UWL and SRM approval substitutions

[Former Member]

Hi,

I'm new to the portal and UWL and I would like to confirm the following.

Could someone please clarify whether SRM approval substitutions created in the UWL are propagated to the backend SRM system. Would this also apply to other SAP systems using the UWL for approvals?

Jerry

[Former Member]

Hello Jerry,

with use of alert framework in SRM 5.0 (alert framework was already available in WAS 6.40 of SRM 4.0), you can decide to send back alerts to Portal UWL, instead of keeping them in SRM.

Subsitutions defined in portal UWL won't be "replicated" in SRM as Workflow subsitution (you can maintain SRM WF substitution via "Approval" inbox).

So if you substitute someone in the Portal and execute his/her alerts, the URL sending you to SRM workitem won't be correct because SRM won't find any substitution for you and should not allow you to execute this workitem.

My suggestion for approval substitution: maintain the substitution in the originating system (SRM). So the alert will be send to the substitute UWL.

For other SAP systems, I think the same logic should apply.

Rgds

Christophe

[Former Member]

Hi Christophe,

Thank you for your reply. I've read the help and it seems to give the impression that substitutions work in the UWL but it's possible I don't really understand how they are implemented.

The following is an extract from some SAP UWL help documentation.

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A portal user can assign another user to manage his/her tasks in case of planned or unexpected absence. The assignee can receive the tasks or fill in for this user. Several substitution rules can be created to cover all cases.

A new function Manage Substitution is available on the UWL UI.

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For more information, see Substitution.

[Former Member]

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Hi Jerry,

I don't think this will work with SRM.

In SRM 5.0, we distinguish 2 types of notifications:

- work items

- alerts

Work items can stay in SRM approval inbox, send a notification to an external mail box (with URL to process WI in SRM) or send an offline approval mail.

If you define a WF substitution in SRM, the assignee will receive the WI.

Alerts can stay in SRM alert inbox, or be forwarded to portal UWL.

In Portal UWL documentation, they talk about backend workflow using WEBFLOW, a particular WF method allowing you to use WF across different applications.

They don't talk about "usual" WF like SRM ones that are not designed to be processed across several applications (except for Offline approval).

I never read that offline approval could be processed via the UWL.

The UWL substitution works for Webflow WI, tasks and "local" WI:

"Tasks in the list are assembled from various sources, including the SAP R/3 Business Workflow (Webflow), Alerts and the Java Ad Hoc Workflow."

But if you succeed or discover something in this area, it would be interesting, so tell us !!

Rgds

Christophe

[Former Member]

Hi Christophe,

If that is the case, what is the normal process of defining substitutes? Is the user/approver expected to log into the backend system and define the required substitutes? In our case, a single approver could be responsible for approving ERP and SRM workitems. Asking then to setup substitutes in the different systems will not help sell workflow in the organization. How do other instalations handle this issue?

Jerry

[Former Member]

Hi Jerry,

As I understand it, substitutions are not supported in UWL until Netweaver Support Pack 14.

-regards

Shaz

[Former Member]

Hi Shaz,

Do you know if that's before Netweaver 2004S support pack 5?

Jerry