Approval (GR source catalog)

This step in the catalog process involves approving the items and their associated data. The approval can be done either manually or automatically.

Configure the approval

Call up the configuration

In order to configure the approval of the transformed items, you first need to call up the approval configuration. To do so, proceed as follows:

  • In the "Catalog Process" tab, click on "Approval" or select the option "Approval" from the "Configuration" menu to access the approval configuration page.

Define the approval decision strategy

In the "Approval decision strategy" area you can define a approval decision strategy. To do so, proceed as follows:

  1. Via the menu select the desired approval strategy. You can choose between the options:
    • Default: It is sufficient that at least one of the defined approval rules is fulfilled for an item to be approved.
    • No rejections: It is required that all the defined approval rules are fulfilled for an item to be approved.
  2. Click on the Speichern button in the lower right corner of the page to save your selection.

Define approval rules

In the "Approval rules" section, you can define rules for the automatic and manual approval of items.

INFO
When creating a new catalog, each a predefined rule for automatic approvals and for manual approvals is created as well. The predefined rule for automatic approvals automatically approves valid items and rejects invalid items. The predefined rules can be supplemented or replaced by user-defined rules.

Define automatic approval rules

In order to define an automatic approval rule, proceed as follows:

  1. From the "Choose rule type" menu, select the option "Automatic approval".
  2. Click on the Add button to call up the corresponding dialog box.
  1. Enter a rule name in the input field "Title".
  2. Enter a short rule description in the field "Description" field.
  3. Activate respectively deactivate the approval rule:
    • In order to activate the approval rule, tick the "Activate rule" checkbox.
    • In order to deactivate the approval rule, untick the "Activate rule" checkbox.
  1. From the "Automatic approval" menu, select an approval condition (e.g. "Only valid items without warnings").
  2. From the "Automatic rejection" menu, select an approval condition (e.g. "Invalid items").
  • In order to finish the process, click on the Save button. If the process was successful, a corresponding message will appear. The approval rule is now created.
  • In order to cancel the process, click on the Cancel button.

Define manual approval rules

In order to define a manual approval rule, proceed as follows:

  1. From the "Choose rule type" menu, select the option "Manual approval".
  2. Click on the Add button to call up the corresponding dialog box.
  1. Enter a rule name in the input field "Title".
  2. Enter a short rule description in the input field "Description".
  3. Activate respectively deactivate the approval rule:
    • In order to activate the approval rule, tick the "Activate rule" checkbox.
    • In order to deactivate the approval rule, untick the "Activate rule" checkbox.
  • In order to finish the process, click on the Save button. If the process was successful, a corresponding message will appear. The approval rule is now created.
  • In order to cancel the process, click on the Cancel button.

Activate respectively deactivate rules

Via the checkbox in the "Active" column, approval rules can be activated respectively deactivated:

  • In order to activate an approval rule, tick the checkbox in the "Active" column of the respective table row.
  • In order to deactivate an approval rule, untick the checkbox in the "Active" column of the respective table row.

Edit approval rules

In order to edit an approval rule, proceed as follows:

  1. In the table row of the respective approval rule, click on the edit button, to call up the corresponding dialog box.
  2. Make the desired changes.

  • In order to save your settings, click on the Save button. If the process was successful, a corresponding message will appear.
  • In order to cancel the process, click on the Cancel button.

Delete approval rules

In order to delete an approval rule, proceed as follows:

  • In the table row of the respective approval rule, click on the remove button. Afterwards the approval rule vanishes from the table.

Adjust the sequence

In order to change the order of approval rules and thus the sequence of their execution, proceed as follows:

  • In order to move an approval rule upwards in the order, click on the Upwards arrow button in the respective table row.
  • In order to move an approval rule downwards in the order, click on the Downwards arrow button in the respective table row.

  • In order to save your settings, click on the Save button. If the process was successful, a corresponding message will appear.
  • In order to cancel the process, click on the Cancel button.

Execute approval

You can either carry out an automated item approval, which runs according to the rules defined in the approval configuration, or you can approval the transformed items manually.

Execute an automatic approval

In order to carry out an automatic approval of the transformed items, proceed as follows:

  1. Call up the appropriate catalog and go to the "Catalog process" tab.
  2. In the "Approval" section, click on the Play button. Then appears the corresponding input window.
  3. Click on the Yes button to trigger the approval process. Following this, a corresponding process message appears and approval statistics are shown. Depending on whether the process was successful, partially successful or unsuccessful, the status traffic light changes to the corresponding color.

Execute a manual approval

In order to carry out a manual approval of the transformed items, proceed as follows:

  1. Call up the appropriate catalog and go to the "Catalog process" tab.
  2. Click on the proceed button to access the manual approval page. Here you can see a tabular list of all the transformed items.
INFO
By means of the traffic light colors in the table columns of the individual process steps, you can see for each individual item whether the respective process step was successful.
  1. Make the appropriate approvals respectively rejections:
    • In order to approve an individual item, click on the approve button in the respective table row.
    • In order to reject an individual item, click on the reject button in the respective table row.
    • In order to approve multiple items at once, mark the corresponding table rows and click on the Approve selection button. Afterwards the state of the buttons in these table rows changes accordingly.
    • In order to reject multiple items at once, mark the corresponding table rows and click on the Reject selection button. Afterwards the state of the buttons in these table rows changes accordingly.
    • In order to approve all of the listed items, click on the Start approval button. If the process was successful, a correspoding message will appear.

Approval report

The approval report shows you a list of essential information about the most recent approval. These are broken down by processes, events and results. The results list the respective numbers of approved and rejected items.  In addition, there is a list of general messages and error reports. The latter are grouped in separate sections by errors and by items.

Access the approval report

  • In order to access the approval report for the most recent approval, click on the "Approval report" button. Then you will be directed to the corresponding overview page.

Unfold and collapse info sections

  • In order to unfold a particular info section, click on theunfoldbutton in the respective section.
  • In order to collapse a particular info section, click on thecollapsebutton in the respective section.

Export report data


This screenshots shows the user interface under version 5.8.

In the "Export" section you can export report data of a approval report, whereby the exported data can be filtered regarding various parameters. To do so, proceed as follows:

  1. From the "Select attribute set" menu , select a report type. You can choose between the options:
    • "Item messages" for an export of item messages only
    • "Process report" for an export of the whole approval report including the item messages
  2. From the "Select export format" menu , select the file format of the export file (.xslx or .csv).
  3. From the "Select item status" menu , possibly select an item status.
  4. From the "Select code" menu , possibly select an error code (since version 5.8).
  5. Click on the Export button to trigger the export. The export file can usually be found in your local download folder.

FAQ

Approval decision strategy and approval rules

Which approval strategies are available, and how do they differ?

The strategies "Default" and "No rejections" are available. With "Default" it is sufficient that at least one of the defined approval rules is fulfilled for an item to be approved, while with "No rejections" all the defined approval rules must be fulfilled for an item to be approved.

Are approval rules already in place when a new catalog is created?

Yes, when creating a new catalog, a predefined rule for automatic approvals and one for manual approvals are created as well. The predefined rule for automatic approvals automatically approves valid items and rejects invalid items.

Can I adjust or replace the predefined approval rules?

Yes, the predefined rules can be supplemented or replaced by user-defined rules. This allows the approval logic to be individually adapted to the requirements of the respective catalog.

What do the "Automatic approval" and "Automatic rejection" menus define for an automatic approval rule?

From the "Automatic approval" menu, the condition under which an item is approved automatically is selected, for example "Only valid items without warnings". From the "Automatic rejection" menu, the condition for an automatic rejection is defined accordingly, for example "Invalid items".

How can I change the order of approval rules, and what is it used for?

Via the arrow buttons in the respective table row, an approval rule can be moved upwards or downwards in the order. The order of the approval rules at the same time determines the sequence of their execution.

Execute approval

What options do I have to approve transformed items?

You can either carry out an automated item approval, which runs according to the rules defined in the approval configuration, or approve the transformed items manually. Both options are available in the "Approval" section of the catalog process.

During manual approval, how can I tell whether a process step was successful for an item?

By means of the traffic light colors in the table columns of the individual process steps, you can see for each individual item whether the respective process step was successful. This overview makes it easier to decide which items should be approved or rejected.

Can I process several items at once during manual approval?

Yes, to do so the corresponding table rows are marked and then the "Approve selection" or "Reject selection" button is clicked. Afterwards the state of the buttons in these table rows changes accordingly.

Rights

The following rights are required to use the process step “Approval”:

Key Identifier Description
ipim-supply.catalogs.process iPIM Supply – Catalog process Right to call up catalogs respectively their “Catalog process” tab
ipim-supply.catalogs.process.approval.configure iPIM Supply – Catalog process – Approval – Configure approval process Right to use the approval configuration
ipim-supply.catalogs.process.approval.start iPIM Supply – Catalog process – Approval – Start approval process Right to trigger an automated approval
ipim-supply.catalogs.process.approval.start-manual iPIM Supply – Catalog process – Approval – Start manual approval Right to carry out a manual approal
ipim-supply.catalogs.process.approval.view-reports iPIM Supply – Catalog process – Approval – View approval reports Right to call up approval reports as well as the right to access the “Reports” tab
INFO
  • In order to be able to access iPIM Supply, a user needs to be related to at least one supplier.
  • In order to make newly added rights effective for users outside of the regular synchronisation, you must carry out a master data synchronisation for users and roles. This can be done in the “Schedules” tab.
  • The identifier of rights are not shown correctly here as hyphens are shown as half square dashs. In order to search for a particular right in iPIM CC, copy the key to the clipboard and search for the key.