Substitution 

Use

·        You can assign another user to manage your tasks in case of absence or unavailability.

·        You can make an assignee receive your tasks or you can set an assignee to fill in for you.

·        You can create several substitution rules to cover all cases.

·        You can also take over other user’s tasks (if assigned by the user).

The assignee can then view and manage the task substitution rules.

Substitution is supported with some restrictions within the Collaboration rooms. For more information, see Other Users’ Substitution Rules below.

Tasks an Assignee can Perform

An assignee taking over as a substitute is a portal user who is allowed to manage and work on the work item of a user in his / her absence.

The assignee can:

·        Receive and work on the portal user’s work items

·        Monitor all incoming tasks (without acting on all of them)

·        Work on more than one user’s work items

Prerequisite

Portal user mapping must be unambiguous. A back end user must have only one portal user mapped to, not multiple.

Creating Substitution Rules

...

       1.      Choose Manage Substitution.

       2.      On the My Substitution Rules table choose Create Rule.

Step 1: Define Rule

You can define which tasks you want to assign to an assignee. You can either make the assignee receive your tasks (for example, when you go on vacation), or you can allow the assignee to fill in for you (for example, in case of your absence).

                            a.      Choose or enter the assignee from the people picker option. Choose Pick.

                            b.      Select what types of tasks you want to assign this user. Default: All (The assignee will substitute for all tasks).

                            c.      The assignee can receive your tasks or fill in for you. Selecting Receive my tasks will send the work items on the assignee’s list. Selecting fill in for me will require one more step from the assignees to make the items visible on his / her tasks list. Assignee must choose Take Over (on the Other Users' Substitution Rules table) to get the work items on the task list.

                            d.      Choose Next.

Step 2: Set Rule Activation

This step provides an option of turning on or off the rule.

                            e.      To enable the rule select on. More options available to turn the rule on immediately (upon save) or at a later time (choose date form the calendar).

                              f.      Choose Save.

       3.      Items now appear on the assignee’s task list.

Managing Substitution Rules

Following are the links / options available to manage the substitution rules:

Functions	Description
turn on	Choose to turn on or activate the substitution status.
turn off	Choose to turn off or deactivate the substitution status. this action will remove the work items form the assignee’s list.
Delete	Click to remove the selected rule.
Problems Reported (appears as a link)	Click to display the errors during the rule creation.
Substitution Status (appears as a link)	Click to see the connection errors or information about connection status. For more information see, FAQs and Error Messages section below.

Other Users’ Substitution Rules

This table displays all the substitution rules for your assignees. You see the Take Over option if the option Fill in for me was selected during defining the substitution rule.

Following are the links / options available to manage substitution rules created for other users:

Functions	Description
Take over	Substitute user can take over the items of the original user. Work items of the original user will not show up in the substitute’s work list until the substitute explicitly takes over (adopts) the items of the original user. This is mainly for a scenario when there is an unexpected absence of the original user, especially for a long period.

 

Substitution Within Collaboration Rooms

A substitute user, who is not a Collaboration room member, can view only those tasks (created within a room) assigned to his assignee.

User A assigns user B as a substitute.

User A is a room member, user B is not.

User A has tasks within the room and outside the room (general tasks).

User B (the substitute) can view and work on the tasks of the assignee (user A), including those created within the room. However, the substitute cannot view the other tasks existing within the room.

Limitations

For back end Workflow system:

·        Multiple tasks cannot be assigned to the same assignee.

·        If the creator of the task turns off the substitution rule, the Substitution control functions are still visible to the assignee (substitute user). The functions should not be visible, once the rules are turned off.

¡        Navigate to Home  ® Work and refresh your view.

The Substitution control functions are no longer visible.

For Collaboration Tasks:

·        There is no support for a future start date of a task.

·        Substitution only supports All tasks.

 

FAQs And Error Messages

Some FAQs on Substitution

Possible Questions	Interpretation / Actions
How do I distinguish the items belonging to the user?	See the items under Items on behalf of drop down selection.
Is substitution transitive? (for example; if the assignee will be absent, will his/her assignees receive my task?)	No.
Can an assignee decline a substitution assignment?	No, especially for receive my tasks type. For fill in for me type, assignee can choose not to take over.
Does assignee get notification when he / she is being assigned as a substitute or does the original user get notification when an assignee is taking over?	No.
One of the system is down at the time when I created a rule, can I include it when it is up and running again?	Yes, using the retry feature.
Why is the 'turn-off' feature disabled?	This is supported by Collaboration Task engine. Make sure the Collaboration Task is deployed.
Can I define the same rule for the same assignee for different time periods?	No. This is not allowed.
What if I turn off or remove a 'fill in for me' rule when an assignee has already taken over?	The take-over will be terminated as well. When the rule is turned on or created again, the assignee will need to take over again.
Does assignee see assigned rules for the future time?	No. Only assignment that is effective at the current time when assignee logs on will be visible (and thus can be taken over).
What happens if a system does not support Substitution?	You get an error message describing the status.

 

Common Error Messages and Their Interpretation

Error Messages	Interpretation / Possible Solution
System does not support substitution methods	For older workflow systems (below 6.40 SPS12) which does not has substitution API opened up.
Connection problem to the system	Connection problem may due to system down, or logon security issue (for example: User mapping). Retry is available.
System does not support this task	System does not support substitution on a particular task, for example: Collaboration Task only supports All tasks.
Internal error returned from provider	General error from the provider, for example: Invalid user id. Retry is available.
Substitution rule is not defined in the system	Upon retrieving existing rule definition (refresh), a rule already defined in another system is not available in this system. For example: this system is newly added or was down previously. Retry is available.
System does not support date range definition	System does not have time range support for rule, for example: Rule in Collaboration Task cannot be defined to be effective at a future time.
Substitution rule already exists and is effective for assignee	User is not allowed to create the same task for the same assignee
System does not support multiple tasks assignment for the same assignee	For example: User can only assign one task to an assignee at a time in workflow. Collaboration Task does not support other tasks at all.
Invalid portal user id for system (Less common)	Make sure there is one-to-one mapping between the portal user and the back end user.
Internal error\: Unknown task (Less common)	Task selected for the rule cannot be resolved.