Customizing Settings

You need to define the following settings in Customizing for the Document Management System :

Under Approval you can make all settings for the digital signature and the definition of the Signature Strategy.

See also: Approval Using Digital Signatures

Assign a signature strategy to the document status. The signature check is done when a status is set. The required settings are made under Control data → Define document t ype → Define document status .

Processing a Document

You have the following authorizations:

Authorization to set the digital signature

Authorization object C_SIGN_BGR ( authorization group for digital signature ) in the Production Planning object class.

¡        Authorization to process the document ( Authorization Objects for Documents )

The original application files for a document must be stored in one of the following secure storage areas:

In a Storage category when storage is controlled by the Knowledge Provider

In a vault or archive when storage is not controlled by the Knowledge Provider

Approval Procedure for Documents

You use the status of a document to determine in which processing situations the digital signature is required. The various approval procedures are defined as a signature strategy in Customizing for Document Management and are then assigned to the document status that determines how the document is processed further.

When you set a status with a signature strategy, the approval process is started according to the defined approval procedure.

The following approval procedures are supported:

Double verification principle

Oneauthorized person must sign the document digitally. The status is set to “active” once the signature has been provided.

Multiple verification principle

Severalauthorized persons must sign the document digitally.

Once the first authorized person has signed the document digitally, the system automatically recognizes that the approval procedure is not yet complete. Each authorized person signs and saves the document. The status is set to “active” once all the signatures have been provided.

Every person that is authorized to sign can cancel the process completely. In this case, the system returns the status of the document to the status that was valid before the signature process was started.

The document is in an intermediate state during the approval process. You should, therefore, define a special document status (such as, being signed ). The next status (for example, released ) can only be set once all of the signatures have been provided.

Original Application File in the Approval Procedure

The status for which an electronic signature is required is defined in Customizing for Document Management as a status that automatically creates content versions. For this reason, the original application files must be stored in a secure storage area ( Storage System of the Knowledge Provider , or vault or archive ) during the approval procedure.

Document after the Approval Procedure

Once the signature strategy has been successfully completed, the document is locked with the result that most of the data cannot be changed. You can only carry out the following functions:

Change status

Process object links

Change deletion indicator

Information on the signatures, for example the name of the signer, signed step, comment, date, and time, is documented and cannot be forged. It can be displayed from the document at any time.

A status, for which one or more digital signatures were entered, is indicated in the status log. You can also view information on the individual signatures and the processing status of the original application files in the log.