Create and Edit Approval Workflows for Process Diagrams

You can create new approval workflows and edit existing approval workflows.

To create or edit an approval workflow, follow these steps:

  1. In the explorer, choose Start of the navigation pathSetup Next navigation step Manage Approval WorkflowsEnd of the navigation path.

  2. Either choose Open workspace in SAP Signavio Process Governance or select a link to an existing approval workflow.

    In case you did not select a specific workflow, you are redirected to your SAP Signavio Process Governance workspace. Go to the Processes tab to see all existing processes, including your approval workflows.

  3. Select an approval workflow for editing or select New process to create a new approval workflow.

Set the Workflow Trigger

If you have a SAP Signavio Process Governance stand-alone license, you need to define SAP Signavio approval as the trigger for the process.

In case you are using SAP Signavio Process Governance as part of SAP Signavio Process Manager, the approval workflow trigger is set automatically.

Create Actions

Go to the Actions tab.

Here you can create actions for the approval workflow and link them. To create the first process element, choose Start event.

Change States

Follow these steps:

  1. Select the Process Manager menu and choose Set model state to create a new SAP Signavio Process Manager task.

  2. Connect start event and task.

  3. Label the task and select which state the model should be changed by the trigger.

The states can be defined in SAP Signavio Process Manager, read more in section Diagram states.

When the task was executed in SAP Signavio Process Governance, SAP Signavio Process Manager automatically sets the diagram for which the approval workflow is executed, into this state.

Create and Assign User Tasks

You can use the interactive context menu to create the first user task and name the task.

Assign the task to one or several of your modeling users in the General tab.

Alternatively, you can assign the task to one of the process participant roles. This is recommended for most cases, as it eases approval workflow management when having several process owners and participants within the different processes.

Read more in section Roles in the SAP Signavio Process Governance user guide.

Adding Fields for Additional Information

In the Form tab you can add several fields providing information about diagram.

To edit the field's information, like label and initial value, click the field and edit it in the dialog.

Add Exclusive Gateways

You can add an exclusive gateway followed by at least two SAP Signavio Process ManagerSet model state tasks.

Read more in section Exclusive gateway in the SAP Signavio Process Governance user guide.

Define Task Labels

Define task labels as well as the state changes the tasks should trigger. If you want to end the workflow after these steps, add end events.

The gateway represents a user decision, meaning the user executing the previous task can decide which of the following tasks should be triggered.

When selecting the gateway, you can define the labels of the dialog that are displayed when the corresponding decision is to be made.

To define the outcome or the possible process flows, name the task following a decision.

Set Automatic Decisions

Alternatively, gateways can be resolved automatically.

For this, you need to select Automatic decision and define the conditions for gateway resolution.

Using Subprocesses in Approval Workflows

We recommend using a sub-process action in the following cases:

  • To simplify complex process models. To view the next level of detail, you open the sub-process.

  • To delegate responsibility to a different process owner.

  • To reuse a part of the process that is the same for several processes.

  • To update a part of the process that is changed often.

For correct results, the first and the last status change need to happen in the main process. Otherwise, expiry dates for approved processes are not created correctly when using approval expirations and not updated correctly when changing related configurations.

Read more about subprocesses in section Sub-process.

Publish the Process

To make new approval workflow available from the explorer, choose Publish to run this process.

Related Information