Create Approval Processes

To create an approval process:

1. Select Administration | Project, then select Change Management from the Automated Workflow section of the main frame.  The Change Management page is displayed.

2. Click Add Approval Process.  The Configure Approval Process page is displayed.
3. In Step 1, enter a name for the process (e.g., Capital Expenditure) and any comments or description you want to include for the process.

4. Enter the criteria for initiating the approval process.  When an Issue is created, the data in the Issue is compared to the criteria specified here.  If the criteria match the data, the Issue is put into the approval process.
5. Title—Enter a word or phrase for which to search.
6. Description—If a word or phrase is entered (or multiple words using Boolean Operators), only Issues containing that word/phrase in the Description are returned.
7. Keyword—If a word or phrase is entered, any Issues containing that word/phrase in any field are returned, including Title, Description, Project fields, and Address Book fields, as long as the full text search conforms to full text keyword search behavior.
8. Fields Included: The Keyword search queries theTitle field, Description field, Project (Issue), and Address Book fields for all FootPrints database versions (SQL Server, Access, SQL Express, Oracle, and MySQL) except for the FootPrints database. The FootPrints database version only searches the Title and Description.
9. File Attachments—Search for file attachments by name (not by content). This criterion works in all FootPrints versions except the FootPrints database version.
10. Assigned to—Highlight one or more users to returns Issues assigned to the user(s) selected, holding down the CTRL key to select multiple users.  If you do not want to limit the search to any particular assignees, do not highlight any users. Advanced Controls are also available for this field.

Note on Permissions

Access to Issues is based on a user's RoleA user type assigned to one or more users to define permissions. Both built-in roles and custom roles can be assigned to users. Examples of built-in roles include Agent, Customer Read/Submit, and Project Administrator..  Assignment options may be restricted based on your role. Please consult your FootPrints administrator for more information.

6. Submitted by—If a user is selected, the search returns only Issues created by that user.
7. Priority—Returns only Issues of the specified priority or priorities.  Highlight the priorities to be included; hold down the CTRL key to highlight multiple priorities.  To return all priorities, no priorities need to be selected (this has the same result as selecting all priorities).
8. Status—Returns only Issues of the specified status(es).  By default, Open and any custom statuses are highlighted in the status dialog.  To select multiple statuses, hold down the CTRL key.

6. Issue Types to Include—Specify whether Advanced Issue types, including Subtasks and Global Issues, are returned. Options include:
7. All Issue Types—All Issue types are returned.
8. Regular Issues—Regular (non-Global or Master/Subtask) Issues are returned.     
9. Include Master Issues—Master IssuesA type of FootPrints Issue that contain Subtasks, each with a different task that must be completed before the Master Issue is Closed. The Master issue is the "parent" in a parent/child relationship between the Master Issue and its Subtasks. that contain subtasks are returned.
10. Include Subtasks—Subtasks of Master Issues are returned.            
11. Include Global Issues—Global IssuesA special FootPrints Issue type used to designate important or frequently reported Issues that will affect many users. Global Issues can be broadcast to all Agents, are displayed on the Agent Home page, and can optionally be displayed for Customers to subscribe to. Whenever a new Issue is reported with the same problem, the Agent (and optionally the Customer) can link the Issue to the known Global Issue (called GlobalLinks). Global Issues can be closed with the GlobalLinks together at one time. are returned.
12. Include GlobalLinks—All users' Issues linked to a Global Issue are returned.
13. Group Master Issues with Subtasks/Global Issues with Global Links—Available for Reports only. These options override the sort order selected in the report.

10. Date—If dates are specified, the search returns only Issues from the time period specified. Date Field Search Options\
11. Age—Returns Issues created in the time specified.  Number of days and hours can be specified.  Modifiers are also provided, including “Greater Than”, “Less Than”, “Equal to”, “Greater than or Equal to”, “Less than or Equal to”, and “Not Equal to”.  As an example, to return Issues greater than 1 day old, choose “Greater than” and fill in “1” for “Days”.

Note

Age is always 24/7 and does not use the Project Work Calendar.

• Issue Information—The fields in this section differ depending on the fields in the current Project.  Search on as many fields as desired. Search methods vary with the field data types:
• Character field—Displays a text box. Enter the word or phrase to search on (or multiple words using Boolean Operators).
• Number field—Displays a text box. Enter the number or part of a number for which to search.
• Drop-down and Multi-select field—Displays a multi-select dialog box. Highlight one or more values to search on.  To search for Issues that contain no data for the field, select No data.  If you do not want to restrict the search based on choices in a field, do not highlight any values.
• Date fields—Search on a date or date range. Date Field Search Options

Note

Date/time fields can only be searched by date, not time.

• Other field types—Email, URL, and FTP fields display a text box. Enter the word or phrase to search on (including partial addresses).

• Address Book Fields—Search by users' contact information. The fields in this section differ depending on the fields in current Address Book.  Search methods are the same as those for Issue Information fields (see above).
• Linked Configuration Items (CIs)—Select a Saved Search for finding Configuration Items to link to Change Management Issues that meet the criteria of this process or click the button to create a fresh search for finding CIs to link to the Issue. For detailed information on Configuration Management, refer to the Numara Configuration Management topic. For details on Configuration Management searches, refer to the CMDB Search topic.

• Advanced options
• And/Or—Select whether the criteria you entered are all required to be fulfilled before triggering the change management approval process (And) or only one of them must be fulfilled before triggering the approval process (Or).

5. Enter your password in Step 3: Save the Approval Process and click the GO button to save this process.

The next section of this document describes how you create the individual phases in the process you created.