Using SAP Workflows

56 Unit 4: Customizing

57 Lesson: Basic Customizing of the Workflow Engine

69 Unit 5: Business Workplace

70 Lesson: Functions of the Business Workplace

83 Lesson: Alternatives to the Business Workplace

105 Unit 6: Workflow Architecture

106 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Standard Tasks

114 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Workflow Templates

126 Unit 7: Monitoring and Analysis

127 Lesson: Exploring Specific Transactions for Runtime Monitoring

136 Lesson: Using the Workflow Log

143 Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

144 Lesson: Enhancing SAP Workflows

148 Lesson: Configuring Workflows
153 Lesson: Using Workflows at Your Company
159 Lesson: Explaining Workflow Roles
161 Lesson: Explaining SAP Authorizations
162 Lesson: Explaining Steps of a Workflow Project
167 Lesson: Exploring Transaction Codes and Menu Paths

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Course Overview

TARGET AUDIENCE
This course is intended for the following audiences:

Application Consultant

Business Process Owner/Team Lead/Power User

Developer

Development Consultant

Enterprise Architect

Executive

Help Desk/CoE Support

Industry Specialist

Program/Project Manager

Solution Architect

Technology Consultant

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 UNIT 1 Introduction

Lesson 1
Workflows: Concept, Terminology, Example Use 2

Lesson 2
The Five Basic Characteristics of a Business Process 9

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Explain Workflows: Concept, Terminology, Example Use

Use the basic terminology of the Workflow Engine

Cite criteria that help determine whether it makes sense to use a workflow

Describe the five basic characteristics of a business process

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 Unit 1
Lesson 1
Workflows: Concept, Terminology, Example
Use

LESSON OVERVIEW
This lesson provides an introduction to the concept and basic terminology of the Workflow
Engine. It also illustrates and demonstrates the advantages of workflows and how they can be
used based on a series of practical examples.

Business Example
A team responsible for implementing workflows first needs to gain an overview of the concept
behind and benefits of using them. This overview is to be supplemented by an example
demonstration.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Explain Workflows: Concept, Terminology, Example Use

Use the basic terminology of the Workflow Engine

Cite criteria that help determine whether it makes sense to use a workflow

The Workflow Concept

Figure 1: Objectives in reorganizing business processes

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 Lesson: Workflows: Concept, Terminology, Example Use

In the area of office communications and organization, numerous investigations have

identified the following basic problems:

Long lead times

Insufficient process transparency

Friction resulting from a high degree of separation among the tasks involved (along with
task assignments that have grown over time)

Archives that lack fast, secure access to documents

Slow, inefficient communication among those involved in the process

The purpose of workflow management systems is to provide comprehensive business

process support, facilitate rapid access to information, and significantly reduce throughput,
wait, and transport times.
To complete this business process reorganization successfully, it is important that the
executive managers of the company in question actively support the project.
Every department needs to be actively involved in the development process, and every
employee should put his or her skills and experience to use.

Figure 2: Workflow concept

Workflow management systems are the IT tools needed to carry out business process
engineering. They support and accelerate the execution of business processes. They enable
the employees involved to carry out complex business transactions even when working at
different times and locations.
A workflow management system is a means of actively controlling and coordinating a given
workflow. In particular, these control mechanisms monitor the time required for individual
work steps and initiate corresponding escalation procedures when deadlines are missed. It is
also possible to view the current status of a given process at any time.
The functions of the Workflow Engine integrate and complement the extensive business-
related functions of the SAP system.

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Unit 1: Introduction

The integration of Organizational Management into the Workflow Engine makes it possible to
link tasks to agents through organizational assignments.
Workflow concept: What processes are particularly suitable for using workflows?

A workflow management system facilitates the electronic processing of structured

processes that:

Comprise a series of activities

Always occur in the same (or a similar) form

Involve several people or departments

Require a high degree of coordination

Workflow management systems control processes based on a predefined model and are
especially suited to structured organizations.

Workflow concept: what workflows are not designed for...

Managing “one-time” processes

.

Document management (a workflow can work with such systems, however)

.

Standard e-mails and groupware (workflows are capable of much more)

.

Data distributed across multiple systems (although workflows support this option of ALE
and EDI)
.

Filling in functional gaps.

Controlling screen sequences in transactions.

A workflow cannot serve as a substitute for missing SAP functions. If it is not possible to carry
out a function manually, it cannot be carried out by means of a workflow, either. The function
must first be programmed in code before a workflow can use it.

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 Lesson: Workflows: Concept, Terminology, Example Use

Advantages of Using Workflows

Figure 3: Workflows: Advantages for end users

As soon as a task is required, it is placed in the electronic work basket of the corresponding
user (the system is responsible for providing the task rather than requiring the user to claim
it).
All available information, explanations, and instructions are also provided to the user at the
same time.
The workflow then automatically proceeds to the correct transactions in the SAP system. A
workflow definition maps a given business process (or a portion thereof).
Insurance companies likely represented one of the first fields to demonstrate the benefits of a
seamless processing chain. Their clerks are responsible for acquiring customers, concluding
contracts, and providing support. This contradicts the basic principles of Taylorism, as clerks
are required to perform these tasks across multiple applications and functions.

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Unit 1: Introduction

Figure 4: Workflows: Advantages for company executives

Deadline monitoring is a means of controlling processes. Here, it is also possible to initiate

escalation procedures. A company can, for example, respond to customer inquiries or
generate an invoice one week after an order is received.
An escalation procedure can ensure that a certain employee is notified when a deadline is
missed. Another type of escalation procedure makes it possible to execute any given action
when a deadline is missed.
The employee responsible for processing the object in question (or for escalation procedures
in general) is automatically identified at runtime, based either on the organizational structure
or a rule resolution. A given employee may be responsible for invoice verification, for example,
based on his or her affiliation with a certain department in organizational management. When
a given deadline is missed, the employee responsible can also be determined using the
“Superior (as user) for...” rule, for instance.
Since agents are found by analyzing the organizational plan at runtime, the organization at
hand can be modified any number of ways. The workflow will always identify the correct
agent, so the workflow does not need to be modified.
When process sequences change, the corresponding workflow definitions can be adjusted
using the Workflow Builder. The changes will take effect when the workflow updates to the
new version (this must be done manually).

Workflows: Advantages for companies

Increased productivity
- Reduction in work backlogs
- Distribution of work, information:
Every user receives his or her worklist automatically from the system

Accelerated processes
- More frequent eligibility for discounts

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 Lesson: Workflows: Concept, Terminology, Example Use

- Faster, more effective responses to errors

Increased customer satisfaction

- Faster processing
- Improved flow of information

It is possible to determine the current processing status of orders – a function that is

particularly important in responding to customer inquiries and other areas of customer
service.
“Completed” data remains available for processes that have already finished. This enables
you to identify flaws and optimize processes.

Example Use and Workflow Terminology

Figure 5: A business process mapped as a workflow in SAP

A change in a customer master record can be used as an event that automatically starts a
workflow.
Entering a customer with a large order volume should automatically trigger a workflow that
proceeds through the three subsequent steps.

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Unit 1: Introduction

Figure 6: Workflow Engine: terminology

A workflow glossary is available to help you learn the relevant terminology. It can be found in
the appendix and in the online documentation.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Explain Workflows: Concept, Terminology, Example Use

Use the basic terminology of the Workflow Engine

Cite criteria that help determine whether it makes sense to use a workflow

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 Unit 1
Lesson 2
The Five Basic Characteristics of a Business
Process

LESSON OVERVIEW
This lesson covers the essential components of a business process ( “The Five Workflow
Questions” ) and how they interact.

Business Example
The implementation team has gained an overview of how a demo workflow will proceed. As a
member of this team, you want to understand the basic elements of a workflow. To do so, you
need to have a grasp of the five essential components of a business process.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Describe the five basic characteristics of a business process

The Five Key Questions for Every Business Process

Here are the five key questions every business process needs to answer:

The Five Key Questions for Every Business Process

When?

Who is responsible?

What?

With which object?

In what order?

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Unit 1: Introduction

In What Order – Defining the Steps in a Workflow

Figure 7: In what order?

A workflow definitiondescribes the business process to be mapped (vacation approval, for

example).
A workflow definition consists of individual consecutive steps.
A step describes exactly one action in a workflow.
For example:

1. Creating a request

2. Reviewing a request

3. Proceeding through a resubmission loop

4. Waiting for the result of another process

As these examples show, the actions in a workflow can be control steps (as in the third and
fourth examples). They can also refer to specific tasks that need to be carried out by select
agents (the first and second examples).
A manager typically needs to approve an employee’s vacation request, for instance.
To make workflow definitions readable at a glance, each step type in a workflow has its own
symbol.
The data involved is automatically passed from one workflow step to the next.
Workflow containers serve as the interface for this flow of data.

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 Lesson: The Five Basic Characteristics of a Business Process

Figure 8: Defining workflows: Workflow Builder

The Workflow Builderis the central tool of the Workflow Engine. Among other functions, it can
be used to create, modify, test, and display workflow definitions.
The Workflow Builder is covered in detail in the course BIT601.

Which Activity – What is Done, and by What Means

Figure 9: WHAT is carried out?

This question pertains to each and every activity (or task) to be executed.
A task can carry out a transaction, a report, a function module, or a routine in an external
system; update a spreadsheet; or simply remind the user that an action needs to be carried
out manually.

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Unit 1: Introduction

A task can also call a workflow as a subflow of a process.

If a task is to be carried out by a person, an agent must be assigned.
At runtime, tasks like this generate a work item in the assigned agent’s Business Workplace.
This work item not only notifies the agent that something needs to be done; it also contains
the instructions required and enables the agent to proceed directly from the work item to
carrying out the work at hand.
BY WHAT MEANS is something carried out? Examples of object types and methods
Due to practical considerations and the need to have a consistent, reusable logic for carrying
out transactions and reports (for example), object-oriented techniques were used for the
related programming (methods of business objects). Further information on this subject is
available in the workflow courses BIT601 and BIT610.

BY WHAT MEANS is something carried out? Examples of object types:

SAP business object types

Invoices

Purchase requisitions

Materials

Archived documents

EDI messages (IDocs)

Documents from office applications

BY WHAT MEANS is something carried out? Examples of object methods:

Object methods

Postings (of invoices)

Approvals (of requests)

Changes (of materials)

Displays (of images)

Objects are information that can be linked any number of ways and can only be accessed with
an identification key.
Objects are created at runtime and are the specific instances of a previously defined object
type that has been assigned values.
Object typesare the generic descriptions of an object. Object types are described and
implemented by entering their components in the Business Object Builder.
The components of an object type include:

The attributes of an object

Events (possible status changes) pertaining to an object

Methods, or actions that can be carried out on a given object

The Workflow Engine uses the methods of an object type to model individual process
activities.

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 Lesson: The Five Basic Characteristics of a Business Process

WHAT is carried out? Examples of tasks

Post invoice

Release purchase requisition

Change material master

Approve vacation

Create customer

Delete purchase order

Create requirement coverage request over Internet

Tasks represent the steps in a business process. During definition, a process to be mapped
needs to be divided into individual tasks.
The definition of a workflow specifies the tasks to be carried out in a process, and in what
order.
A task references exactly one object type in the Business Object Repository and exactly one
of the methods defined therein.
In exceptional cases, a business process can involve just one task. A workflow definition can
also be created in these cases.
At the runtime of a workflow, a task is represented by a work item. This work item appears in
the inbox of the recipient.

Possible Agents for Process Steps

Figure 10: Defining tasks: possible agents WHO will carry something out?

For each task, the possible agentsmust be assigned. This group of individuals should include
the employees at your company who are technically capable of carrying out the task at hand.

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Unit 1: Introduction

Enter the possible agents using the task maintenance function (transaction PFTS) under the
menu item: Additional Data Maintain Agent Assignment .
During definition, you can choose Properties and create a “general task” , or choose Agent
Assignment Create to create a link to an organizational object or role (transaction PFCG).
General tasks can be carried out by any user in the system.
You do not need to be using an HR system to link organizational objects. This functionality is
included with the basis system.

Figure 11: WHO will carry something out: workflow steps and agents responsible

When you add a task to a workflow definition, you define a workflow step. In this workflow
step, you can specify responsible agents.
You can also explicitly exclude certain agents.
This slide illustrates the possible ways to assign agents to a step.
At runtime, the system determines which agents have been entered as both “possible agents”
and “responsible agents” . The system then checks whether the users belonging to both of
these groups have been excluded in the definition of the workflow step.
If both these checks return a positive result, the user in question will receive a work item in his
or her inbox, which makes the user one of the recipients of the work item.

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 Lesson: The Five Basic Characteristics of a Business Process

Figure 12: WHO will carry something out: recipients of a work item

The aim of workflow-controlled processes is to be able to automatically identify the correct

agents for a given process step.
An employee’s vacation requests should always be sent to his or her manager, for example.
Invoices to be posted should be sent to all employees with the position “invoice receipt clerk” .
The Workflow Engine makes this automatic agent determination possible by requiring users
to define a group of possible agentsfor each individual task.
Possible agents are determined based on each user’s role and skillset.
If every SAP user should be able to carry out a given activity, it is possible to define “general
tasks” .
The recipients can be narrowed down dynamically at the runtime of a workflow. To this end,
the responsible agentsare specified in the process of defining the workflow stepin question.
Organizational Management elements or roles can be used for this purpose, and rules or
agents from previous steps can also be assigned.
In a workflow step, it is possible to explicitly exclude agents from processing.
All the “responsible agents” that are also “possible agents” for the task at hand (and have not
been explicitly excluded) will receive the work item generated.

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Unit 1: Introduction

When Does Something Happen

Figure 13: WHEN is something executed?

Events notify the system that something has occurred. A workflow can respond to an event if
a corresponding linkage has been created.
Events (such as “Purchase requisition created” ) are published in the system and can be
evaluated by all existing workflows.
An outcome is a potential result of a step. You can define a specific response for every
outcome in a workflow.
The task “Approve request” has three possible outcomes: approved, rejected, or revised.
A work item can be terminated by an event, an exception, or the result of a method.
In a workflow step, the possible outcomes are displayed on the Outcomes tab page.
You can also deactivate outcomes; if you do, modeling them will no longer be possible.
The step types related to events are “event creator” and “wait for event” .

WHEN is something executed? Examples of events

Parked document posted

Purchase requisition released

Material master changed

Vacation approved

Customer created

Purchase order deleted

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 Lesson: The Five Basic Characteristics of a Business Process

Requirement coverage request created over Internet

Like methods, the possible events are defined as components of object types in Business
Object Builder. They describe the status changes of objects.
In the Business Object Repository, the event is only defined.
If an object’s status changes while a process is being carried out, the application must trigger
the specific event associated with the change.
Only then will the entire system be aware of the event, which enables a workflow to respond to
it.

Putting the Pieces Together

Figure 14: Putting the pieces together...

Your business processes can be implemented by means of workflows.

The Workflow Builderis the tool used to edit workflows.
A workflow stepcan contain a task (that is, an activity) or serve as a control step.
At the definition level, agents are assigned to every task and step.
At runtime, the correct work item recipientsare identified through agent determination.
These users receive the work item in their inboxes.
The recipient who actually carries out the work item ultimately calls the function stored in the
task at hand.

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Unit 1: Introduction

Figure 15: Workflows: Potential areas of use

Summary 1, Workflows ensure, that:

The right work

At the right time

For the right agent

Summary 2, Workflows are classified by the 5 basic characteristics:

Who does

When

What

By what means

And in what order

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Describe the five basic characteristics of a business process

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 Unit 1

Learning Assessment

1. An employee has submitted a vacation request. In the subsequent approval workflow, his
or her manager rejects the request. How can the manager include a reason for the
employee?

2. If it is not possible to execute a function manually, it is possible to carry it out by means of

a workflow.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

3. One of the advantages of workflows is the ability to create an escalation procedure. This
makes it possible to ensure that a certain employee is notified when a deadline is missed.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

4. In a workflow definition, what does a step describe?

Choose the correct answer.

X A A definition

X B A result

X C An action

X D An object

5. How do you tell a workflow what should happen in the workflow step “Revise vacation
request” ?

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Unit 1: Learning Assessment

6. An object type is created at runtime. It is the specific instance of an object.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

7. Status changes of objects can be used as events.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

8. A method is an operation that can be carried out for an object.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

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 Unit 1

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. An employee has submitted a vacation request. In the subsequent approval workflow, his
or her manager rejects the request. How can the manager include a reason for the
employee?

Before saving the rejection, the manager can create an attachment describing the
corresponding reason.

2. If it is not possible to execute a function manually, it is possible to carry it out by means of

a workflow.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. A workflow calls methods that execute the code they contain.

3. One of the advantages of workflows is the ability to create an escalation procedure. This
makes it possible to ensure that a certain employee is notified when a deadline is missed.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. A workflow makes it possible to monitor both entire processes and
individual process steps.

4. In a workflow definition, what does a step describe?

Choose the correct answer.

X A A definition

X B A result

X C An action

X D An object

This is correct. In a workflow definition, a step describes the next action to be carried out.

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Unit 1: Learning Assessment - Answers

5. How do you tell a workflow what should happen in the workflow step “Revise vacation
request” ?

You add a task to the workflow step that contains the corresponding function (object type,
“vacation request” – method, “revise” ).

6. An object type is created at runtime. It is the specific instance of an object.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. An object type describes a business object. An object is the specific
instance of an object type.

7. Status changes of objects can be used as events.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. Status changes can be defined and triggered as events in the system.

8. A method is an operation that can be carried out for an object.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. A method contains code that is to be executed for a specific object when
the method is called.

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 UNIT 2 Organizational
Structure

Lesson 1
Organizational Management 24

Lesson 2
Creating an Organizational Plan 31

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Explain Organizational Management

Use the interface and navigation options of Simple Maintenance

Create an Organizational Plan

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 Unit 2
Lesson 1
Organizational Management

LESSON OVERVIEW
This section provides an introduction to the concept and terminology of Organizational
Management in SAP. It also covers the interface and navigation options of “Simple
Maintenance”

Business Example
Your company is deliberating whether to base its agent determination in workflows on an
organizational model. The project members involved first need to get an idea of the basic
possibilities at hand.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Explain Organizational Management

Use the interface and navigation options of Simple Maintenance

Organizational Plan: Positions and Jobs

Figure 16: Organizational plan: Positions and jobs

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 Lesson: Organizational Management

The head of finance at John Smith, Inc. has enough budget to hire three FI specialists for his
team in Anchorage.
In an SAP organizational chart, each of these three new employees is assigned an individual
position. From this point of view:

Part of the budget will be required for each position’s salary and benefits

Each position corresponds to a physical workspace

The work to be handled by these three employees is described by a list of activities in

accounts receivable accounting.

Using SAP terminology, each of these activities is a task.

A job (again, in SAP terms) contains an entire list of tasks.

To reduce the administrative effort required in HR, you can assign a job to a position.

This way, the job’s entire task list will also be assigned to the position.

Figure 17: Organizational Management (SAP) in general

Organizational units reflect the organizational structure of the company.

They contain positions, which have their own holders (typically one holder per position).
Positions can also have more than one holder, however.
Jobs are abstract descriptions of task assignments.
Positions can be linked to jobs, which causes them to inherit all the tasks assigned to the job
at hand.
Tasks can be assigned to organizational units, positions, or jobs.
Tasks can also be assigned to users. They can then no longer be flexibly assigned during
company reorganizations, however.

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Unit 2: Organizational Structure

Organizational Management and the Workflow Engine are aware of the organizational plan
currently in place at a given company in a format called an “active plan version” .
The Workflow Engine uses the currently valid organizational plan to assign work items to the
correct recipients.
Employee changes and reassignments only need to be maintained on the organizational side;
workflow and task definitions are not affected.

Integration of Organizational Management

Organizational Management is integrated into the workflow as follows.

Integration of Organizational Management

Integration of Organizational Management

- Task assignment based on responsibilities / skillset at definition time:
Tasks linked to possible agents , workflow steps linked to responsible agents
- Dynamic task distribution during runtime:
Determines recipients of work items based on contextual information related to the
workflow and the objects processed

Business processes and corresponding responsibilities are highly transparent.

The integration of Organizational Management and the Workflow Engine makes it possible to
link tasks and workflow steps with elements of the organizational plan as possible or
responsible agents.
These links enable the system to determine the “correct” agents at runtime; these agents
then become the recipients of the work item in question.
This ensures the greatest possible transparency in business processes and the
responsibilities they involve. Changes can be made to the company’s organizational plan
without needing to modify workflow definitions or reprogram an application.

Organizational Plans and Workflows: Three Scenarios

Figure 18: Organizational Plans and Workflows: Three Scenarios

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 Lesson: Organizational Management

If you configure the agent determination function based on organizational structures, your
workflow definitions will not need to be modified when employees are reassigned.
There are many ways to link your workflows to your organizational plan.

Example 1: Only one organizational structure is in place for HR for the entire company.
All workflows have to be connected to organizational objects from this struc-
ture. This option does not include any specific organizational structures for
the workflow alone.

Example 2: HR manages the general structure for all employees at the company. To sup-
port the workflow, there is also a small organizational structure for each busi-
ness process.

Example 3: A general HR structure has not (yet) been established for all employees. To
support the workflows, there is one small organizational structure for each
process.

The essential Organizational Management data is stored in customizing tables. This is why the
normal transport link can be used for these entries. Organizational objects are written to
normal customizing requests and transported as such: In the target system, an after-import
method then runs to read out the request and perform the necessary activation steps in the
same system.
This is implemented by means of distribution reports such as RHMOVE30 (manual transport
link); for more, please see Note 138411.
Organizational Management is also covered in the courses HR505 and HR506.

“Simple Maintenance”

Figure 19: Workflow-oriented organizational structure

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Unit 2: Organizational Structure

Setting up organizational units, positions, and jobs with “Simple Maintenance” only factors in
the most important details. “Simple Maintenance” knows which relationships are required
most often and generates them automatically when you create an object.
Use “Simple Maintenance” to create the majority of the objects and relationships in your
organizational structure.
Menu path: Tools Business Workflow Development Environment Organizational
Management Simple Maintenance Organizational Plan Basic Data Create
With “Simple Maintenance” , you can:

Configure and maintain the basic characteristics required for an organizational plan

Configure and maintain a hierarchy (a chain of command) for the positions in an

organizational plan

Configure and maintain cost center assignments and standard settings

Since the procedures provided are limited to a minimum, some HR functions are not available.
You will not be able to create or maintain work centers, for example.
All the objects you create with “Simple Maintenance” will automatically be set to the status
“active” .

Figure 20: Features of Simple Maintenance

The maintenance tools in Organizational Management are available to all SAP users in the
basic component.
When using them, you will be working with a main window and three main functions. Each
function is designed for a particular group of maintenance activities.
The “Create Organizational Unit” icon allows you to create and maintain the organizational
structure for your organizational plan.
Using the “Create Position” icon, you can create positions and assign them to organizational
units.
The search and selection window enables you to assign position holders by means of drag-
and-drop. Position holders can be SAP users or HR persons.

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 Lesson: Organizational Management

Caution:
HR recognizes both SAP users and HR persons as position holders.
The workflow only recognizes SAP users as valid agents.
If the existing HR organizational structure is to be used for the workflow, the
infotype 105 and communication type 0001 (SAP user) must be entered for each
person in the master record. This infotype is used to assign an SAP user to a
person in HR.
The creation process is handled by maintaining the HR master data record in
question.
Menu path: Human Resources Personnel Management Administration HR
Master Data Maintain

Figure 21: Navigation overview

Search area:
Use the search help and other selection options to find organizational units, positions, users,
persons, jobs, tasks, and other elements.
Example: Search for “Manager” jobs that have a direct relationship to the “Treasury”
organizational unit.
You can also save your search variants as favorites.
Selection area:
From your search results, select an object you want to use in the overview and/or detail area.
Use the results of your search to maintain objects or assign them to other objects by means
of drag-and-drop.
Overview area:

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Unit 2: Organizational Structure

Display the hierarchy or staff assignments of an organizational unit.

Display organizational units as a tree structure and double-click them to add them to the
detail area for editing.
Create new objects within a structure (or individually).
Select the list view to display the staff assignments of an organizational unit.
Detail area:
Maintain object properties and attributes.
To learn what the different icons signify, please refer to the
“ Icon Legend” icon.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Explain Organizational Management

Use the interface and navigation options of Simple Maintenance

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 Unit 2
Lesson 2
Creating an Organizational Plan

LESSON OVERVIEW
This lesson covers all the steps involved in creating a workflow-oriented organizational
structure.

Business Example
The implementation team has decided to use an organizational structure for agent
determination and now wants to implement it.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Create an Organizational Plan

Creating a Workflow-Oriented Organizational Structure

Figure 22: Creating an organizational plan (Simple Maintenance)

With “Simple Maintenance” , you can create a workflow-oriented organizational plan.

The diagram above shows that the first step in “Simple Maintenance” involves creating a root
organizational unit. After this has been created, it is possible to create additional subordinate
organizational units.

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Unit 2: Organizational Structure

You can then create positions and assign them to the organizational units.
You can assign holders to positions. Holders can be both SAP users and HR persons.
With “Simple Maintenance” , you can also create jobs and assign tasks to them.
You can link a job to positions, which will pass the tasks contained in the job on to the
positions.
That said, you can also assign tasks to positions explicitly.

Figure 23: Creating an organizational unit

Creating a root organizational unit with subordinate organizational units

In “Simple Maintenance” , use transaction PPOC for creation purposes.
Tools Business Workflow Development Environment Organizational
Management Simple Maintenance Organizational Plan Basic Data PPOC – Create
In the input-ready detail area, define your organizational units by giving them at least a name
and abbreviation.
If you select an organizational unit in the overview area and choose “Create” , an
organizational unit will be created below the selected unit in the hierarchy. You can create an
organizational structure with as many subordinate levels as you wish.

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 Lesson: Creating an Organizational Plan

Figure 24: Creating a position

You have created a new organizational unit and now want to enter the corresponding
positions.
The details on each new position must be entered in the detail area.
Chief positions are marked with the “Head of own organizational unit” flag.
By selecting the organizational unit, choosing the “Create” button, and then selecting the
“Incorporates Position” option, you can create as many positions as you wish for the
organizational unit.

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Unit 2: Organizational Structure

Figure 25: Assigning users to positions (1)

Assigning a user to a position creates an infotype record (a relationship).

Positions can be held by persons (HR perspective) or users (SAP users).
With the HR data model, “persons” are maintained in the form of HR master data.

“Persons” are an organization’s employees.

A work item can be sent to a “person” if the master record in HR has been assigned the
infotype 105. In this infotype, a relationship is created between a person and a user.

SAP users have a user master record in the SAP system and are authorized to use SAP
functions.

From the workflow perspective, an SAP user always needs to be found before a work item
can be assigned.

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 Lesson: Creating an Organizational Plan

Figure 26: Assigning users to positions (2)

You can use the search area to find the desired user, which will then be available in the
selection area.
From there, you can drag-and-drop the user onto the desired position in the overview area.

Creating a job

Figure 27: Creating a job

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Unit 2: Organizational Structure

When positions are linked to a job, the positions inherit all the properties of the job. This
includes the tasks linked to the job. Linking positions to a job saves time in assigning tasks
because you no longer need to link each individual position to the respective tasks.
Jobs are not specific to organizational units.
Positions, however, are directly linked to an organizational unit.

Assigning tasks to organizational objects

Figure 28: Assigning tasks to organizational objects

During workflow definition, all the necessary tasks are incorporated (for approving requests,
creating purchase orders, updating customer masters, for example).
A user is only able to process a work item at runtime if he or she is defined as a possible agent
for the corresponding task.
In this diagram, you can see all the basic options at your disposal to create such links when
you use the organizational plan for these definitions. At runtime, the aforementioned users
will receive a work item.

Task 1: User 1 (through manager job)

Task 2: User 1, user 2 (through manager job / secretary job)

Task 3: User 1, user 2, user 3, user 4 (through organizational unit)

Task 4: User 1, user 3, user 4 (through FI manager position / FI employee job)

Task 5: User 2 (through secretary job)

Task 6: User 3, user 4 (through FI employee job)

Assigning tasks to organizational objects is best handled as part of task maintenance.

(See chapter on “workflow architecture” )

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 Lesson: Creating an Organizational Plan

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Create an Organizational Plan

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 Unit 2

Learning Assessment

1. The holders of positions can be both SAP users and HR persons.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

2. The Workflow Engine can use the existing organizational plan to forward work items to the
correct recipients.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

3. The chief position in an organizational unit is the position at the top of the unit. Through
reassignment within the organizational unit, you can designate another chief position.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

4. In order to process a work item at runtime, the work item recipient must be entered as a
possible agent.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

5. Jobs are linked directly to an organizational unit.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

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 Unit 2: Learning Assessment

6. A position is always assigned to exactly one organizational unit.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

7. The holders of positions must be both SAP users and HR persons.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

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 Unit 2

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. The holders of positions can be both SAP users and HR persons.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. If you want to implement agent determination based on positions for a
workflow, the positions must have holders. However, since the workflow only recognizes
SAP users as work item recipients, HR persons who hold positions must also be linked to a
user ID by means of infotype 105 .

2. The Workflow Engine can use the existing organizational plan to forward work items to the
correct recipients.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. It is possible to reference an existing organizational plan or create

workflow-specific organizational units.

3. The chief position in an organizational unit is the position at the top of the unit. Through
reassignment within the organizational unit, you can designate another chief position.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. A chief position is determined solely by the “Head of own organizational
unit” flag in the respective position definition.

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 Unit 2: Learning Assessment - Answers

4. In order to process a work item at runtime, the work item recipient must be entered as a
possible agent.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. A user will only receive a work item if he or she is defined as a possible
agent.

5. Jobs are linked directly to an organizational unit.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. Jobs can be assigned to positions in different organizational units.

6. A position is always assigned to exactly one organizational unit.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. Each position belongs to a single organizational unit.

7. The holders of positions must be both SAP users and HR persons.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. The holder of a position can be an HR person or an SAP user. The Workflow
Engine accepts only SAP users.

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 UNIT 3 SAP Workflows

Lesson 1
Finding, Adjusting, and Using SAP Workflows 43

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Run the SAP workflow “Notice of absence”

Use structure search to find SAP workflows

Access the help documentation on SAP workflows and the Workflow Engine

Name the adjustment steps required to make an SAP workflow ready for use

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 Unit 3
Lesson 1
Finding, Adjusting, and Using SAP Workflows

LESSON OVERVIEW
Here, we explain the purpose of SAP workflows, how to search for specific workflows (and
related documentation), and how to adapt and use them.
A number of examples are covered from the extensive list of SAP workflows.

Business Example
Some business processes in SAP are supported by “ready-to-use” workflows

These processes are provided by SAP in the form of SAP workflows

Take a detailed look at a few specific SAP workflows

Read the documentation

Use an SAP workflow as a means of familiarizing yourself with the basic functions of
workflows in general

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Run the SAP workflow “Notice of absence”

Use structure search to find SAP workflows

Access the help documentation on SAP workflows and the Workflow Engine

Name the adjustment steps required to make an SAP workflow ready for use

SAP Workflows and Documentation

Business process “Vacation approval”
Process: When an employee creates a notice of absence,
- the corresponding department manager decides whether to approve the request.
- If he or she approves it, the request is released by HR.
- If the request is not approved, the applicant can withdraw it or make revisions.
- If the request needs to be modified, it is sent back to the creator for revision.
- The scenario is repeated when changes are made.

Executives and end users alike must actively support this process!
The project team implementing the workflow has to make the following decisions:

The project team implementing the workflow has to make the following decisions:
What is the company’s overarching goal?

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Unit 3: SAP Workflows

Which business processes should be converted into workflows?

Which departments and employees are affected by the assignment of the tasks at hand?

How will using the Workflow Engine make the affected processes more productive?

Once this initial phase is complete, consider whether there might already be predefined
workflows for the business processes you have selected.
It is important to secure the consent of the executives and end users whose daily tasks will be
affected by the conversion of these processes.

Figure 29: SAP workflows in the applications

The SAP workflows provided are executable. The tasks used in these SAP workflows must be
assigned to possible agents.
SAP workflows should not be modified. You can, however, create extensions of these
workflows by redefining default values in the process of workflow definition. The subject of
creating a workflow configuration is covered in the appendix to this course.
If you want to modify an SAP workflow in the step logic, you will need to copy the workflow to
a separate customer-specific template. You can then make all the changes you need to this
template.

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 Lesson: Finding, Adjusting, and Using SAP Workflows

Figure 30: SAP workflows: structure search

Your system’s SAP workflows are located under:

Tools Business Workflow Development Definition tools Tasks/Task
groups Display
A workflow template’s key comprises the task type WS and a sequential number.
You can use the structure search to find an SAP workflow in a given application area.
This list makes it possible to expand down to the workflow definition you need and proceed to
the Workflow Builder.

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Unit 3: SAP Workflows

Figure 31: SAP workflows: documentation

In the online help documentation, the section on workflow scenarios describes individual
templates in detail.
SAP workflow documentation is available at:
help.sap.com SAP ERP 6.0 including Enhancement Package 6 Scroll down to SAP
Library SAP ERP Cross-Application Functions Scenarios in the Applications SAP
Business Workflow
The Workflow Engine documentation is located here:
help.sap.com SAP NetWeaver SAP NetWeaver 7.3 Including Enhancement Package
1 Application Help Function-Oriented View Application Server Application Server
ABAP Other Services Services for Application Developers SAP Business
Workflow SAP Business Workflow: Reference Documentation
A glossary is also available through the online help.

Examples of SAP Workflows

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 Lesson: Finding, Adjusting, and Using SAP Workflows

Figure 32: QM: Create quality notification

This workflow scenario supports your company’s activities in complaints processing by giving
you a fast and efficient way to process, monitor, and complete newly created or activated
quality notifications. This process is mapped in an SAP workflow (WS24500047) that triggers
and controls the execution of the following standard tasks.

Notification of an authorized person (the notification coordinator, for example) that a new
quality notification has been created or activated and corresponding measures need to be
defined

Notification of an authorized person that measures have been created for a quality
notification and need to be processed

Notification of an authorized person (such as the notification coordinator) that all the
measures pertaining to a quality notification have been completed and the notification
needs to be closed (or further corresponding measures defined)

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Unit 3: SAP Workflows

Figure 33: CRM: Create opportunity from lead

A lead is a business transaction that describes, records, updates, and manages the potential
business interests of a given business partner and the related interactions that take place
over a certain period. The aim is to provide the information collected to the “Sales” area as a
potential basis for deciding whether to create a corresponding opportunity.
The handover of the information contained in a lead to the “Sales” area is supported by the
workflow “Create opportunity from lead” (WS10001011). In this workflow, a distinction is
made regarding whether the opportunity is to be created manually or automatically. If the
lead-specific attributes indicating a lead’s priority and lead group meet certain criteria, the
workflow will automatically create an opportunity. Otherwise, the workflow will initiate manual
creation by sending a work item to the responsible sales employee. After checking the data in
the lead, the sales employee can either reject the lead or have an opportunity created.
Starting the workflow: The workflow starts automatically when the agent saves the lead.

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 Lesson: Finding, Adjusting, and Using SAP Workflows

Figure 34: FI: Approve parked documents

Entering a parked document creates an event that triggers a document release workflow.
A release can take two forms:

A general release indicating that the entire document is correct

An amount release for the line items at hand

Once all releases have been successfully carried out, the document at hand is released and
posted; it also includes rejection processing. The release procedure depends on the amount,
the company code, and other factors.
The system comes with several workflow templates for document parking: a workflow
framework (WS10000051) and five subworkflows. In the customizing for financial accounting,
you can define which subworkflow template in the workflow framework is to be used at
runtime. There, you can also enter subworkflows you define yourself. However, they must
receive and pass on the same data from the workflow framework as the subworkflow
template.
Amount release can be performed on one, two, or three levels if you wish to use the
subworkflow templates provided for this purpose (WS10000052, WS10000053,
WS10000054). If you prefer to use more than three release levels, you can copy the workflow
templates for amount release and expand them accordingly. If you do not want to perform an
amount release, you can assign an empty subworkflow template (WS20000006). You can
use the fourth subworkflow template for account assignment approval (WS10000055).

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Unit 3: SAP Workflows

Figure 35: MM: Release purchase requisition

Release procedures for purchase requisitions can be implemented for both individual items
and all the items in a purchase requisition. These are necessary, for example, when a certain
value is exceeded and a supervisor needs to approve a requisition. It makes sense to establish
different release strategies for various material groups that are overseen by different
departments, for instance, and to define separate strategies for capital goods and non-
durable consumption goods.
If the system is configured accordingly, the workflow can notify those who are authorized to
release purchase requisitions (but typically perform other daily tasks) when a release is
required. They will then receive a work item in their Business Workplace that can be
processed directly from their inbox. Doing so automatically calls the release transaction and
displays the purchase requisition in question for release or rejection. This means the persons
notified by the workflow do not need to know the transaction name (or menu path) or the
corresponding release code.
Once the person responsible renders a decision, the original creator is notified by means of a
work item in his or her Business Workplace inbox.
The workflow for processing item-wise releases has the key WS00000038 and the short code
wf_req_rel.
The workflow for releasing entire purchase requisitions has the key WS20000077 and the
short code wf_req_rel_c.

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 Lesson: Finding, Adjusting, and Using SAP Workflows

Figure 36: HCM: Notification of absence

The notification form is entered by an employee and automatically forwarded to his or her
manager.
The employee-manager relationship is managed in an HR organizational structure.
The workflow template has the key WS20000050 and the name “Approve travel request” .

Adjusting SAP Workflows and Using them Without Changes

Activities for adjusting SAP workflows

You have found an SAP workflow that covers the business process you want to support.

Think about how you want to maintain the possible agents for the standard tasks at hand.
If necessary, create an organizational plan or roles to maintain for possible agents.

Define possible agents in the tasks used by the workflow.

If necessary, adapt the info texts to your specific needs.

Activate the event linkage for your workflow.

Test your settings.

Workflow Configuration: Using Standard Workflows with Minor Adjustments

Configuration enables you to add your own specific modifications to SAP workflows.
There is no need to copy (or even modify) SAP workflows.
Workflow configuration is only available for the workflow template (WS) type, and there can
only be one configuration for each workflow template.
You can access workflow configuration by calling the transaction SWDD_CONFIG or following
this menu path: Tools Business Workflow Development Definition tools Workflow
Configuration .
For further details on workflow configuration, please refer to the appendix to this course.

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Unit 3: SAP Workflows

Application-Specific Customizing
In addition to the general customizing of the workflow system, you will need to carry out
application-specific customizing for each SAP workflow. In most cases, you will maintain this
customizing in the IMG in connection with the application at hand.

Application-Specific Customizing

Every SAP workflow requires application-specific customizing

The SAP workflow documentation describes the necessary settings

Different steps are required depending on the SAP workflow at hand

The steps to take are typically found in the area of the implementation guide in which you
carry out application customizing (transaction SPRO).

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Run the SAP workflow “Notice of absence”

Use structure search to find SAP workflows

Access the help documentation on SAP workflows and the Workflow Engine

Name the adjustment steps required to make an SAP workflow ready for use

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 Unit 3

Learning Assessment

1. Before implementing a workflow, it is important to get the approval of the department

manager and the end users affected.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

2. In the structure search of transaction PFTC_DIS, you can find all the workflows included
with SAP’s standard applications.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

3. Among the other features of SAP workflows, possible agents are already maintained for all
the tasks they contain, and the event linkages available are already activated.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

4. What steps do the tasks involve if you want to use a standard workflow at your company
without making any changes?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Define possible agents for the standard tasks in use

X B Adjust the info texts in the standard tasks (if necessary)

X C Activate the event linkage between the workflow and the application

X D Copy the workflow and make your own specific adjustments

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 Unit 3

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. Before implementing a workflow, it is important to get the approval of the department

manager and the end users affected.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. Implementing and using a workflow successfully requires the support of
the end users and the department manager in question.

2. In the structure search of transaction PFTC_DIS, you can find all the workflows included
with SAP’s standard applications.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. The structure search function enables you to find all the default workflows.

3. Among the other features of SAP workflows, possible agents are already maintained for all
the tasks they contain, and the event linkages available are already activated.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. Apart from the two characteristics mentioned above, SAP workflows are
finished workflows. Customers always have to maintain the “possible agents” and activate
event linkages themselves.

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 Unit 3: Learning Assessment - Answers

4. What steps do the tasks involve if you want to use a standard workflow at your company
without making any changes?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Define possible agents for the standard tasks in use

X B Adjust the info texts in the standard tasks (if necessary)

X C Activate the event linkage between the workflow and the application

X D Copy the workflow and make your own specific adjustments

This is correct. If you want to use the workflow just as it has been defined, carry out steps
A through C.

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 UNIT 4 Customizing

Lesson 1
Basic Customizing of the Workflow Engine 57

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Perform basic customizing of the Workflow Engine

Execute automatic customizing

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 56

 Unit 4
Lesson 1
Basic Customizing of the Workflow Engine

LESSON OVERVIEW
Here, we cover the automatic customizing of the Workflow Engine and some of its basic
customizing settings, along with simple verification options.

Business Example
You now need to carry out Workflow Engine customizing on your development system.

To do so, you need to activate the workflow runtime system on each SAP client.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Perform basic customizing of the Workflow Engine

Execute automatic customizing

Automatic Customizing, Individual Customizing Steps, Verification

Figure 37: Workflow Engine Customizing

To access the basic customizing settings for the Workflow Engine, choose:
Tools Business Workflow Development Utilities Automatic Workflow Customizing
(transaction SWU3)

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Unit 4: Customizing

A number of client-specific system settings and activities need to be carried out for the
Workflow Engine. The online documentation or help describes each customizing activity and
its function.
The function “Execute Automatic Workflow Customizing” enables you to maintain the
standard settings for the Workflow Engine “at the touch of a button” .
You can then use the button “Verification workflow” to start an initial “test workflow” to check
the customizing settings.
In the section “Workflow Runtime System” , green checkmarks should be set.
In the “Workflow development environment” section, you can ignore the “Number range for
customer tasks” field if it is empty.
Automatic customizing does not include maintenance of the organizational plan or task-
specific customizing (that is, assignment between tasks and possible agents).

Figure 38: RFC Destination

If the logical RFC destination “WORKFLOW_LOCAL_xxx” does not yet exist, it will be created
automatically. The user WF-BATCH (and the corresponding password) is requested. WF-
BATCH has to be created in the current client with the user type “system” for a background
user.
Execute the function “Info for RFC Destination” . This leads to the following steps:

The system tries to log on to the logical destination with the user specified.

The system displays a dialog box if a password issue occurs and the logon process fails.

Maintain the RFC destination again by clicking the icon “Configure RFC Destination” .
The workflow runtime system always executes RFC calls in the logical destination
WORKFLOW_LOCAL_<Clnt>. Clnt stands for the three-digit number of the client.

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 Lesson: Basic Customizing of the Workflow Engine

The workflow runtime system only operates with one client. Assigning a name to a logical
destination ensures that it is unique throughout the system.
As a default, no logical destination exists for the RFC calls of the workflow system.

Figure 39: Logical Destination: RFC User

Create a user with the name WF-BATCH, using the user administration function (transaction
SU01).

Create this user with the user type “system” .

Assign this user the authorization profiles “SAP_ALL” and “SAP_NEW”.

In doing so, observe the contents of Note 1574002.

Other notes on this topic include: 73160, 149344, 547419, and 429938.

Maintain the user address for this user.

Also maintain a forwarding address in the user master data (sender address when sending
an e-mail).

You need to maintain a logical destination in each client of your system.

When you execute the function “Configure RFC Destination” , the system reads the password
in the user master record and enters it in the workflow destination.

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Unit 4: Customizing

Figure 40: Maintaining Administration Data

The workflow administrator is notified automatically of errors that occur during the runtime
execution of workflow definitions. The administrator should be able to correct workflows with
errors, or find suitable contact persons who can.
Note the following:
Every workflow can have an administrator of its own.
The administrator of a single workflow is defined in the basic data of the workflow template.
The corresponding path is: Basic data Version-dependent data tab page Agents.

The generic decision task is the task with which the workflow system carries out a user
decision in the workflow. When you create a step of the type “user decision” in a workflow
definition, the task entered here is copied into the workflow definition. If you change the entry
here, it will affect all workflow definitions with user decisions that are created in the future.
The generic decision task is a task supplied by SAP.

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 Lesson: Basic Customizing of the Workflow Engine

Figure 41: Determining the Active Plan Version

In this step, enter the plan version in which you want to maintain your data (the active plan
version, in other words).

Establish an active plan version.

If no active plan version has been maintained, the active plan version is set to “01” .

Think carefully as to which plan version should be the active plan version; there can never be
more than one active plan version. It is not possible to define a new plan variant for every new
application component.
Enter the plan version that you wish to use as the active one, both for the different PD
modules and for integration purposes, in the field “Value Abbreviation” of the parameter
group “PLOGI” and the semantic abbreviation “PLOGI” .

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Unit 4: Customizing

Figure 42: Deadline Monitoring: Activation

Deadline monitoring for work items means that the scheduled background job is regularly
called at a determined interval to check whether deadlines have been missed since its last
activation. This constant deadline monitoring can be used in each client of your production
system through transaction SWWA.
You must schedule the job in every client that you want to use in the workflow.
The job can only be scheduled once for each client.

Figure 43: Set Monitoring of Incorrect Work Items

With this activity, you schedule monitoring and special handling for background work items
that could not be executed initially because of a temporary error in the underlying object
method. These background work items are then automatically restarted.
To activate monitoring of work items with errors, you must perform the following steps:

Execute the customizing activity “Schedule Background Job for Work Items with Errors” .

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 Lesson: Basic Customizing of the Workflow Engine

Specify whether monitoring should be carried out.

Specify the interval between two monitoring runs.

Specify the number of attempts that should be made before the background work item is
set to the status “error” .

Once all the valid attempts have been made, the work item will be set to the status “error” .
When set to this status, a work item can be found using the selection report, and the error can
be analyzed.

Figure 44: Checking Customizing

Starting a verification workflow checks the customizing activities that have been carried out.
The workflow checks basic functions in the workflow runtime environment.
A work item is sent to the user who started the verification. This tests that sending a work
item to be executed as a “user decision” , and sending of a notification to the user workplace
are functioning correctly.
While the “user decision” is being executed, you can check several functions at the task level
– for example, displaying or creating an attachment in the Business Workplace.

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Unit 4: Customizing

Figure 45: Workflow Development Environment: Creating Number Prefixes for Standard Objects

The numbers of the standard objects in your company’s namespace (such as rules, tasks, and
workflows) are created with three-digit prefixes for each system and client.

Table 1: Overview of Customizing Activities

Activity Automatic Always required? Default entry used

Configure RFC destination User: WF-BATCH

Maintain system adminis- SY-UNAME

trator for workflow
Maintain active plan ver- 01
sion
Classify decision task as
general
Document generation/
form integration
Maintain time units

Schedule background job

for missed deadline
Schedule background job
for work items with errors
Schedule background job
for condition evaluation

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 Lesson: Basic Customizing of the Workflow Engine

Activity Automatic Always required? Default entry used

Schedule background job

for event queue
Schedule background job
for cleanup tasks
Maintain prefix numbers

Check number ranges

Check entries from the HR
control tables
Maintain Web server
Maintain standard domain
for Internet mail
Activate sending to objects
and HR objects
Maintain demo and verifi-
cation environment

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Perform basic customizing of the Workflow Engine

Execute automatic customizing

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 Unit 4

Learning Assessment

1. Which of the following statements regarding the customizing of the Workflow Engine are
true?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Most of the necessary customizing settings are handled through “automatic

customizing” .

X B “Automatic customizing” overwrites any manual customizing entries that have

already been made.

X C Entries made through “automatic customizing” can be modified manually after the
fact.

X D Prefix numbers for rules, tasks, and workflows are always a required setting in the
development system.

X E Prefix numbers for rules, tasks, and workflows can be maintained manually or
automatically.

2. Automatic workflow customizing includes the maintenance of an organizational plan and

task-specific customizing.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

3. An SAP workflow can have its own workflow administrator.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

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 Unit 4

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. Which of the following statements regarding the customizing of the Workflow Engine are
true?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Most of the necessary customizing settings are handled through “automatic

customizing” .

X B “Automatic customizing” overwrites any manual customizing entries that have

already been made.

X C Entries made through “automatic customizing” can be modified manually after the
fact.

X D Prefix numbers for rules, tasks, and workflows are always a required setting in the
development system.

X E Prefix numbers for rules, tasks, and workflows can be maintained manually or
automatically.

This is correct. Most of the settings that are always required can be handled using the
“Perform Automatic Workflow Customizing” function. Existing manual entries (and those
made after the fact) always have priority. Prefix numbers must always be assigned, and
this can only be done manually.

2. Automatic workflow customizing includes the maintenance of an organizational plan and

task-specific customizing.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. Automatic workflow customizing includes entries for the Workflow Engine.

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Unit 4: Learning Assessment - Answers

3. An SAP workflow can have its own workflow administrator.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. In the basic data of a workflow, you can maintain a workflow-specific
administrator who will be notified when an error occurs in an instance of the
corresponding process.

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 UNIT 5 Business Workplace

Lesson 1
Functions of the Business Workplace 70

Lesson 2
Alternatives to the Business Workplace 83

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Use the functions and characteristics of the Business Workplace

Cite the alternatives to the Business Workplace

Put the use of the universal worklist (UWL) into context

Describe the available notification functions

Put SAP Fiori into context in connection with approval workflows

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 Unit 5
Lesson 1
Functions of the Business Workplace

LESSON OVERVIEW
In serving as the user interface to the workflow system, the Business Workplace offers “power
users” the most comprehensive functionality. The basic execution and runtime control
functions are covered here, along with options for personalization and handling substitutions.

Business Example
The Business Workplace is the end-user interface of the Workflow Engine.

Users’ varying needs with regard to their working environment must be taken into account.

In this chapter, you can familiarize yourself with how the Business Workplace is used.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Use the functions and characteristics of the Business Workplace

Business Workplace as an Interface for End Users

Figure 46: Business Workplace as an interface for end users

The Business Workplace is part of the Workflow Engine’s runtime environment. Through
Business Workplace, the employees responsible receive documents and work items that are

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 Lesson: Functions of the Business Workplace

waiting to be processed by SAP’s business applications. Once a task (that is, a work item) has
been carried out and completed, the respective process can continue.
By structuring the organizational units that define the functions and responsibilities within
your company’s hierarchy, you can ensure that the work involved in each process step will be
sent to the right agent.
The worklist contains all the work items (in other words, all the activities to be carried out)
assigned to a particular user. This makes the Business Workplace the most important
interface employees use in their everyday work.
Along with the worklist (containing work items), the Business Workplace displays an inbox for
documents (e-mail, Internet mail, and faxes). This makes it easier for employees to access
the information relevant to them.

Figure 47: Business Workplace in SAP R/3

The Business Workplace consists of three screen areas:

Overview menu
The overview menu is located on the left-hand side of the Business Workplace. Here, you can
select work items to execute, workflows you have started, and documents.
Worklist
The worklist appears in the top-right area of the Business Workplace screen when you select
the “Workflow” folder. The system automatically groups the entries in this folder. There are
also special folders in which you will find overdue work items and work items for missed
deadlines. If you select “Inbox” in the overview menu, you will see all the work items and
documents it contains in this area of the screen.
Work item preview
A preview of the work item selected in the worklist will be displayed in the bottom-right area of
the screen. Not all the functions of the work item display or the workflow log will be available
here. It is, however, possible to carry out a user decision from the work item preview.

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

You can adjust the work item preview to your needs by means of a user exit. The example
above depicts the work item preview of a demo workflow.

Note:
As of SAP Web Application Server 6.20, BAdIs can be used to control how the
Business Workplace behaves in connection with certain performance parameters.
This relates to concerns regarding large, slow worklists and the frequent need to
refresh worklists.
The feature also makes it possible to manage how the system works with dynamic
columns (see the explanations provided later on in this lesson) and deals with
problems in grouping content within the Business Workplace.
The different characteristics of these BAdIs are covered in the course BIT610; this
lesson focuses primarily on the programming aspects.

Functions of the Worklist

Worklist structure – Engine’s buffering behavior
When a user calls up the Business Workplace, the Workflow Engine produces his or her
current worklist. In order for an employee to receive work items, he or she needs to be a
possible agent for the underlying task. The system buffers this information on agent
assignments once per day.
If a user is assigned a new task after this buffering takes place, he or she will see the work item
in his or her worklist, but be unable to execute it. He or she will receive the notification “No
agent found for work item” .
In these cases, refresh the organizational environment.
To do so, choose Settings Workflow settings Refresh organizational environment in the
Business Workplace.

Figure 48: Business Workplace – Worklist (1)

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 Lesson: Functions of the Business Workplace

Work items can be executed directly from the worklist. Double-clicking one will open the
corresponding application and provide them with the necessary data.
Recipients can view the attachments to a work item and add their own. You can attach many
types of documents to a work item, including SAPscript documents, Microsoft Office
documents, and websites.
The Workflow Engine determines the recipients of each work item. All the recipients selected
can view and execute the work item in question in their Business Workplace. That said, only
one user can execute a work item. This means that other recipients will not be able to carry
out a work item once a user has begun executing it.
Function: Reserve/Replace
A recipient can reserve a work item. A reserved work item can only be executed by the user
who reserved it. If you choose Replace, the work item will be released from its reserved status
and made available again to all the agents selected. The status of the work item will then be
set back to “ready” .
Function: Automatic replacement of work items
If a user aborts the execution of a dialog work item, the item will remain set to In process in his
or her Business Workplace; no other user will be able to view or process it. To make the work
item visible again to all of its original recipients, the user who stopped executing it has to take
explicit action to replace it. As of SAP ERP 6.0 (enhancement package 7), this manual
intermediate step can be automated. You can also install this functionality through SAP Note
1676067.
Automatic replacement is defined for tasks in the maintenance dialog SWW_TASKCUST.
The feature only takes effect in the SAP Business Workplace.
Function: Completing work items manually
You can set the system to require explicit confirmation when a workflow step is complete.
When a work item has been executed, you will see a dialog box in which you can complete the
execution. If you choose Cancel here, the work item will remain in the worklist, set to
“Executed” . In your worklist, you can choose Set to completed for work items set to the status
“Executed” . If this is not done, the work item can be executed or forwarded multiple times.

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Figure 49: Business Workplace – Worklist (2)

Function: Forward
You can forward a work item to another user for execution. The manner in which the Engine
handles the forward function is defined within the task under “Properties” .

Available options in forwarding work items

If all the employees at hand are possible agents, you can forward a work item to all of
them.

If the task in question has organizational objects, roles, or users entered as possible agents
and you forward it to a person who is not a possible agent, the Engine will ask you if you
really want to proceed. If you confirm the prompt, the work item will be sent to a user who
is not one of the possible agents.

You can also deactivate the forwarding function for a particular task.

Function: For resubmission

You can mark a work item for resubmission if you want to execute it at a certain time in the
future.
Business Workplace – Additional Functions

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 Lesson: Functions of the Business Workplace

Figure 50: Business Workplace – Additional Functions

Function: Dynamic columns

You can configure the worklist to meet your needs by selecting the fields that should be
displayed. Click the arrow to the right of the Choose layout button. Modify the layout by
selecting the fields you want to be displayed using the arrow buttons, then save and select
your variant.
You can also use dynamic columns to display work items in your worklist.
Instead of the previous six additional columns, SAP ERP 6.0 (EHP 7) offers 12 in which you
can configure data in task-specificways according to the preferences of your user
department.

Hint:
For systems prior to SAP ERP 6.0 (EHP 7), you can install the 12 columns with
SAP Note 1659252.

Step 1:
Define the dynamic columns
Tools Business Workflow Development Definition tools Worklist Client Dynamic
Columns for Worklist
You can then select the fields you want from the interface variables of the task in question and
assign a name to the corresponding column.
Step 2:
In the “Grouped according to task” area of the workflow inbox in the Business Workplace,
select the task for which you created a dynamic column.
Then configure your personal layout by choosing the “Choose layout” icon.
In the columns available, you will find your dynamic columns, which you can then drag-and-
drop to the desired location in the display.

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Dynamic columns are not available in the web inbox.

In SAP ERP 6.0 (EHP 7), dynamic columns can also be selected (and thus viewed) in the
workflow outbox and in resubmissions.

Hint:
For systems prior to EHP 7, you can install this functionality with SAP Note
1640209.

Substitution
You can maintain substitution in two ways:

Personal substitute (for an SAP user)

Position substitute

Substitutes may be:

Created and activated at the same time

From the time of activation, the substitute automatically receives not only their own work
items, but also the substitution work items.

Created and not activated

The substitute can take active control of the substitution function at any time.
Until the substitute actively ends the substitution, only the substitution work items are
displayed in his or her Workplace.

To create and activate the substitution, choose:

Workplace icon (or Office Workplace) Settings menu Workflow
Settings Maintain Substitute/Activate Substitute
To actively adopt or end a substitution, choose
Workplace icon (or Office Workplace) Settings menu Workflow Settings Adopt
Substitution/End Substitution

Caution:
Since agents are not determined via positions in many workflows, severe
problems may arise when using the variant “Position substitute” .
You should only use this if you can ensure that positions are used for agent
determination in all workflows used throughout the system.

Example 1:
The task step in the workflow on which a work item is based has assigned the position. The
substitute for the position receives the work item.
Example 2:
The task step on which a work item is based has assigned a role and this role determines a
user. The substitute does not receive the work item.

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 Lesson: Functions of the Business Workplace

Recommendation: Every user should maintain a personal substitute. He or she can then stand
in when necessary – even if there was no time to actively maintain a substitute due to an
accident, for example.
Substitute rules can also be created in the universal worklist ( “UWL” ; see the lesson
“Alternatives to the Business Workplace” ).

Basic Information on the Process

Figure 51: Work Item Display

The standard work item display hides technical information that is not required for day-to-day
business.
The system makes the user’s work easier by displaying attachments and providing the option
to call them up immediately. Work item descriptions are also integrated, which means they
can be formatted with SAPscript.
It is possible to make immediate changes to priorities.
All additional information (users, attachments) can be called up by clicking a link.
The default work item display contains the tab pages “Basic data” and “Available objects” .
It is possible to add a user-defined tab page to the work item display.

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Figure 52: Technical Work Item Display

The technical work item display contains technical information, including:

Work item ID

Messages

Containers

...

Pushbuttons must be used to call up attachments, which do not appear immediately.

Work items can be modified.
This work item display can be used only for diagnostic purposes. You will see the work item ID
and deadlines; you can also access all the technical details at hand.
You can access the technical display through the following menu path:
Settings Workflow settings Personal settings: Work Item Display Technical View
You can also switch from the standard to the technical view by choosing Goto Technical
work item display .

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 Lesson: Functions of the Business Workplace

Figure 53: Workflow Log

The workflow log contains all the information on a given business process.
There are different views depending on the role at hand:

Standard view with three tab pages

- Chronological: What was completed by whom, and when?
- Agents: Who carried out which activities, and when?
- Objects: Which objects were processed by whom, and how?

Technical view

Graphical workflow log

The workflow log answers the following questions:

What is the status of a particular request?

Who carried out a specific task?

What information led to a given decision?

The log provides access to more detailed information, work items, and the contents of
attached documents.
In each view, you can call up additional technical information, including on errors or container
elements (internal workflow information).

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Figure 54: Using the Workflow Outbox for Status Tracking

The workflow outbox enables agents to access the work items they have executed at a later
point in time.
It also gives them an overview of the work items they have forwarded to other agents.

User Views
Information about the User view: Global setting:

What do we need them for?

A single workflow log or a single work item display is not enough because different
user categories work with them:

Workflow modelers and administrators (who need access to all the technical
information, including containers, work item IDs, step numbers, and all step types)

Workflow end users (who focus on the content of work items and are only bothered by
technical details and excess functions)

What steps are required?

The administrator sets the default values on a system-wide basis.

All users can then configure their own settings.

The table SWL_SYSTEM is used to set default values for personal workflow settings
throughout the system.

Important:

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 Lesson: Functions of the Business Workplace

If a user has already maintained personal workflow settings, they will not be overwritten by
new entries in this table.

Recommendation:
If you want to configure settings that deviate from the SAP defaults, do so during the
customizing of your system (before users begin working with it).

To maintain your personal settings in the Business Workplace, following this menu path:
Settings Workflow settings Personal settings

Figure 55: User View: Personal Settings

Here, you can adjust the display settings (for the work item display and workflow log) of the
runtime system to your needs.
Other settings

Display work item texts in logon language

All work item texts will always be display in the logon language of the integrated user inbox.
If the current user’s logon language is not the same as the language in which the work item
was originally created, additional database access is required. This can lead to a certain
amount of delay in building the integrated inbox.

Enable forwarding of work items to several users

Work items can be forwarded to multiple agents (organizational units, jobs, positions,
users, and so on).

(Double)-clicking on an object displays the object in the same window

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

In the work item display, you can select an object to be displayed. The object will then be
displayed in the window of the current session, replacing the work item display. When you
exit the object display, you will return to the work item display. If you leave this checkbox
empty, a new session will be opened to display the object.

Use all objects

If you check this box, all the objects pertaining to all the object types in the Business Object
Repository will be displayed when assigning ad hoc objects to a work item (through the
work item display); this includes the object types for which the “Business Object” flag has
not been set in the classification within the basic data of the respective business object.
If the box is not checked within “Personal settings” , you will only see the objects pertaining
to the business object types in the Business Object Repository for which the “Business
Object” flag has been set.

Transfer of execution to other work items possible

In the workflow inbox, you can select multiple work items before choosing [Execute]. If this
box is checked, execute the first work item as usual. The system will then check whether
the underlying method allows for joint execution. If it does, you can transfer the results of
the first work item’s processing to all the subsequent work items you selected (provided
they support joint execution).
If this box is not checked, the system will display all the work items selected for execution
one after another.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Use the functions and characteristics of the Business Workplace

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 Unit 5
Lesson 2
Alternatives to the Business Workplace

LESSON OVERVIEW
The various alternatives to the Business Workplace are presented here.

Business Example
Offers a preview of alternative inboxes

Offers a preview of the universal worklist

Offers a preview of the notification functions for work items

Offers a preview of how SAP Fiori can be used in connection with approval workflows

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Cite the alternatives to the Business Workplace

Put the use of the universal worklist (UWL) into context

Describe the available notification functions

Put SAP Fiori into context in connection with approval workflows

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Different Inboxes

Figure 56: Different inboxes

The workflow system supports various clients. Workflow users can opt for different clients
without making it necessary to redefine the workflow at hand.
For SAP power users who are responsible for processing all types of work items, the Business
Workplace (in SAP GUI for Windows) is the interface that provides the greatest convenience.
In this inbox, it is possible to configure personal settings in connection with dynamic columns,
previews, and layouts. It also provides access to essentially all the functions that deal with
work items.
Employees who seldom receive work orders as work items can view their work items in their
standard e-mail system. The necessary settings are covered in the lesson “Extended
Notifications” .
It is possible to integrate workflow information with web browsers by means of the universal
worklist (UWL). “Easy Web Inbox” is also available in combination with the Internet
Transaction Server (ITS).

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 Lesson: Alternatives to the Business Workplace

Figure 57: Specially defined inbox in SAP CRM

The CRM inbox largely matches the standard inbox. It contains additional folders for:

“Activities”

“Overdue activities”

In SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) 7.0, you can use either SAP NetWeaver
Portal or SAP NetWeaver Business Client.

The Universal Worklist (UWL) in the Portal

The work item inbox is the central location where employees can find their worklists and the
tasks they have been assigned. The process steps displayed in a worklist can include the full
range of business-related tasks covered by the SAP system.
The SAP Business Workplace meets the need for simple, yet efficient access to one’s current
tasks through SAP GUI for Windows. One of its drawbacks, however, is that it can only be
called up in the back end in specific systems.
That said, companies’ system landscapes have changed significantly in recent years. Instead
of having one system for running all their applications, they now have a wide variety of
systems on which their applications run (often separately).
For end users, this means that they are forced to search for and carry out their tasks in many
systems (unless, for example, a company uses the notification functions for SAP Business
Workflow as described herein).
Using SAP NetWeaver Portal and the universal worklist is one way to solve this problem.

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Figure 58: How do I maintain an overview of all my work?

The universal worklist is a tool that was developed to address this very problem. A feature of
SAP NetWeaver Portal, it can significantly reduce the number of inboxes users have (and thus
the effort they require) in various application systems.

Figure 59: The universal worklist

The universal worklist facilitates simple integration of a wide range of back-end systems. It
displays an employee’s assigned tasks in a clear and consistent manner. It also provides
employees with additional options (including for executing functions) they can access right
from their displayed tasks.

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 Lesson: Alternatives to the Business Workplace

Figure 60: Task-specific function calls

In implementing and customizing the UWL, characteristics specific to the portal must be
taken into account. This is why this course cannot go into greater detail on this topic.
Please consult your portal specialist regarding the implementation of the aforementioned
functions and be sure to consider taking course EP600!

Notification Functions for SAP Business Workflow

Many companies use groupware or e-mail systems like Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes.
Such systems are particularly popular among managers who prefer a uniform user interface
and users who are often on the go and mainly need offline functions.
Since its early days, SAP Business Workflow has provided ways to connect the world of SAP
to functions like e-mail. One well-known option involved the MAPI interface, which integrated
workflows with Microsoft Outlook.
The notification options currently available are:

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Figure 61: Available notification options

The aforementioned MAPI interface – a client-based solution for integrating SAP Business
Workflow with Microsoft Outlook – is no longer supported.
To replace the MAPI interface, the RSWUWFML report was enhanced with new functions and
released as RSWUWFML2. This new report is a server-based, software-agnostic solution that
covers 90% of customers’ workflow-specific scenarios. In can be used in SAP Basis 4.6c and
6.20.
For implementing notifications through the RSWUWFML2 report, various attachments are
available as shortcuts for SAP GUI for windows:

Display work items in SAP GUI for Windows

Execute work items in SAP GUI for Windows

Display the Business Workplace in SAP GUI for Windows

The e-mail notification mechanism is not dependent upon a particular e-mail client, which
reduces both the total costs of owning IT infrastructure and the risks associated with frequent
client and operating system upgrades (along with security updates and patches).
For further information, please refer to SAP Note 627397.
The latest methods are included in the extended notificationsframework, which is available in
SAP Web Application Server 6.40 and later.

Extended Notifications
Extended notifications are designed to inform users by e-mail or text message when work
items need to be carried out. Currently, the following options are supported:

1. Notification by e-mail

An e-mail containing simple text that informs the user of work items in his or her
Business Workplace

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 Lesson: Alternatives to the Business Workplace

An e-mail containing descriptive text and links that enable the user to execute a work
item directly, display its contents, or switch to the Business Workplace

An e-mail containing descriptive text and attachments that enable the user to execute
a work item directly, display its contents, or switch to the Business Workplace

2. Notification by text message

Sends a general text that informs the user of work items in his or her Business
Workplace (contains system and client details)

Sends a short text on the work item (along with system and client details)

An e-mail notification can contain one or more work item notifications. The e-mail notification
also includes details on the sender and recipient.
E-mail addresses can also be read from the PD organizational structure (infotype 1205)
instead of from the user master in question. The language of e-mail notifications does,
however, depend on that same user master record.
These e-mails can be displayed in HTML, which greatly improves their appearance and
usability for your employees. E-mails can contain links to SAP GUI for HTML. It is also possible
to combine multiple work items in the same e-mail. Work items that are not based on SAP GUI
for Windows (WebFlow services or WebDynpro, for example) can be called up directly from
within the respective e-mail.
If Single Sign-On is activated, no username or password will be required. If Single Sign-On is
not activated, the user’s password will be required the first time he or she logs on; it will not be
required again until after the session is closed.
For generic decision tasks, e-mails can be sent that make it possible to carry out a decision
directly. Notifications can be forwarded and executed by users with sufficient authorization.
Most of the settings at hand can be configured on an individual or group-wide basis. One user
group can receive summary e-mails in HTML, for example, while another can receive specific
notifications as text-only e-mails.

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Figure 62: Extended notification framework

Extended notifications enhance the methods users were familiar with in the past. Here, a
customizing framework is provided that facilitates the configuration of different types of
notifications in a user- and group-specific way (which was previously only possible using
corresponding variants of batch jobs).
For administration purposes, a browser-based BSP application is available through the
transaction SWNADMIN, which provides a very easy means of saving the necessary settings.
However, this function can only be accessed by one agent at a time.
In addition, SAP GUI-based cluster maintenance (transaction SWNCONFIG) is available,
which makes it possible to maintain additional functions. This is where alternative service
handlers can be stored (for example).

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 Lesson: Alternatives to the Business Workplace

Figure 63: Administration of extended notifications

As in the case of other notification methods, some restrictions must be kept in mind with
regard to the functions provided by extended notifications:

Notifications remain in the user’s e-mail inbox even after the corresponding work items
have been executed or deleted

New notifications are not automatically issued when changes are made regarding the
assignment of work items

No new notifications are issued when new recipients are specified for existing work items
through changes in agent assignments

In order to issue extended notifications, SAPconnect must be set up; in other words, it must
be possible to send e-mails from within the SAP system. Here, be sure to observe the
documentation on the SCOT transaction.
To send notifications, you will need to schedule the SWN_SELSEN report in the background.

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Figure 64: Processing steps in administration

The overall notification process takes place in two phases:

Selecting work items, saving notifications

Issuing notifications

To configure your preferred settings and send out notification e-mails, proceed as follows:

1. Ensure that the required BSP applications are activated.

You must activate the BSP applications SWN_CONFIG and SWN_MESSAGE1 using
transaction SICF. Follow this path to the corresponding services in transaction SICF:
default_host SAP BC BSP SAP.

2. Define one or more categories

Categories represent the main differentiating characteristics within the customizing
framework at hand. They make it possible to specify separate settings for different
versions of notifications. The category at hand is included in the definition of selection
parameters and subscriptions (for example).

3. Define the selection parameters

In the selection area, enter a schedule according to which the tasks you select will be
checked for new instances. When work items are found, notification entries will be made in
the control tables for extended notifications.

4. Define the subscription settings (notification settings)

On the subscription tab, maintain the settings for issuing the notifications saved under
point 2 above. This includes specifying how and when the notifications should be sent.
Maintain the recipients of the notifications, as well.

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 Lesson: Alternatives to the Business Workplace

5. Adjust the general settings

The general settings provide a centralized means of customizing various aspects of
extended notifications. These include text IDs, for example.

6. Schedule a background job for the SWN_SELSEN report

Maintain this report as a background job. In doing so, it is important to configure shorter
(and identical) intervals than those you entered for the selection parameters.

7. Schedule the background job for reorganizing processed notifications (using the
RSWNNOTIFDEL report).

The SWN_SELSEN_TEST report is available if you wish to issue notifications for testing
purposes.
After calling the report, maintain it as follows:

Selection schedule section

- Scenario ID: WORKFLOW
- Schedule ID: <Name of schedule from SWNADMIN BSP>_FULL
The suffix _FULL ensures that the system will search for all existing work items

Delivery schedule section

- Delivery schedule: <Name of delivery schedule you maintained in the subscription
section of SWNADMIN BSP>

Options section
Under Test cases , enter the values 6,10, and 11.
This will invalidate the times you maintained in the selection and subscription areas.

Application log section

Choose the option Display only

Before executing the report, you need to have created work items for the users maintained for
the respective tasks.
E-mail addresses must be maintained for the user who starts the report and the user who is to
receive an e-mail notification. They may be stored in the SU01 user master record, for
example.

SAP Fiori
Along with their traditional desktop computers, SAP users are increasingly opting for tablets
and other mobile devices. They thus want user-friendly access to SAP functions on such
devices, as well.

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Figure 65: What is SAP Fiori all about?

One customer’s demands prompted SAP to launch a campaign in which it implemented apps
for 25 functions in the space of eight months. These functions cover business scenarios
frequently used by a wide variety of users. These apps were rolled out at SAPPHIRE 2013.
Since then, SAP applications have realized more than 100 additional functions as SAP Fiori
apps.

Figure 66: The first 25 SAP Fiori apps

The design principles of SAP Fiori apps include:

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 Lesson: Alternatives to the Business Workplace

Supporting smartphones, tablets, and desktop applications in a “single code line”

approach that also focuses on responsive design

Making the same apps accessible on both the Internet and intranets without any local
installation

Providing access to the data and functions of SAP Business Suite systems based on the
OData protocol and HTTPS

Making it possible to log on through Single Sign-On and log out just once (SAML2, SSO
cookie)

Designing each app as a separate add-on with one front-end and one back-end component

Supporting various back ends through OData services

Creating apps based on the SAPUI5 Control Library

Figure 67: Overview of SAP Fiori architecture

SAP Fiori and Business Workflow

The business functions that have been realized in the form of SAP Fiori apps often involve
approval workflows.
How does the SAP Fiori architecture control interactions with Business Workflow?
SAP Fiori delivers a generic decision app that can be used out of the box.
To use SAP Fiori in approval workflows, the following requirements must be met:

Requirements for using SAP Fiori in approval workflows

The workflow scenarios in question run in the back end.

SAP Fiori has been installed and configured.

The desired SAP Fiori request approval app has been implemented.

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

SAP NetWeaver Gateway has been configured for use with SAP Fiori.

You have decided how you want data to be displayed in the app.

From a workflow perspective, you need to have completed three tasks:

You have implemented your workflow scenario as a business workflow

You have created a standard task with decision options

You have implemented a BAdI that passes the decision option from the workflow step to
SAP Fiori UI5

Once you have handled everything on the workflow side, you can enter the standard task that
implements the decision in question into scenario customizing on the Gateway server. A
scenario, which comprises one or more workflow tasks, represents the point of entry in the
application at hand. As a result, the service in question is presented to you as an app on your
device. The service /IWPGW/TASKPROCESSING is available as a generic decision app.

Figure 68: Settings for the SAP NetWeaver Gateway server

In the SAP back-end system, the approval step provides a list of decision options. Each
decision will send a particular parameter back to the workflow. The BAdI you are required to
implement maps the link between the decision parameter from the decision step and the app
at hand.

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 Lesson: Alternatives to the Business Workplace

Figure 69: Implementations in the back-end system

In the approval app, you bring up the data to be approved in the front end. The data display
can vary in terms of its complexity.
You have the option to display data by means of the work item text pertaining to a given task.

Figure 70: Displaying data through work item text

You can also create a BAdI that outputs work item text in HTML format.

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Unit 5: Business Workplace

Figure 71: Displaying data by means of a BAdI

You can output data of any level of complexity, including that which is not related to a
particular business object. To do so, create an OData service and use a UI extension.
You can use the following extension points:

CustomerExtensionForObjectListItem

CustomerExtensionForObjectHeader

CustomerExtensionForInfoTabContent

CustomerExtensionForNoteTabContent

CustomerExtensionForAttachmentTabContent

CustomerExtensionForAdditionalTabs

In approval inquiries, you can also use the UI control IDs ARNoteIconTabFilter and
ARAttachmentIconTabFilter .

Note:
For further details on implementing and using SAP Fiori, please refer to the course
SAPX03, “SAP Fiori Implementation and C”.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Cite the alternatives to the Business Workplace

Put the use of the universal worklist (UWL) into context

Describe the available notification functions

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 Lesson: Alternatives to the Business Workplace

Put SAP Fiori into context in connection with approval workflows

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 Unit 5

Learning Assessment

1. Every work item a user receives for processing is always visible in the Business Workplace.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

2. Alternative workplaces – the universal worklist in the portal, for example, or receiving
notifications about a work item by e-mail – can also be used.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

3. What options do users have in customizing their own personal worklist?

4. A user can only forward a work item to the possible agents for the task at hand.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

5. Once a user has reserved or executed a work item, it can only be replaced manually by the
same user or the workflow administrator. A new function in SAP ERP 6.0 (EHP 7) makes
automatic replacement possible.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

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 Unit 5: Learning Assessment

6. What are the different views available in the end-user workflow log?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Workflow chronicle view

X B Workflow agents view

X C Workflow objects view

X D Workflow container view

7. Through the workflow outbox, users can access work items they have already carried out.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

8. Using transaction SWNADMIN, you can access a Business Server Page application that
enables you to customize how e-mail notifications are handled for work items.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

9. With SAP Fiori, you can process approval work items through an app that runs on
desktops, tablets, and other mobile devices.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

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 Unit 5

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. Every work item a user receives for processing is always visible in the Business Workplace.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct, Yes, the Business Workplace is the main user interface.

2. Alternative workplaces – the universal worklist in the portal, for example, or receiving
notifications about a work item by e-mail – can also be used.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. Yes, other ways to receive notifications about a given work item can be
defined.

3. What options do users have in customizing their own personal worklist?

Users can configure their own worklist layouts by selecting columns from the column set
and/or defining their own (dynamic) columns.

4. A user can only forward a work item to the possible agents for the task at hand.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. The definition of the task at hand determines whether and to whom it can
be forwarded.

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 Unit 5: Learning Assessment - Answers

5. Once a user has reserved or executed a work item, it can only be replaced manually by the
same user or the workflow administrator. A new function in SAP ERP 6.0 (EHP 7) makes
automatic replacement possible.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. The Function was introduced with ERP 6.0, EHP 7.

6. What are the different views available in the end-user workflow log?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Workflow chronicle view

X B Workflow agents view

X C Workflow objects view

X D Workflow container view

This is correct. The workflow container view is accessible through the technical log.

7. Through the workflow outbox, users can access work items they have already carried out.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. In the workflow outbox, each agent sees the instances he or she has
started and the work items he or she has executed or forwarded.

8. Using transaction SWNADMIN, you can access a Business Server Page application that
enables you to customize how e-mail notifications are handled for work items.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. Within transaction SWNADMIN, the BSP SWN_CONFIGgives you an easy
way to customize these e-mail notifications.

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Unit 5: Learning Assessment - Answers

9. With SAP Fiori, you can process approval work items through an app that runs on
desktops, tablets, and other mobile devices.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. SAP Fiori apps incorporate the principles of responsive design.

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 UNIT 6 Workflow Architecture

Lesson 1
Characteristics and Usage of Standard Tasks 106

Lesson 2
Characteristics and Usage of Workflow Templates 114

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Explain characteristics and usage of standard tasks

Explain characteristics and usage of workflow templates

Cite the main characteristics of a workflow template

Activate the event linkage of an SAP workflow

Use the SAP workflow

Describe the basic interaction between definition and runtime

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 Unit 6
Lesson 1
Characteristics and Usage of Standard Tasks

LESSON OVERVIEW
This lesson offers an introduction to the functional core, possible agents, and maintainable
texts of standard tasks.

Business Example
The implementation team starts out by exploring the characteristics and possible uses of
standard tasks.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Explain characteristics and usage of standard tasks

Current and Obsolete Task Types

Figure 72: Tasks describe business activities

Tasks describe business activities that are to be carried out.

They thus represent the “WHAT” and “BY WHAT MEANS” of how a given workflow is
executed.
Tasks are assigned possible agents. Agents represent the “WHO” aspect of the workflow.
From an organizational perspective, tasks are the central element of a workflow. One specific
task can be performed in each process step.

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 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Standard Tasks

Figure 73: Task types: standard tasks and workflow templates

Since release 4.5, you can create the following task types: standard tasks(TS), workflow
templates (WS), and task groups (TG). They are time-independent and can be called by any
client present in a given SAP system.
Tasks represent individual business activities in a workflow. A workflow, meanwhile,
represents an entire business process.
Each task type has a key consisting of a two-character code for the type (TS, WS, or TG) and
an eight-digit number.
In release 4.0 and earlier, it was also possible to create customer-specific task types:
customer tasks (T) and workflow tasks (WF). It is still possible to execute old WF and T tasks,
but they are time-dependent and client-specific. You will not, however, be able to integrate old
T and WF tasks into new types (WS and TG).
SAP tasks are the standard tasks provided by SAP. SAP workflows are the workflow
templates provided by SAP.
In your role as a customer, you can create standard tasks (TS) and workflow templates (WS)
whenever required. The system differentiates between the standard tasks and workflow
templates provided by SAP and those defined by customers based on the structure of their
eight-digit sequential numbers. There is no special flag for this purpose.
To work with tasks, follow the path Tools Business
Workflow Development Definition tools Tasks/Task groups Create or call the
transactions PFTS (standard tasks) or PFWS (workflow templates).

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Unit 6: Workflow Architecture

Information on Task Definition

Figure 74: Information on task definition

Tasks represent actions that need to be carried out. A task always refers to exactly one
method of an object type.
The action involved can be a step that the system executes on its own in the background. In
these cases, no possible agents are assigned.
The action can also be a dialog task. In these cases, the task has possible agents, which can
be assigned by following the menu path:
Additional Data Maintain Agent Assignment
Work item text is the text found in the “Title” column of the worklist.
The task description appears in the work item preview and the work item detail display.
A notification can be sent to the corresponding recipient when a work item has been
completed.
If simple deadline monitoring has been set up for a given workflow step, a corresponding text
must be maintained for the respective deadline type.
In all texts, variables can be included that are supplied with values from the workflow interface
at runtime.
Texts for descriptions, notifications, and missed deadlines can be found on the Description
tab page.

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 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Standard Tasks

Functional Core: Object Types and Object Methods

Figure 75: Task definition: object types and object methods

Object types summarize how business objects can be processed. Methods are the functions
permitted for an object.
At definition time, object types are generic descriptions (or definitions) of the components of
the respective objects (key, attributes, events, methods).
At runtime, an object is:

Accessible by means of a unique identification key

The actual manifestation of an object type with specific attribute values

The attribute values are table entries from the SAP database at hand, or are determined
based on known values at runtime.

Methods are the functions permitted for an object.

Methods encapsulate the familiar and extensive functions of the SAP system and make them
accessible to the Workflow Engine. Object methods refer to available ABAP functions
(transactions, function and dialog modules, any type of code, and so on).

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Unit 6: Workflow Architecture

Using ABAP Classes for Tasks

Figure 76: Using ABAP classes for tasks

As of SAP ERP 6.0, it is also possible to use ABAP classes and their functions as the functional
core of tasks. To do so, enter the object category “ABAP class” in the task along with the class
name and method.
Within the workflow architecture, ABAP classes can be used in the same manner as object
types; in other words, classes also provide methods, attributes, and events. A number of
particularities need to be taken into account when developing these functions, however. A
class to be used in the workflow architecture has to implement the interface IF_WORKFLOW,
for example.
For further details on how to proceed in implementing ABAP classes for SAP Business
Workflow, please refer to the course BIT611.

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 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Standard Tasks

Possible Agents in the Context of Agent Determination

Figure 77: Task definition: possible agents WHO will carry something out?

For each task, the possible agentsmust be assigned. This group of individuals should include
the employees at your company who are technically capable of carrying out the task at hand.
Create possible agents by following this menu path:
Additional Data Maintain Agent Assignment .
During definition, you can choose Properties and create a “general task” , or choose Agent
Assignment Create to create a link to an organizational object or role.
General tasks can be carried out by any user in the system.
You do not need to be using an HR system to link organizational objects. This functionality is
included with the basis system.
In this process, the possible agent who actually receives a work item is determined through
the definition of responsible agents.

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Unit 6: Workflow Architecture

Maintaining Texts

Figure 78: Work item text

Work item text is defined at the task level and displayed in the Business Workplace at runtime.
To define texts, proceed as follows:

Bring up the standard task in question in display mode and click the Redefine work item
text button in the Work item text section of the task.

Enter your choice of text and save it.

In work item text, you can enter variables that will add current runtime data to the text.
System information, such as the current date and time or the user who initiated the workflow,
will then be inserted in place of the entered variables at runtime and displayed in the worklist
along with the fixed text.
To insert variables, proceed as follows:

Bring up the work item text in question

Move the cursor to the place where you want to insert a variable

Select the desired variable from the interface

Leave a space before and after the variable

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 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Standard Tasks

Figure 79: Tasks: other texts

The text descriptions of tasks provide the user with a form of support and documentation.
They may include detailed instructions on how to use a transaction called in connection with a
given work item. Descriptions can also contain key information on a business process or
directions on what to do if an error occurs.
The long texts in question can be found in a task’s definition on the “Description” tab page.
You can maintain the following texts:

Task description (appears in the work item preview in the Business Workplace and the
detail display of the work item)

Completion text (sent to the user specified when the work item is complete)

Missed deadline text (sent to the user specified when the work item is not completed
within the set time frame)

In the editor, insert variables into long texts by following the menu path Include Expression.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Explain characteristics and usage of standard tasks

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 Unit 6
Lesson 2
Characteristics and Usage of Workflow
Templates

LESSON OVERVIEW
Characteristics of a workflow template.
The Workflow Builder.
Activating an event linkage.
Using an SAP workflow.
Interaction among workflow components at runtime.

Business Example
An SAP workflow has been found for your business process and is to be implemented
without any changes.

You now need to make the necessary adjustments.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Explain characteristics and usage of workflow templates

Cite the main characteristics of a workflow template

Activate the event linkage of an SAP workflow

Use the SAP workflow

Describe the basic interaction between definition and runtime

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 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Workflow Templates

Workflow Templates

Figure 80: Workflows: workflow templates

A workflow template contains:

A reference to the corresponding workflow definition; that is, the specification of the
individual workflow steps to be executed.

Basic data related to the workflow definition

A specification of triggering events

Initial values

Interface specifications (workflow container and event container)

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Unit 6: Workflow Architecture

Workflow Definition and Steps

Figure 81: Workflows: workflow definition and steps

The technical mapping of business processes in the SAP system can be performed by means
of workflow definitions. Workflow templates serve as a framework for each workflow
definition.
You can call up a workflow definition directly from within the Workflow Builder.
Tools Business Workflow Development Definition tools Workflow Builder .
You only need to call up the definition of a workflow template if you want to change texts or
initial value assignments.
Tools Business Workflow Development Definition tools Tasks/Task
groups Change
A workflow definition consists of individual modular steps. When you create a step in a
workflow definition, you first have to specify the step type.
Some steps relate to business activities (tasks, document generation, user decisions), while
others are used for internal process control and monitoring (of conditions, switches, loops,
and so on).
The order in which steps are processed depends on the result of each preceding step. A
workflow definition specifies which steps are to follow all the possible results of a given step.
The possible results of a step are usually derived from the underlying business function and
generated based on the task definition in question.
In addition to the flow logic reflected by the work definition at hand, a workflow template
includes a specification of triggering events and definitions of the corresponding interface and
basic data (which are covered in the course BIT601).

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 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Workflow Templates

Workflow Builder

Figure 82: Workflows: the Workflow Builder

Workflow definitions are created in the Workflow Builder and displayed in a graphical format.
The Workflow Builder is divided into the following areas:

Steps: A tree structure showing the sequence of workflow steps. Double-clicking a step
displays the corresponding step definition.

Containers: Variables of the workflow interface

Tasks: Here, tasks and workflows are available for easy insertion and navigation.

Document templates: Displays the available document templates

Wizards

Team working

Overview: Displays the whole workflow definition

Insertable step types: All the step types available for drag-and-drop into the workflow
definition

Messages: All messages generated in where-used lists and workflow tests are displayed
here.

Workflows with this definition

Responsible and Excluded Agents in a Workflow Step

The possible agents you specify for standard tasks can/must be limited to the responsible
agents for each workflow step.
The example depicted in the following illustration involves an FI scenario in which invoice
verification work items are only sent to the agents responsible for the invoices of a certain
business partner.

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Unit 6: Workflow Architecture

Within a workflow for accounts payable accounting, there is a step for posting an FI
document.
This step is based on the task “Post document” .
All FI clerks have the ability to process this step.
They are specified as possible agentsin the task definition (depicted by the violet circle in the
graphic above).
Using a rule that evaluates the customer name and invoice amount at hand, the Workflow
Engine determines the intended work item recipients.
Only the three agents circled in red will receive the work item in their Business Workplaces
during runtime.

Figure 83: Step definition – responsible agents: Responsibility rules for FI scenario

The first agent who starts processing a task locks the corresponding work item in the other
two agents’ worklists.
In this sense, work items are handled in a “winner-takes-all” fashion. When the other two
agents refresh their Business Workplaces, the work item in question will be deleted.

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 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Workflow Templates

Figure 84: Agent determination schema in workflows

The system first determines the possible agentsdefined for the task at hand and then the
responsible agentsdefined in the workflow step.
In doing so, it identifies the agents that belong to both groups.
From this intersection, the system then removes any excluded agentsdefined at the step
level.
The remaining agents are the recipients of the work item. They have the option to access the
work item.
The first agent to access the work item becomes its actual agent.

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Unit 6: Workflow Architecture

Triggering Events

Figure 85: Workflows: triggering events

As soon as a user creates a notification of absence, the application generates the event
“Notification of absence created” .
In the basic data of the workflow template to be initiated, this event linkage must be entered
and activated.
The “Notification of absence created” event then triggers all the workflows actively linked to
it.
Once a workflow is triggered by an event, all subsequent processing steps specified in the
workflow definition will be carried out in the sequence defined until the workflow is complete.

Definition and Runtime Environment

The Workflow Engine provides components for definingprocesses, tasks, agents, and rules.
During runtime, the workflow definition serves as the foundation for the corresponding
workflow instances (flow items, type F). Based on the task and step definition in question,
work items are generated as runtime instances whose recipients are determined by rules,
organizational objects, roles, and expressions.

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 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Workflow Templates

Figure 86: Workflows: definition and runtime environment

The Workflow Engine also provides components for executing processes (runtime
components). These include:

The workflow manager, for controlling and coordinating the workflow process

The work item manager, for managing the execution of individual work steps (work items,
including agent assignments and deadline monitoring)

The event manager, for evaluating the event receiver linkage table and handling requesting
event receivers for a given event

Components for managing data required to execute the tasks specified in the workflow
definition

The Business Workplacefacilitates the runtime interaction among the user, the Workflow
Engine, and the application functions at hand.
The runtime tools of the Workflow Engine are covered in detail in the course BIT610.

Workflow Architecture: Summary

In summary, we can state the following:

Tasks
Encapsulate functions (object type and object method).
Workflows
Define the sequence and details of steps in a business process.
Workflow system components

The definition tools provided make it possible to develop tasks and workflows.

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Unit 6: Workflow Architecture

The runtime system oversees the execution of and resources required for workflow
instances.

SAP Tools for Business Process Management

The term “business process management”can be understood in different ways. Your
interpretation may include:

BPM as a management discipline

BPM as a technology or software product

As a management discipline, business process management (BPM) aids companies in

standardizing their operational processes and making ongoing improvements.
Here, special importance is attached to the processes that are essential to each company’s
success.
As a software product, BPM provides IT departments with an array of tools for modeling and
executing processes.
Here, SAP offers you three main components you can use to control your processes.

The BPM tools in SAP NetWeaver include:

BPM tools in SAP NetWeaver

SAP Business Workflow

Cross-component business process management (ccBPM)

SAP NetWeaver Business Process Management (SAP NW BPM)

SAP Business Workflowsupports the modeling and execution of (mainly local) processes
within an SAP system.
In addition to the workflows that come with SAP applications, every customer can create any
number of custom workflow processes and run them in their SAP system. Users are assigned
tasks for them to carry out during a given process.
Thanks to the Wf-XML interface, process X in system A can trigger process Y in system B,
passing on its data at the same time. Process Y in system B can then return data or another
form of response to process X in system A. The processes run in a synchronized manner
across multiple systems.
SAP Business Workflow, a component of SAP NetWeaver Application Server for ABAP, is
available free of charge in every SAP system.
Cross-component business process management (ccBPM) is a component of SAP
NetWeaver Process Integration (SAP NW PI). With SAP NW PI, you can send XML messages
back and forth between any number of heterogeneous systems. In this context, you can only
map certain scenarios with the help of processes. ccBPM is the component that makes this
possible by facilitating the processing of XML messages without user involvement.
Originally, SAP NetWeaver Business Process Management (SAP NW BPM) was a tool for
creating process logic in customer-specific applications that used SAP Enterprise Services.
With SAP NW BPM, you can create processes across multiple systems and applications.
SAP NW BPM runs in a Java environment. If you use SAP NW PI as a single Java installation or
have purchased SAP NW Process Orchestration, SAP NW BPM replaces the ccBPM tool.

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 Lesson: Characteristics and Usage of Workflow Templates

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Explain characteristics and usage of workflow templates

Cite the main characteristics of a workflow template

Activate the event linkage of an SAP workflow

Use the SAP workflow

Describe the basic interaction between definition and runtime

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 Unit 6

Learning Assessment

1. An object type is present at runtime and at definition time.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

2. Possible agents are the employees at a company that are technically able to execute a
certain task.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

3. Generally speaking, how do you start a workflow?

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 Unit 6

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. An object type is present at runtime and at definition time.

Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. Yes; an object type describes an object at runtime. At runtime, the system
works with specific instances of the object type at hand.

2. Possible agents are the employees at a company that are technically able to execute a
certain task.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

This is correct. Possible agents represent the overall pool of employees who are allowed to
carry out a given task.

3. Generally speaking, how do you start a workflow?

In practice, most workflows are triggered by events.

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 UNIT 7 Monitoring and Analysis

Lesson 1
Exploring Specific Transactions for Runtime Monitoring 127

Lesson 2
Using the Workflow Log 136

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Explore specific transactions for runtime monitoring

Execute runtime reports for the administrator

Execute runtime reports for the end user

Use the workflow log

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 Unit 7
Lesson 1
Exploring Specific Transactions for Runtime
Monitoring

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Explore specific transactions for runtime monitoring

Execute runtime reports for the administrator

Execute runtime reports for the end user

Overview

Figure 87: Workflow Reports

The SAP database contains all of the information required for workflow processes. This
information can be evaluated using standard or customer-specific reports.
Runtime reporting has two main purposes:

1. Support for test analysis and error analysis

2. Improvement of business process logic based on past experience.

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Unit 7: Monitoring and Analysis

The reporting information can help you to assess the current performance of processes,
whether there are problems with waiting times, the development of total processing times,
how well service agreements are met and whether anything should be changed.
Workflow reports can be found in the menu tree under Tools Business
Workflow Development in the following folders: Reporting, Utilities , and Runtime Tools .

Figure 88: Reporting system

Different reports are available for information purposes.

If you have problems with a specific workflow, use the workflow diagnosis.

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 Lesson: Exploring Specific Transactions for Runtime Monitoring

Workitem Analysis

Figure 89: Reporting: work item analysis

Work item analysis provides information such as how often a workflow was started and how
long it took to process it.
Work item analysis provides information about workflows that were not processed in time
(missed deadlines, in other words).
You can choose the analysis period. You can also restrict the analysis to particular workflows,
or tasks and task groups.
You receive the work items of tasks by default. If you want to display the work items of
workflows, you must set the “(Sub)Workflow” indicator.
Work item analysis provides a good overview for workflow administrators and managers who
are responsible for this business process.
Work item analysis can be found in the menu tree under:
Tools Business Workflow Development Reporting Work item analysis .

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Workload Analysis

Figure 90: Reporting: Workload Analysis

Workload analysis provides an overview of the work that has been (or remains to be)
executed, along with the respective users, jobs, positions, and organizational units
responsible.
From workload analysis, you can navigate directly to the inbox in question.
You can only execute workload analysis if you have administrator authorization.
The use of workload analysis in projects should be discussed with your company’s employee
representatives (works council, HR committee).
To view workload analysis, choose the following:
Tools Business Workflow Development Reporting Workload analysis .

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Workitem Selection

Figure 91: Utilities: Work item selection

Work item selection can be found in the menu tree under:

SAP Easy Access Tools Business Workflow Development Utilities Work item
selection
Work item selection is probably the fastest way for a workflow designer to access the
workflow log of any workflow.
Work item selection supports the following selection criteria:

Task ID or task groups (for example, WS99900012/TS30000016)

Work item type

Date/time created

Status of work item

Priority

Entry of a specific work item key

Selecting the “Additional Data” indicator will also display the number and version of the
workflow/task, the system administrator, and the user who executed the work item.
Depending on your selection criteria, the report might display a list of work items. By double
clicking, you can display these work items to obtain detailed information.
You can only execute and change the work item if you are a possible agentof this work item.

Item types and their Meaning

In a workflow, items represent process steps (or process instances). Depending on the
processing taking place, the Workflow Engine generates different types of items.
The following list presents a number of item types and what they mean:

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Unit 7: Monitoring and Analysis

Types of items in a workflow

W: Dialog work item
- The runtime representation of a task with a user dialog.

D: Missed deadline work item

- Notifies the defined recipient about a missed deadline.

F: Workflow work item

- Represents the active process instance of a workflow. The key ID of the process
instance is stored in all the items pertaining to the process.

B: Background work item

- The runtime representation of a task executed by the Workflow Engine in the
background.

E: Wait step work item:

- The runtime representation of a wait step from the workflow definition.

Information on Object Types and Objects

Figure 92: Runtime Tools: Information on object types and objects

To find out which tasks and workflows use a specific object type, follow this path:
SAP Easy Access Tools Business Workflow Development Definition
tools Application Integration Business Object Builder .
Enter your choice of object type and click the “Where-Used List” icon.
To obtain a where-used list for used classes, you can use the Business Workflow Explorer
(transaction SWDM).
To find out which instances there are for a given object type, follow this path:

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 Lesson: Exploring Specific Transactions for Runtime Monitoring

SAP Easy Access Tools Business Workflow Development Runtime

tools Workflows for Object Type (transaction SWI14) .
You can choose between completed or active instances.
If you want to find a business object that is part of a workflow instance, you can search for a
specific object of an object type here:
SAP Easy Access Tools Business Workflow Development Runtime
tools Workflows for Object (transaction SWI6) .
If the application in use supports generic object services, you can also find associated
workflow instances in a display transaction of the application by following the path Object
services -> Workflow -> Workflow overview .

Analysis of Transactions related to Workitems that could not be Delivered

In order for a user to receive a work item for processing, the Workflow Engine must have
identified the user as a possible and responsible agent. If you forgot to specify possible agents
for a standard task or there are no agents who have been designated as both possible and
responsible, the Workflow Engine will be unable to deliver a corresponding work item. The
work item will exist and be set to ready status, but it will not appear in any Business
Workplace because the Workflow Engine could not determine a valid recipient.
As an administrator, you can find these work items using transaction SWI2_ADM1 (work items
without agents).
Another transaction, SWI2_ADM2, will provide you with the work items that were delivered to
deleted users.
Both transactions can be found by following this path: SAP Easy Access Tools Business
Workflow Development Administration Workflow Runtime .

Analysis of Transactions Related to the Use of Organizational Objects

You can use organizational objects to define possible and responsible agents. With
transaction SWI13, you can view the tasks that use a particular organizational object before
editing the object and changing the agents involved. This information will help you prevent
work items from being generated without agents at runtime due to problems with the
corresponding agent definitions.
Standard tasks are objects that execute a specific method of a specific object type and can be
used in a wide variety of workflows. This means that modifying the definition of a standard
task may affect not only the process you are interested in, but also others with definitions that
include the task in an activity step. This is why you should use transaction SWI11 to identify
the workflows in which a standard task is used before making changes to it. You can also copy
the task in order to modify it according to your needs.

Test Tools for the Implementation Team

Test Utilities for the Implementation Team are:

Consistency Check
- Workflow definition/task definition
- Customizing of the entire Workflow Engine

RFC protocol

Start a task or workflow manually.

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Unit 7: Monitoring and Analysis

- First update the organizational assignment and then provide the input data.

You can use transaction SWU7 or SWU4 to test the consistency of a workflow or task
definition.
The “Verify Workflow Customizing” screen should contain green traffic lights before you
process a workflow in the development system. You should always check transaction SWU3 if
you suspect that there is an error in the workflow system.
The RFC protocol provides you with an overview of any RFC problems. The RFC protocol is
located in transaction SM58.
For test purposes, you can manually start a task or workflow in transaction SWUS or using the
[Test] icon within the Workflow Builder.

Workflow Outbox

Figure 93: Workflow Outbox in the Business Workplace

In the Business Workplace, the workflow outbox provides each user with an overview of the
workflow instances in which he or she has been entered as the workflow initiator. Specific
subfolders also provide overviews of the work items the current user executed or forwarded
over a defined period.
The default period is 30 days, but you can redefine it by choosing the [Change selection
period] icon. The options provided are: today only, last 7 days, last 30 days, or a freely defined
period.
These functions are available in the Business Workplace “Outbox” folder.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Explore specific transactions for runtime monitoring

Execute runtime reports for the administrator

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 Lesson: Exploring Specific Transactions for Runtime Monitoring

Execute runtime reports for the end user

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 Unit 7
Lesson 2
Using the Workflow Log

LESSON OVERVIEW
This lesson takes a closer look at the different views and display options available in the
workflow log.

Business Example
Having gotten comfortable with a number of transactions for workflow runtime monitoring,
the implementation team now wants to use the further options provided by the workflow log.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Use the workflow log

Different Logs

Figure 94: Workflow Logs from the Business and Technical Perspective

The workflow log offers different modes for different information requirements. Each mode
answers certain questions and is geared toward a particular user group. The following modes
are available:

Modes for agents (no technical information)

Modes that include technical details (those required by a workflow administrator, for
example)

The log’s standard view is for business users.

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 Lesson: Using the Workflow Log

The information you see depends on the mode you have selected in your personal workflow
settings. If you have selected the technical view, no information will be filtered out.
Workflow administrators should activate the technical view in order to avoid seeing a
simplified version. (When displaying a workflow’s log, this could prevent an administrator
from seeing all the steps at hand, which could lead to an incorrect diagnosis.)

Standard Log

Figure 95: Workflow log: workflow chronicle view

The “View: WF Chronicle” tab page of the workflow log (ActiveX) shows a hierarchy of all the
workflow steps that have been processed or are awaiting processing. If the workflow at hand
contains a structure of (sub-)workflows, they will also be displayed.
The “Details” function lists the following details on a given step in the lower portion of the
screen:

Who executed what detailed action with the work items in question, and what the results
were

When this action was carried out

Which objects were involved

The “Agent” function shows:

Selected agents

Possible agents

Excluded agents for a given step

The “Graphic” function switches to the graphical workflow log.

The different views (workflow chronicle, workflow agents, workflow objects) can also be
accessed in the user view (no ActiveX) of the workflow log through the “Views” menu.

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Unit 7: Monitoring and Analysis

Figure 96: Workflow log: workflow agent view

The “View: Workflow Agents” tab page of the (ActiveX) workflow log displays the employees
who have been involved in the workflow thus far. It contains the following information on each
employee:

What action was carried out in what step

When this action was carried out

Which objects were involved

This view mainly indicates the role an employee has played in executing a workflow.

Figure 97: Workflow log: workflow objects view

The “View: Workflow Objects” tab page lists the objects that are associated with the workflow
or have been called during its execution thus far. These objects include:

The “leading” object of the workflow

Attachments and objects added in the individual workflow steps

The following information is provided for each object:

Who carried out what detailed action for what task

When this action was carried out

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 Lesson: Using the Workflow Log

In other words, this view indicates which information has been generated and how it was
generated and processed.

Technical Log
The technical log is always the place to start in analyzing problems that have occurred in the
course of a workflow.
You can either choose the technical view as your default setting or switch to it from the
standard view through the menu path Goto List with technical details to view additional
details:

All steps: Hidden steps will also be displayed.

All the information messages, warnings, and errors that occurred during execution

Displayed work item IDs

The display described in the following section presents the new form of the technical log used
in SAP ERP 6.0 and later. In essence, it constitutes a hierarchical sequence of process steps
(a chronological display is also available).
The details on the individual steps of the process at hand are displayed on various tabs in the
lower portion of the screen. From this area, it is possible to view container data (for example).
A step history, details on a given process step, and any related messages are also accessible
here.

Figure 98: Workflow log: list with technical details (expert mode)

The following graphic depicts the technical log in its previous form. By clicking a workflow’s
status (or the traffic lights displayed), you can obtain detailed information on warnings or
errors.

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Unit 7: Monitoring and Analysis

If you want to switch to the old “technical log” , choose the corresponding pushbutton (or
press CTRL+P).

Figure 99: Workflow log: classic list with technical details (expert mode)

Caution:
As of version 4.5, warnings are only logged if the basic data of the workflow has
been configured accordingly. Errors and success messages are logged by
default. Success messages can also be hidden.
This can be configured in the Workflow Builder on the [Control] tab page of the
basic data.

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 Lesson: Using the Workflow Log

Graphical Log

Figure 100: Graphical workflow log

The graphical workflow log makes it possible to quickly run through a given workflow.
This is particularly useful when working with longer workflows.
The graphical workflow log supplements the information provided in text. In the graphical
view of a workflow definition, the flow of workflow steps that have already been processed is
depicted by a green line.
This enables you to determine at a glance which “route” a workflow instance has taken and
which activities are processed alongside your own in the business process at hand.
In contrast to the text version of the workflow log, the graphical log also shows the upcoming
steps in a given workflow instance. This enables you to see how a process will continue once
your activity is executed.
The technical foundation of the graphical workflow log is the Workflow Builder. To display the
graphical workflow log, the workflow definition in question is read and combined with runtime
information.
Work items that have already been processed or are being processed currently are displayed
along with icons indicating their status. In addition, the system indicates the current agents
and the work item status of each respective step.

Possibilities of the graphical workflow log and changes in workflow definitions:

Along with the workflow definition in question, the graphical workflow log also displays
runtime data.

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Unit 7: Monitoring and Analysis

If you change a version of a workflow definition in a significant and incompatible way by:
- Adding steps
- Deleting steps
- Repositioning blocks (cut, paste, and so on)
- ...and no new version is generated,

...the graphical workflow log may no longer display the sequence that has taken place.

This problem mainly arises in the development and testing phase when a workflow definition
is modified, executed, modified again, and executed once more.
While the list-based workflow log only presents past values from the workflow runtime tables,
the graphical workflow log displays the version of the executed workflow according to its
current definition.
If the version has been changed significantly, the graphic will reflect the modified workflow
definition, but the workflow itself will follow a different sequence. As a result, the workflow
attempts to insert information from runtime tables into a workflow definition that looks
completely different. What anomalies can you look for to identify this problem?

Steps that seem to have been skipped (this is especially apparent in a sequence of steps)

All steps are displayed as “Executed” , even those in an alternative sequence (not a loop)

The workflow is finished, but its execution appears to have had no direct result

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Use the workflow log

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 UNIT 8 Further Topics
(Optional)

Lesson 1
Enhancing SAP Workflows 144

Lesson 2
Configuring Workflows 148

Lesson 3
Using Workflows at Your Company 153

Lesson 4
Explaining Workflow Roles 159

Lesson 5
Explaining SAP Authorizations 161

Lesson 6
Explaining Steps of a Workflow Project 162

Lesson 7
Exploring Transaction Codes and Menu Paths 167

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Enhance SAP workflows

Configure Workflows

Use workflows at your company

Explain workflow roles

Explain SAP Authorizations

Explain Steps of a Workflow Project

Explore Transaction Codes and Menu Paths

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 Unit 8
Lesson 1
Enhancing SAP Workflows

LESSON OVERVIEW

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Enhance SAP workflows

SAP Workflow Enhancement

SAP Workflow Enhancement, Introduction
This section covers redefining standard texts in SAP tasks and making customer-specific
enhancements to certain step characteristics in SAP workflows. One of the options available
in this context is “simple deadline monitoring”, which is implemented in practice here.

Determine whether to enhance an SAP workflow or use it as-is

Figure 101: Should you enhance an SAP workflow or use it as-is?

Message texts (long texts and work item text) can always be modified.
It is also possible to redefine texts according to your needs even when you want to use
templates without other changes.

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 Lesson: Enhancing SAP Workflows

Through workflow configuration, you can modify a step in an SAP workflow without having to
copy it first.
Workflow configuration enables you to:

1. Change the agent assignment of a step

2. Set up deadline monitoring for a step

3. Prioritize work items

4. Send a notification when a step is complete

5. Deactivate logging for a step in the workflow log

A workflow’s configuration does not allow you to modify the corresponding workflow
definition.
If you want to add a new step to an SAP workflow or modify a step in a manner not listed
above, proceed as follows:

1. Copy the SAP workflow

2. Make your changes

3. Activate your new workflow template

Redefine standard SAP texts according to your needs

Figure 102: Redefining work item text

Work item text is defined at the task level and displayed in the worklist at runtime.
SAP tasks are provided with standard texts that can be redefined according to each
customer’s needs.
Procedure:

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Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

Bring up the SAP task in question (display mode)

Click the “Redefine work item text” icon directly above the work item text

Enter your choice of text and save it

It is possible to include variables in work item text; these variables supplement the text with
current runtime data. System information, such as the current date and time or the user who
initiated the workflow, will then be inserted in place of the entered variables at runtime and
displayed in the worklist along with the fixed text of the work item in question.
Procedure for including variables:

Bring up the work item text in question

Move the cursor to the place where you want to insert a variable

Select the desired variable from the interface

Figure 103: Redefining other texts

Long texts in SAP workflows can also be redefined according to your needs.
Long texts can be found in each task’s definition on the “Description” tab page.
You can maintain the following texts:

Task description (appears in the work item preview in the Business Workplace and the
detail display of the work item)

Completion text (sent to a user to be specified when the work item is complete)
- Work item was not processed in the period specified

Missed deadline text (sent to a user to be specified if the work item was not processed in
the period specified

You can include variables in long texts by following the menu path: Include Expression.

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 Lesson: Enhancing SAP Workflows

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Enhance SAP workflows

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 Unit 8
Lesson 2
Configuring Workflows

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Configure Workflows

Workflow Configuration

The following is the usage of Workflow configuration (1):

Purpose
- Configuration enables you to incorporate your own specific data into SAP workflows
- SAP workflows do not need to be copied
- SAP workflows do not need to be modified

Restrictions
- Only available for the workflow template type (WS), NOT for the workflow task type
(WF)

Only the workflow template type (WS) can be configured.

There can be only one configuration for each workflow template.
You can access workflow configuration by calling transaction SWDD_CONFIG or following this
menu path: Tools Business Workflow Development Definition tools Workflow
Configuration .

Workflow configuration (2): step types

Information about Workflow configuration (2): step types

What step types can be configured?

- Activity
- User decision
- Document from template
- Wait for event

What step types cannot be configured?

- Conditions, switches, event creators, process controls, container operations, loops
(UNTIL and WHILE), forks, undefined steps (and so on)

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 Lesson: Configuring Workflows

Configuration overwrites the information in a workflow definition. This is why the Workflow
Builder indicates whether a configuration exists in place of the workflow definition at hand.
You can find this information in the basic data of the workflow on the tab page
“Technical information” .
At runtime, the data in the configuration is used.
Structural changes cannot be made to workflow definitions.
If you want to add or delete a step (for example), you will need to copy the workflow template
in question.
You can then modify the duplicate according to your needs.
The old workflow task type (WF) cannot be configured.

Workflow configuration (3): step characteristics

Information about Workflow configuration (3): step characteristics

What can be configured?

- Responsible agents
- Work item preview / customer-specific work item display
- Priority
- Reference time, duration, and unit of time for deadlines
- “Not in workflow log” indicator
- Notification

What cannot be configured?

- Workflow sequence / structure
- Binding
- Possible actions when a deadline is missed (e-mail or modeling)
- Secondary methods

If you want to make changes to areas that cannot be configured, copy the SAP workflow in
question to a workflow template of your own.
You can then modify the workflow template however you see fit.
Expression work items:
As in the case of express e-mails, a notification will appear to let you know when an express
work item has been placed in your inbox.
Here, the corresponding workflow step must be set to priority “1” .
Notification refers to the process of informing a specified recipient that a particular work item
has been completed.
Simple deadline monitoring refers to the process of informing specified recipients that a
particular work item was not processed within a specified period.
For each workflow step, the following deadline types are available: “Requested start” , “latest
start” , “requested end” and “latest end” .

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Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

Figure 104: Workflow Configuration: Visual Layout

You can access workflow configuration by calling transaction SWDD_CONFIG or following this
menu path: Tools Business Workflow Development Definition tools Workflow
Configuration .
Double-clicking a step will bring up a detail view that provides all the available configuration
options.
Fill out the detail view according to your preferences.

Simple deadline monitoring

Figure 105: Deadline Types for Workflow Steps

Requested start:

Earliest possible time for the start of processing

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 Lesson: Configuring Workflows

Strictly speaking, a requested start is not a form of deadline monitoring; it is the time at
which a work item first appears in an agent’s inbox.

Requested end

The time by which a work item should be processed

Latest start

The latest time by which the processing of a work item must begin

Latest end

The time by which the processing of a work item must be complete.

The different deadline types available in deadline monitoring can be used to assemble an
escalation procedure.
Example:
A purchase requisition is to be approved within two weeks. If it is not, the “requested end”
takes effect and the agent currently selected is notified.
If the purchase requisition has still not been processed after three weeks, the “latest end”
takes effect and the manager of the agent in question is notified.
It is possible to start any manner of subsequent processing using modeled deadlines. (Course
BIT601)

Figure 106: Simple Deadline Monitoring

Deadlines can be defined to reference the start of a workflow, the start of a work item, or the
content of a variable.
If a deadline is missed in the context of simple deadline monitoring, the specified recipient is
notified.

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Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

When using simple deadline monitoring, the work item in question can be carried out at any
time after the missed deadline. It will remain with its original agent.
Deadline monitoring is defined at the step level. The following deadline types are available:
“Requested start” , “latest start” , “requested end” , and “latest end” .
Notification texts are maintained at the task level. The following deadline text types are
available: “Text for latest start” , “text for requested end” and “test for latest end” .

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Configure Workflows

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 Unit 8
Lesson 3
Using Workflows at Your Company

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Use workflows at your company

Workflows at Your Company

Figure 107: Choosing an SAP Workflow or designing your own

The following courses explain how to build your own workflows without using existing SAP
workflows:

BIT601: SAP Workflow – Definition and Use of Customer-Specific Workflows

BIT610: SAP Workflow – Programming

Along with the online documentation, there are tutorials that cover the most important steps
in a workflow definition.
The time it takes to implement a workflow depends on whether you use an existing SAP
workflow, enhance an SAP workflow, or create a new workflow.
Depending on how complex your requirements are, however, even creating a custom-built
workflow may only take a few days.

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Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

Figure 108: When is Programming Necessary?

The option to define rules with responsibilities (course BIT601) has drastically reduced the
likelihood that you will need to define your own rule function modules.
The later the release, the greater the number of events that are triggered by default by the
application in question without requiring any action on your part.
Virtual attributes are attributes whose values are not stored in R/3 tables. The applicable
values are determined at runtime with the help of program code. You will need to notify the
system of this program code.

Figure 109: Choosing a Workflow (Example)

The first thing you need to do is describe the business process you want to support with the
Workflow Engine in SAP. Some typical situations in which workflows are used include time-

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 Lesson: Using Workflows at Your Company

critical processes with deadline monitoring, approval procedures, the archiving of incoming
documents (and automatic forwarding to the people responsible for them at your company),
and the issue of notifications when certain events occur.

Figure 110: Is it Possible to Implement a Workflow? (Example)

After determining which process you want to implement, you will need to sketch out the flow
logic of all the steps in your chosen business scenario.
Each step must be assigned an SAP function.
For dialog steps, you will need to assign employees who are involved in the workflow at hand.
When planning agents, always be sure to specify a particular group (the clerk position in CO or
an organizational unit for major project consulting, for example) or individual names (Jones,
Miller, and so on).
In any case, avoid entering anonymous information.

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Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

Figure 111: Business Process and Workflow (Example)

Having completed a feasibility study, you can proceed with producing a detailed draft of your
workflow.

Figure 112: Document Business Processes (Example)

A form such as this can serve as a template for describing process flows.

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 Lesson: Using Workflows at Your Company

Suggested process documentation

The suggested process documentation (1) is:

Description of business process

- General process description
- List of all user groups in workflow
- List of all workflow activities for each user group

Detailed description of all workflow activities for each user group

- There is a task for each activity.
- Documentation of workflow texts

Process documentation is designed for the following groups:

Workflow end users

Internal workflow support

Workflow administrators

Workflow training participants

There is a task for each activity. Each task has a task text. We recommend inserting copies of
the texts.

Suggested process documentation (2):

Organizational model
- Definition of organizational structure
- Which roles are planned
- Description of how new end users are to be added to the organizational model and their
respective roles

Technical description
- List of all object types and sub-object types in the workflow
- If available: Explanation of special technical characteristics

List of all transport requests

Test cases and results on the test system

If you have chosen the SAP HR organizational structure, it should contain a mapped example
in which every workflow-specific user group is listed.
Describe your own roles and how they are structured.
Include a description of how a new end user is to be added to the model and the respective
role.
A brief description of all test cases should also be entered.

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Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Use workflows at your company

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 Unit 8
Lesson 4
Explaining Workflow Roles

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Explain workflow roles

Workflow Roles
Overview of workflow roles:

Prerequisites
- The system includes roles for all the typical workflow users. When you assign a role to a
user, a role-based user menu will appear on the SAP Easy Access screen.
- Each role has its own documentation

Characteristics
- Workflow roles assume that the Workflow Engine will be used in a particular way. The
assumption is also made that the corresponding IMG activities have already been
completed.
- The workflow roles used are stylized, but you can still use them at your company even if
your working methods differ.

You can specify roles as possible agents for a task, or enter the agents responsible for a given
workflow step.
EBP deals exclusively with the assignment of roles.

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Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

Using Workflow Roles

Figure 113: Using workflow roles

Process consultant (SAP_BC_BMT_WFM_PROCESS):

Analyzes the business processes in place, identifies those that are suitable for the Workflow
Engine, and maps out a corresponding business process model. A process consultant is also
responsible for maintaining the organizational plan required for the workflow.
Workflow modeler (SAP_BC_BMT_WFM_DEVELOPER):
Implements a workflow based on the business process model developed by the process
consultant using the Workflow Engine’s definition tools.
Workflow programmer (SAP_BC_BMT_WFM_DEVELOPER):
Implements the requirements specified by the workflow modeler.
Workflow system administrator (SAP_BC_BMT_WFM_ADMIN):
Responsible for technical maintenance of the development environment and runtime
behavior after customizing.
Workflow agent (SAP_BC_SRV_USER):
An end user in a productive workflow. A workflow agent starts workflows and processes work
items in the Business Workplace.
Process controller (SAP_BC_BMT_WFM_CONTROLLER):
Evaluates a workflow from a business perspective and proposes related improvements.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Explain workflow roles

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 Unit 8
Lesson 5
Explaining SAP Authorizations

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Explain SAP Authorizations

SAP Authorizations
SAP Authorizations are:

S_WF_ALL: All Workflow Engine authorizations

S_WF_PROCORG: Template for a process organizer profile

S_WF_USER: Template for an agent profile

S_WF_WFADMIN: Template for a workflow system administrator profile

The profiles provided are to be viewed as templates.

You can use them to create your own authorization profiles.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Explain SAP Authorizations

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 Unit 8
Lesson 6
Explaining Steps of a Workflow Project

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Explain Steps of a Workflow Project

Steps of a Workflow Project

Steps in a Workflow Project

Steps in a Workflow Project (1) are:

Step 1: Preliminary tasks

Procedure:
- Define project team
(System administrators, process consultants, process administrators, workflow
developers, HR administrators, end users, representatives of company management)
- Define project objectives
- Results
The users at hand have been assigned various roles.
A centralized collection of documentation is available.
Objectives must be clearly defined to give everyone involved in the project a clear idea
of its direction.

Objectives must be specified by company management. A meeting with your company’s

executives is thus necessary in order to complete this item.
Objectives might include reducing costs, optimizing processes, downsizing, making a process
simpler or more transparent, or achieving greater customer satisfaction.
When working with end users, we recommend not focusing on “cost reductions” . That said,
cost reductions can stem from improved process logic.
Role assignment refers to the employees involved in a project.
In this context, a role signifies both an employee’s working role in the project and his or her
later role in the corresponding workflow.

Steps in a Workflow Project (2) are:

Step 2: Choosing a process

Procedure:

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 Lesson: Explaining Steps of a Workflow Project

- Selecting potential processes for a workflow project

When finished, you should have established the following: actual lead and transport
times, interfaces, responsible agents, process steps
- Catalog processes
Possible criteria: costs/benefits, feasibility, departmental criteria, workload
- Decide which processes are to be implemented
- Define project team
(System administrators, process consultants, process administrators, workflow
developers, HR administrators, end users, representatives of company management)
- Describe the main steps in the process
Describe the conditions in which the process is to begin/end

Tools: interviews, meetings, analysis tools

It can be useful to determine the current costs of a given process in isolation.
It will help your cause if you can point to cost reductions that have been achieved since your
company went live with a certain workflow.
To do so, you will need to estimate the costs involved before and after its implementation.
Having an idea of where the most costs are incurred (labor, scrap, unrealized contracts, and
so on) will also help you later on in determining the requirements of process reporting.
In this project phase, the interface your individual end users will work with is also established:

SAP GUI for Windows

SAP GUI for HTML

Outlook integration

Lotus Notes integration

Enterprise portals

This decision will also help determine the components you will need to install in the process
(an ITS and a web server, for example).

Steps in a Workflow Project (3) are:

Step 3: Drafting the workflow process

Procedure:
- Draft workflow: Describe the steps in your business process in detail
- Determine who will be responsible for the individual steps
- Check the availability of standard functions
- Carry out application customizing
- Conduct regular reviews with end users (process users)
- Clarify who the administrator responsible for the workflow will be

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Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

- Train those responsible for implementing the workflow

- Result:
A detailed description of the business process is now available for use in implementing
the workflow.

Tools: data modeling using your preferred method, interviews with end users, IMG, SWU3
Application customizing refers to the process of reviewing the system at hand to ensure that
workflow runtime and development customizing has been carried out (transaction SWU3).
Application customizing also needs to be complete and in accordance with your workflow
requirements.

Steps in a Workflow Project (4) are:

Step 4: Implementing the workflow

Procedure:
- Carry out customizing in the SAP system
- Develop the workflow (BOR, Workflow Builder)
- If necessary: Create tasks and object types (or expand object types)
- Check whether more interfaces are required (SAPconnect, SAP ArchiveLink,
SAPforms, and so on)
- Define authorizations and PD organizational model
- Create documentation
- Conduct regular reviews with all those involved
- Survey users’ acceptance of the interface
- Conduct user tests
- Result:
The workflow is now defined and runs as it should. User documentation is available.

Tools: Workflow Builder, workflow wizards, Business Object Repository

When creating a workflow, pay particular attention to avoiding synchronization problems.
Perform thorough tests on the individual components you create or modify. You can test
business methods using the BOR transaction SWO1 regardless of the workflow at hand.
Set up the PD organizational model in order to establish work item/user assignments. You will
need to send your requirements to your company’s central HR area (if it has one). Otherwise,
you will need to create the organization yourself.
Ensure that the workflow system administrator is properly defined in customizing.
Set up authorization profiles for your different user groups. These authorizations need to
undergo thorough testing. All workflow users should have a profile containing the
corresponding authorizations.

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 Lesson: Explaining Steps of a Workflow Project

Steps in a Workflow Project (5) are:

Step 5: Go-live and support

Procedure:
- Final end-user training
- Preparations in the productive system
- In the first week: Test/check functions during live operations
- One month after go-live: Conduct a workflow review with the end users and review your
workflow statistics to identify potential bottlenecks
- Result
The workflow is now live (that is, it is being used in a production environment).
Ideally, you should be able to estimate the current process costs at hand and compare
them against your previous process in a report to company management.
In doing so, you can also point out other processes that should be optimized.

Before getting started with training, decide whether all users will participate or only a select
group (“snowball” training).
If you can only train a select group of users, documentation is very important.
Make sure that the necessary facilities are available and that representatives from every
process phase receive training.
Even after all your system tests are complete, you should check whether the system is
running properly.

Success Factors

Success Factors (1) are:

Cooperation between user department and IT.

Active support from company management.

Clear decision-making structures.

If necessary: Involve your company’s employee representatives as early on as possible.

Factor in surrounding organizational and political circumstances.

Ensure professional project management and a dedicated approach.

Discuss reasons for your project that involve more than just reducing costs.

Win over end users.

Success Factors (2) are:

Involve end users in designing the process.

Announce the successful completion of each step (project marketing).

For your first project, choose the process carefully.

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Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

Clarify who bears administrative responsibility for the implemented workflow.

Document the processes implemented.

Conduct thorough tests.

Train your project team and end users.

Create optimal conditions for working ergonomically.

Workflow usage: Summary

The realization of your business processes is possible by:

- Using of an existing SAP Workflow.
- Enhancing of existing SAP Workflows.
- The creation of a new, own workflow.

Many workflows can be used without programming.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Explain Steps of a Workflow Project

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 Unit 8
Lesson 7
Exploring Transaction Codes and Menu Paths

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Explore Transaction Codes and Menu Paths

Transaction Codes and Menu Paths

Transactions and Menu Paths:

Table 2: Transaction Codes and Menu Paths

Transaction code Description Classification

OOAW Evaluation paths

PFAC Maintain standard roles Role definition
PFOM Maintain assignment to Create links to PD organizational
SAP organizational objects management
PFOS Display assignment to SAP
organizational objects
PFTS Standard task
PFWS Maintain workflow template
PPOC Create organizational plan Company-specific organizational
plan
PPOM Maintain organizational
plan
PPOS Display organizational plan
SWDM Business Workflow Explorer Functions of Business Workflow
Explorer
SWETYPV Display/maintain event Table maintenance for event type
type linkage linkage
SWEINST Display instance linkages Evaluation of instance linkage
SWELS Switch event trace on/off Event trace
SWEC Linkage of change docu- Event creation when change docs
ments/events are written

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Unit 8: Further Topics (Optional)

Transaction code Description Classification

SWED Assignment of change Settings for change documents

document objects object
types
SWEL Display event trace Event trace
SWI1 Selection report for work- Selection report for finding work
flows items
SWI2 Work item analysis Work item analysis
SWI3 Workflow outbox Workflow outbox
SWI4 Task analysis Task analysis
SWI5 Workload analysis Workload analysis
SWI6 Object links Object links
SWI7 Workflow resubmission Workflow resubmission folder
folder
SWI8 Error overview Error overview
SWL1 Settings for dynamic col- Define dynamic columns for inbox
umns
SWLD Workbench for Workflow Area menu of SAP Business Work-
4.0 flow (development)
SW01 Business Object Builder Business Object Builder
SWU0 Event simulation Simulation of event creation
SWU2 RFC monitor RFC monitor
SWU3 Consistency check: cus- Automatic customizing and consis-
tomizing tency check for customizing
SWU4 Consistency check for Consistency check for tasks
standard tasks
SWU7 Consistency check for
workflow templates
SWUD Diagnosis tool Error diagnosis – list of problems
and solutions
SWUE Trigger event Create an event for test purposes
SWUI Start workflows Start a task in dialog
SWUS Start tasks Start a task in dialog
SWUY Wizard for messages-work- Start a task from a message long
flow linkage text
SWXF Form applications: initial Demo example: process notifica-
screen tion of absence

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 Lesson: Exploring Transaction Codes and Menu Paths

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Explore Transaction Codes and Menu Paths

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