Sub Process

Purpose

The UWL Sub Process is a task attached to a UWL item - parent item. The UWL Sub Process task is a multiple step task. It can be sequential or parallel. The process of approval/rejection of a UWL Sub Process is exactly the same as for the multiple steps task. The only additional step of a UWL Sub Process task is, when the Sub Process task is complete. The final step's action can be mapped back to the parent item, if the map back to parent check box has been selected when the sub process task was created, and the UWL is notified about the completion of the UWL Sub Process task.

The steps involved in creating sub processes consist of task completion steps and approval steps. If the last step of the process is an approval step and the wizard has been launched for an approval work item from SAP Business Workflow the following functionality is provided. The creator of the work item  can configure that the approval from the last step is automatically executed as an approval of the Business workflow work item.

Process Flow

It is possible to create a process which refers to any UWL work item. This process can be conceived as a sub process of the workflow to which the UWL work item belongs.

You can access the sub process creation steps from the Universal Worklist, or from the Collaboration launch pad. Proceed as follows:

From the UWL:

  1. From the portal choose Start of the navigation pathHome Next navigation step WorkEnd of the navigation path.
  2. From the context menu of a UWL work item choose Create Ad-Hoc Request to start the sub process.

Accessing from the Collaboration launch pad:

  1. From the portal chooseCollaboration. Choose Create Tasks. Choose the task directly from the available options.
  2. Choose Create Task  to start the workflow creation process.

Options on the Sub Process Task Wizard

Options Description

Map Decision to Parent Task

If this option is selected then the last action is mapped back to the original work item. For more information, see the example below.

Result

You can create a sub process consisting of multiple steps assigned to a user or to a different set of process participants in the process flow.

Example

A user can start a sub process from the UWL by selecting Create Ad Hoc Request from the work item context menu of the link New Ad Hoc Request on the detail screen of the selected UWL work item.

In the wizard you can define whether the final action of the UWL sub process is mapped back to its respective UWL work item. To define this, use the checkbox Map decision to parent task. This mapping is valid if the last step is an approval step.

Once a UWL sub process has been created two restrictions are imposed on the related UWL work item:

  • You cannot complete the UWL work item before the completion of its UWL sub process.
  • You cannot start a second UWL sub processes from the same UWL work item until the active UWL sub process is completed.