Simple Deadlines in an SAP Workflow Template

One of the efficiencies in SAP Business Workflow is the ability to manage deadlines of tasks that have been dispatched to end users.  There are several points at which you can prompt the user, and several different possible actions at these points.  From simple emails to an iterative loop that rolls up the org chart and prints a pink slip, the system can be automated in many ways to help the end users get the work done on time.

There are four possible deadlines that can have a workflow action for every step in the workflow application, and each deadline has its own tab in the step configuration.  Each point is based on an action the user should have performed, and the urgency for the action.  Two deadlines that enforce that the user has opened the work item are Requested Start and Latest Start.  Note that these do not help the user complete the item, only to open it.  The other two deadlines are based on when the user actually completes the work item: Requested End and Latest End.  These are the more commonly used deadlines.

You can implement a deadline in 4 simple steps on the deadline tab: activate the deadline, set the time, set the user and create the text.

To activate the deadline, double click the step in the workflow template to enter the step configuration, and this gives you access to the four deadline tabs.  Select the tab you wish to implement, and change the Reference Date / Time dropdown from No Deadline Monitoring Active to one of the other options.  This will set the point from which the clock will start counting.  The most commonly used is Work Item Creation, as it starts counting as soon as the work item is sent to the user.  Be careful not to confuse this with Workflow Creation, which starts counting as soon as the overall workflow was triggered.  If this is the fourth step in the workflow, the deadline won’t mean too much.  Also available is an expression, meaning you can refer to a workflow container element. 

Once the Reference Date / Time has been set, you can select how long the clock will count until the action is performed.   To do so, place a value next to the + character and choose the time unit.  Several options are available from Minutes to Years.  Note that if you choose Days, it is calendar days and not business days.  If you wish to use business days, you need to use the Expression option in the Reference Date / Time field and use a previous activity step to calculate the date and time.   

The only action a simple deadline will do is send an email.  To do that, the system needs to know where to direct the email.   Under the Display Text box title there are two fields to determine who will receive the email.   The first dropdown determines the type of user, and the second the identifier for that type.  There are many options for type of user, and several require the use of the HR module to make them useful (Job, Org Unit, Position).  You can also send the email to all users that have a specific security role, or develop a custom rule to calculate the recipient.  An expression can also be chosen to use an element directly from the SAP Workflow container.  The simplest option here is to send to a single user, however the developer should consider application flexibility and maintenance before setting this option.  The second field is the identifier for the user / job / position.  In the case of a rule, the system will also require that you use bindings to pass any required variables to and from the function to be able to execute any custom code.

On the bottom of the screen, the system provides a hyperlink to edit the email body text.  This text is stored in the text tab of the task.  The limitation here is reuse of the task.  If the task description must be different, you’ll require a separate task to be created for the step to allow for the differences.  

Once the data has been maintained for the deadline, simply click the green checkmark at the top left of the step definition portion of the screen and activate the template to save your changes.   For a video of this procedure, feel free to check out our Youtube video on the topic.