Can I also execute work items with external programs such as Outlook?

You can use the Web GUI for HTML instead of the Windows GUI. However, note that some functions do no work in the WEB GUI, due to technical restrictions in the browser. You must refer to note 487649 on this subject.
SAP also provides interfaces which allow you to process work items with external programs such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft Outlook. Refer to notes 77099, 98408 and 454845 for details

How can users be automatically notified that new work items are available for processing?

Unfortunately, the dialog box that informs users of new work items which appears in SAPoffice is not available within SAP Systems.
However, the following two options are provided:

• In the Workflow Builder, you can designate the item as an express item via additional data. The user then receives a corresponding express dialog box.

• The RSWUWFML report (note 131795) is a more flexible option. This report sends an e-mail to an external Internet address to notify the user of new work items.

What does the substitute rule system look like in the workflow?

You have a choice of two different substitute rulings:

• Active substitute ruling (for example, for absence due to vacations): In this case, the items belonging to the absent person are automatically assigned to the substitutes inbox (in addition to his own work items).

• Passive substitution (for example, for absence due to illness): the substitute must explicitly assume the substitution and can only view the items of the absent person in this mode.

For other questions, you must also refer to note 74000.

What options do I have as a user to configure the inbox individually?

You have the following options:

• You can create separate user-dependent or user-independent layouts so that you can adapt the displayed columns individually. You can access the function in the Workplace via an application function key.

• You can set filters to set certain criteria for individual columns or several columns simultaneously, according to which specific work items are then filtered.

• You can add dynamic columns in the layout that then display dynamic elements for certain tasks and users from the work item container. However, this is only possible if all tasks in the inbox belong to just one task. If they have several tasks in the inbox, filtering serves no useful purpose because all tasks are first completely read once. You can define these dynamic columns using transaction SWL1.

What is the Workflow basic Customizing?

Before you can use the Workflow module, you must first execute the basic Customizing in transaction SWU3. All of the listed points should be green (the number range for customer tasks is no longer required). A detailed description of the activities is provided in the relevant information buttons. You can also execute some (but not all) of the points using the Automatic Customizing button. See the online documentation for an exact description of what happens there. The RFC destination must work correctly and the user (usually WF BATCH) should have the SAP_ALL profile.

How do you debug a background workflow process?

In your method write the following code:

data exit.
Do.
if exit = 'X'.
exit.
endif.
enddo.

Run the workflow, causing an infinite loop on that step, and then go to SM50.
Here you can debug the process.

How do I transport workflow definitions and agent assignments?

When transporting workflows, you have to differentiate between the workflow definition and the agent assignment.

• A workflow definition is a workbench request. When you save the workflow, a workflow version is created and a request written. Further information about the transport or about the status management is provided in note 378487 and in the notes mentioned there under related notes.
• However, where the agent assignment is concerned, this is a Customizing request. To allow transport of agent assignments, the value of the semantic abbreviation CORR for the TRSP group name must be empty in table T77S0.

How are the responsible agents determined?

You can assign agents to a single-step task in transaction PFTC. For example, you can do this using organizational units, work center roles or positions. Within a workflow pattern, you can assign specific agents for this workflow to a single-step task. The overlap between both numbers of 'possible agents' represents the number of agents ('selected agents') who have the work item in the inbox later.

How is an event triggered from the application and a workflow then started?

An event can be triggered from the application in three different ways:

• Directly:

Within the application, the SWE_EVENT_CREATE function module or the SWE_EVENT_CREAT_IN_UPD_TASK function module, for example, generates an event in the update.

• With a change document:

Change documents are written within the application when you change application objects in the update. You can link events that have the same key with these types of change documents via transaction SWEC.

• With status management:

The SWE_EVENT_CREATE_STATUS function module triggers an event in the same way as the direct method when a status is changed. This event contains the object type (for example, purchase order), the object key (for example, purchase order 4711) and other information. Using transaction PFTC, you can assign the event to a specific workflow or single-step task. More settings are available in transaction SWE2.

What is a work item (important terms)?

A work item is the runtime object of a workflow or of a single-step task.You can execute dialog work items with the inbox (transaction SBWP). Each workflow and single-step task started is assigned a unique number known as the work item ID.

What is a workflow? What is a single-step task?

A single-step task is based on an object type from the object business repository (BOR) (for example, a purchase order) and a method for the object (for example, change). A workflow can contain several single-step tasks and activities such as loops and forks. Through a workflow, you create a logical sequence for the single-step tasks. The tool for creating or changing these types of workflows (workflow template) is the Workflow Builder (transaction SWDD).

How can I make sure that user's access their tasks via the workflow and not via the menu or launch pad?

The routing mechanism for work items uses roles and organizational assignments to determine who receives which work item. However the routing does not provide extra authorization checks based on the routing configuration. If you want to ensure that the tasks are executed within the workflow, and not via the standard transaction, service or MiniApp, then you will have to apply your own protection.

The simplest way of doing this is to remove the standard transaction from the user's menu or Workplace role (but include it in the supervisor's role, just in case).

If you want to allow the user to execute the task from the menu if and only if they have received the work item then you should replace the standard transaction with your own custom built transaction. Your own transaction simply calls the standard transaction but performs it's own authorization check first, based on the routing mechanism used in the workflow. Tip: Add a second (ored) authorization check to make sure that a supervisor can execute the transaction in an emergency.

How do I send reports?

There are wizards (Release 3.1) which will create workflows for you to send reports to a distribution list. You can specify whether the results should be transmitted or evaluated at the time the recipient wishes to view the report. It is usually better to send the evaluation because this allows the recipient to see the results instantaneously, without having to wait for the report to execute first.

How do I send a complex text from the workflow?

You may create mails using SAPscript. These mails can include conditions which are evaluated in order to determine which text blocks which are used in the mail. Workflow variables can be used in these conditions and workflow variables can be substituted into the body of the e-mail text.

How can I get the workflow initiator information in my task?

1) From your triggering event to the workflow, bind the event creator element to the workflow initiator element.

2) Create a workflow container element based on USR01.

3) Add a step based on USR01.FINDUSERFROMAGENTSTRUCTURE to convert your initiator to a USR01 object.

4) Pass the USR01 object to each task you want to display the details.

What is Wf-XML used for?

Although a company is far better off workflow enabling their system with SAP WebFlow when SAP software is used anywhere within the process, a collaborative process can take place between partners using different software platforms employing different workflow systems. To support SAP customers in this situation, WebFlow offers the open interface Wf-XML. This allows Business Processes enabled using different tools to communicate and control each other. Any workflow tool offering this interface can connect up with other tools that also offer this interface.

Wf-XML is the only open interface for supporting interoperability of business processes, independent of what the business process being integrated.

What open interfaces are supported in sap?

The most significant interface supported is the Wf-XML standard from the Workflow Management Coalition. This is an independent organization of which SAP is a funding member, along with most other major workflow vendors. The Wf-XML interface is based on XML and allows workflows from different vendors to communicate with each other.

How are workflows triggered in sap?

Workflows can be triggered automatically by changes in the system or manually by an operator. Manually triggered workflows are good for processes that remedy a problem the operator has noticed or for dealing with a forms-based requests (E.g. my PC won't boot). Automatically triggered workflows are useful because the operator does not even have to be aware of the workflow's existence to trigger it. In addition to triggers embedded in transactions there are also generic triggering mechanisms such as a change in the status of a business object or a change in the HR data. Irrespective of how the workflow is triggered, it is linked to the business object as described in the previous answer and can be tracked easily. Because WebFlow is part of the basis system, this triggering is reliable and easy to implement.

Workflows may be triggered by events but this is not essential. The event-handling makes it easy to trigger workflows from transactions and system changes without you having to make modifications. If you are creating your own report or transaction which triggers a workflow, avoid events and trigger the workflow directly with the WAPI function call. This is particularly important when triggering a workflow from outside the SAP system. This method reduces flexibility (the workflow ID is hard-coded) but increases performance if this is an issue (we're talking about 50 000 work items a day here!).

Any exception handling workflows that are intended to be triggered manually can be triggered from the system menu when viewing the relevant transaction. The SAP system has the intelligence to suggest workflows that can be triggered manually based on the authorization of the operator and the context that the operator is working in. No additional customizing is needed here.

How can I check the status of a workflow in sap

This is one of the very cool features of SAP Business Workflow. You can usually navigate directly from the business object to check the workflow progress. For example, while viewing a purchase order you can select "workflow" from the system menu or toolbar and you will see a list of workflows related to the purchase order. Usually just one, but if you have created a few of your own and these have been triggered you will see the status of these too. And that is not all. You also see a simplified summary of all the steps that have taken place so far including who performed them, when they were executed and which ad hoc notes were attached.

What deadlines can be monitored? in sap

Many different types of deadlines can monitored. At the single workflow step level you can define deadlines which trigger when the work item has not completed within a certain time and other deadlines when no one starts working on the work item within a given time. You can specify the task deadline statically (e.g. 1 week) or dynamically (e.g. 1 week for material type A and 2 weeks for all the other materials). The offset can be related to the step (e.g. you have 1 week to complete this step) or related to the process (e.g. complete within 2 weeks of the complete process starting, irrespective of how long your colleagues have hogged the previous steps).

Last but not least, deadlines can be set for sub-processes, which is often more important than the deadline of a single step in a workflow.