Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel 11gRelease ... · Management for Microsoft Excel 11gRelease 1 ... Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel ... for new Oracle

Oracle® Fusion Middleware User’s Guide for Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel 11gRelease 1 (11.1.1.7.2)

July 2014

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CONTENTS

Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Process

Accelerator ..................................................................................... 1 Overview of Oracle Process Accelerators ....................................................... 2 Getting Started with Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel .............. 3

Overview of the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Process Lifecycle ................................................................................................. 3 Understanding the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Pages ..... 5 Starting Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel ............................. 6

Using Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel ................................... 7 Creating an Approval Cycle ....................................................................... 7 Creating a Review Request ........................................................................ 8 Resolving a Review Request ..................................................................... 11 Approving a Review Request .................................................................... 14

Administering Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel ...................... 18 Maintaining Document Types .................................................................... 18

Understanding the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Reports .... 20

Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Process Accelerator

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Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Process Accelerator describes how to administer and use this process accelerator. Audience This document is intended for:

Reviewers who use Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel to create approval cycles and review requests.

Resolvers who use Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel to review and

resolve review requests.

Administrators who maintain Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel seeded data, business rules, and reports

Related Documents For more information, see the following Oracle resources: Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel

Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle Process Accelerator

Oracle Business Process Management Suite

Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Process Management

Oracle Fusion Middleware Modeling and Implementation Guide for Oracle Business

Process Management

Oracle Fusion Middleware Business Process Composer User's Guide for Oracle Business

Process Management

Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle Business Process Management Suite

Oracle Business Rules

Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Rules

Oracle Fusion Middleware

Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide

Conventions The following text conventions are used in this document:

boldface - Boldface type indicates graphical user interface elements or terms defined

in text.

italic - Italic type indicates book titles, emphasis, or placeholder variables for which you supply particular values.


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Overview of Oracle Process Accelerators

Oracle Process Accelerators (PA) are prebuilt business process solutions developed with Oracle Business Process Management (BPM) Suite or other Oracle SOA Suite components. Oracle Process Accelerators are developed to support and automate critical industry and horizontal business processes. Oracle PAs utilize best practices to accelerate time-to-value and increase

quality. When needed, PAs include ready-to-use integration scenarios that extend Oracle applications. Oracle PAs can be deployed as-is or extended to meet your requirements. The Oracle PA framework diagram illustrates the basic components of a process accelerator. Oracle PA Framework


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Getting Started with Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel

This section is for new Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel (AME) users who want a brief introduction.

Upon completion of this section, you will be able to:

Describe the basic Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel process lifecycle.

Describe the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel pages and related

Oracle Business Process Management Workspace pages.

Start Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel.

Overview of the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Process Lifecycle

Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel (AME) Process Accelerator is a process solution that enables organizations to track the review and approval process of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Oracle AME provides dashboards to view review request summary reports. Administrators can modify the business rules and seeded data.

Oracle AME is a role-based solution; your role determines the tasks you can perform. Oracle AME delivers the following roles:

The reviewer creates an approval cycle and a review request.

The resolver reviews and resolves any issues with the request.

The Excel Centered Approval Process is the main business process for Oracle AME, and the

focus of this topic. The Excel Centered Approval Process diagram is depicted as follows, with an explanation of the process.

Excel Centered Approval Process

The Excel Centered Approval Process involves the following basic tasks: 1. A reviewer creates an approval cycle, then creates a review request by uploading a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to the approval cycle. 2. A resolver reviews the spreadsheet, and adds his review comments. 3. A reviewer and resolver go back and forth adding comments to the review request. 4. The reviewer marks the comments as Approved when all the comments have been

addressed.


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This topic walks through the Excel Centered Approval Process illustrating how a reviewer

creates an approval cycle and a review request and how a resolver resolves the request.

Overview of the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Process Lifecycle

Step Action

1. The reviewer begins by navigating to the Manage Approval Cycles page.

2. The reviewer uses the Manage Approval Cycle page to create an approval cycle.

3. The reviewer creates an approval cycle by entering a description for the cycle, and if desired updates the State field. The Approval Cycle Id and Type fields are automatically populated.

4. The reviewer clicks Save to save the approval cycle.

5. The reviewer uses the Manage Excel Reviews link to navigate to the Manage Review Requests page.

6. The reviewer uses the Manage Review Requests page to add spreadsheets to an approval cycle and manage review requests.

7. The reviewer searches and selects an approval cycle to create a review request against.

8. The reviewer uploads a spreadsheet and any supporting documents to the approval cycle. Then he downloads the spreadsheet after checking it out to create or manage review requests.

9. The reviewer checks out the spreadsheet and saves it locally to his computer.

10. The reviewer opens the spreadsheet and uses the Oracle PA tab to create and manage review requests.

11. The reviewer enters comments after reviewing the document.

12. The reviewer checks in the spreadsheet so the resolver can resolve the review requests.

13. The review request status is set to Open.

14. The resolver uses the My Tasks page to open the tasks he needs to resolve.

15. The resolver uses the Resolve Review Request ID for AME ID page to resolve review requests.

16. The resolver checks out the spreadsheet, and saves it locally to his computer.

17. The resolver opens the spreadsheet, looks for review requests, and addresses them.

18. The resolver checks in the spreadsheet so the reviewer can approve the review request.

19. The review request status is set to Resolved.

20. The reviewer uses the My Tasks page to open the tasks he needs to approve.

21. The reviewer uses the Approve Review Request ID for AME ID page to approve resolved review requests.


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22. The reviewer checks out the spreadsheet, and saves it locally to his computer.

23. The reviewer opens the spreadsheet looks for resolved review requests, and approves them.

24. The reviewer checks in the spreadsheet.

25. The review request status is set to Approved.

26. You have completed the Overview of the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Process Lifecycle topic.

Understanding the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Pages

You navigate Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel (AME) through the Oracle Business Process Management Workspace. Your role within Oracle AME determines the tasks you can perform, and the pages you can access. Some of these pages are Oracle Business

Process Management Workspace, others are Oracle AME. Understanding the pages associated to a task or role makes you more effective in your use of Oracle AME. This topic addresses the various Oracle Business Process Management Workspace and Oracle

AME pages you use.

Understanding the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Pages

Step Action

1. Use the Manage Approval Cycle page to create an approval cycle for your review. This is an Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel administration page.

2. The Oracle Business Process Workspace Tasks page appears after you log into Oracle

Business Process Management Workspace. This is an Oracle Business Process Management Workspace page.

From here you can: • Take action on a review request by executing the tasks assigned to you in Views, My Tasks • Access Oracle AME from the Applications link

3. The Manage Excel Reviews link is visible if you are granted permissions in Oracle AME. Use this link to access the Manage Review Requests page. This is an Oracle Business Process Management Workspace page.

4. Use the Manage Review Requests page to add documents to your approval cycle and

manage review requests. This is an Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel page.

5. Use the Resolve Review Request ID for AME ID page to resolve review requests. This is an Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel page.

6. Use the Approve Review Request ID for AME ID page to approve resolved review requests. This is an Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel page.

7. The Manage Documents Type page is used to add and maintain the document types that can be attached to a review request. This is an Oracle Approval Management for

Microsoft Excel administration page.

8. For more information on how to work with tasks, such as reassigning a task, routing a task, or setting a vacation period, see "Working on Tasks in Process Workspace," in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Process Management.


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9. For more information on understanding, navigating, and setting your preferences in

Oracle Business Process Workspace, see "Getting Started with Process Workspace, in

Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Process Management.

10. You have completed the Understanding the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Pages topic.

Starting Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel

You need a valid Oracle Business Process Management Workspace URL, user ID, and password to access Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel (AME). Contact your system administrator for the URL and your login credentials. In this topic, you will log into Oracle Business Process Management Workspace and access Oracle AME.

Starting Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel

Step Action

1. To begin, enter http://server name:port/bpm/workspace in your web browser. Replace server name and port with the server name and port number you received from your administrator. The supported web browsers are: Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.x, Chrome 11.x, or Mozilla Firefox 4.x. The Oracle Business Process Workspace Sign In page opens.

2. Enter your username and password in the respective fields, then click Login.

3. You are now logged into Oracle Business Process Management Workspace.

4. Click the Applications link to access any Oracle Process Accelerator, implemented by your organization and that you have permissions to.

5. Use the Manage Excel Reviews link to access Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel.

6. You have completed the Starting Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel topic.


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Using Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel

This section is for reviewers who create an approval cycle and a review request and resolvers who review and resolve the review request. Upon completion of this section, you will be able to:

Create an approval cycle.

Create a review request.

Resolve a review request.

Approve a review request.

Creating an Approval Cycle

As a reviewer, you initiate the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel (AME) process by creating an approval cycle. You can determine the status and the description of the approval cycle. In this topic, you will create an approval cycle.

Procedure: Creating an Approval Cycle

Step Action

1. Begin by navigating to the Manage Approval Cycle page.

Click the Manage Excel Driven Approvals link.

2. Use the Manage Approval Cycle page to create an approval cycle for your review.

3. First, add an approval cycle.

Click the Add button.


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4. The Approval Cycle Id and Type fields are automatically populated. You can change

the State field if you want.

5. Enter a description for the approval cycle. In this example, the description has been completed for you.

6. Saving the approval cycle makes it available when you create a review request.

Click the Save button.

7. The approval cycle is now added.

8. You have completed the Creating an Approval Cycle topic.

Creating a Review Request

Once the approval cycle is created, the review stage commences. As a reviewer, you add a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and any supporting documents to your approval cycle, then you add review comments for the resolver.

In this topic, you will create a review request.

Procedure: Creating a Review Request

Step Action

1. Begin by navigating to the Manage Review Requests page. Click the Manage Excel Reviews link.

2. Use the Manage Review Requests page to add documents to your approval cycle and

manage reviews.


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3. Search for the approval cycle you created. Click the Search button.

4. You can specify search criteria or click Search without criteria to list all approval cycle IDs. In this example, no search criteria has been filled out.

Click the Search button.

5. The search lists all the approval cycle IDs. Select the approval cycle ID you want to create a review request for.

Click an entry in the row.

6. Click the Select button.

7. First, add a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet file.

Click the Add button.

8. Click the Settings menu.

9. Click the Add list item.

10. Use the Add Attachment dialog box to upload the file you want reviewed.

11. In this example, a file has been attached for you. Click the OK button.

12. The file has now been added.

13. Use the Supporting Document tab to add additional documentation needed to aid in the review request.


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14. Next, add your comments. You must check out the file before you can add your review

comments.

Click the Settings menu.

15. Click the Check Out list item.

16. A green check indicates that the file is checked out. Other users cannot check out the file while it is in use.

17. Save the file to your local directory in .xlsm format. Click the link.

18. Once you save the file on your computer, access it, and open the file. The Oracle PA tab has preconfigured settings that permit you to manage review requests.

Note: You must ensure that Macros are enabled on Microsoft Excel to see this tab.

Click the Oracle PA tab.

19. Use the Review Comments section to create and manage review requests.

20. Select a cell where you want to open a review request.

Click the cell.

21. To create a new review request, use the Create button. You can submit more than one review request. Click the Create button.

22. Specify your query and ask for any details needed to help resolve the review request. Click in the Enter ReviewComment remarks field.


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23. Enter the desired information into the Enter correct Dollar amount field. Enter "Enter

correct Dollar amount.".

24. Click the OK button.

25. When you create a review request, an ID is automatically assigned to it.

Click the OK button.

26. Cells are color coded to indicate the progression of the review request through its various stages.

27. At this stage, you must save all your changes and check in the file. Click the Settings menu.

28. Click the Check In list item.

29. Use the CheckIn Document dialog box to upload the revised file.

30. In this example, a file has already been uploaded for you. Click the OK button.

31. The review request status is set to Open.

32. Click the Ok button.

33. You have completed the Creating a Review Request topic.

Resolving a Review Request

As a resolver, you review the review request comments made by the reviewer, and then resolve them. A review request can go through multiple rounds of reviews before you set the review request to resolved. In this topic, you will resolve a review request.

Procedure: Resolving a Review Request

Step Action

1. The My Tasks page automatically opens after you log into Oracle Business Process Management Workspace. Use the My Tasks page to open tasks you need to resolve.


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2. Select the review request task you want to resolve. Click the task to open it in the Task Details section. Double-click the task to open in a new window. In this example, you will double-click the task. Double-click the Task object.

3. Use the Resolve Review Request ID for AME ID page to resolve review requests.

4. To access the review request, you must check out the file and save it locally on your


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computer.



6. A green check mark indicates that the file is checked out. Other users cannot check out

the file while it is in use.

7. Save the file to your local directory in .xlsm format. Click the document link.

8. Once you save the file on your computer, access it, and open the file. The Oracle PA tab has preconfigured settings that permit you to manage review requests. Note: You must ensure that Macros are enabled on Microsoft Excel to see this tab.


9. Use the Review Comments section to manage your review requests.

10. Hovering your mouse over the cell shows you the comment entered by the reviewer.

Point to the cell.

11. The review comments are shown.

12. As per the review comments, you correct the input amount. In this example, the changes have been made for you.

13. Click the Resolve button.

14. Click in the Enter remarks for Rvw_ID1 field.


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15. Enter the desired information into the Resolve field. Enter "Resolved".


17. The selected review request is now resolved.


19. Once approved, the cell is color coded to show the task's progression into the Resolved status.

20. At this stage, you must save all your changes and check in the file.




23. In this example, a file has already been uploaded for you. Click the OK button.

24. The review request status is set to Resolved.


26. You have completed the Resolving a Review Request topic.

Approving a Review Request

Once the resolver resolves a review request, the reviewer evaluates the review request results and approves them if they are satisfactory. In this topic, you will approve a review request.

Procedure: Approving a Review Request

Step Action

1. The My Tasks page automatically opens after you log into Oracle Business Process

Management Workspace. Use the My Tasks page to open tasks you need to approve.


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2. Select the review request task you want to approve. Click the task to open it in the Task Details section. Double-click the task to open in a new window. In this example, you will double-click the task. Double-click the Task object.

3. Use the Approve Review Request ID for AME ID page to approve resolved review requests.


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4. To access the review request, you must check out the file and save it locally on your

computer.



6. A green check mark indicates that the file is checked out. Other users cannot check out the file while it is in use.

7. Save the file to your local directory in .xlsm format. Click the document link.

8. Once you save the file on your computer, access it, and open the file. The Oracle PA tab has preconfigured settings that permit you to manage review requests.

Note: You must ensure that Macros are enabled on Microsoft Excel to see this tab.


9. Use the Review Comments section to manage your review requests.

10. Hovering your mouse over the cell shows you the comment entered.

Point to the cell.

11. The review comments are shown.

12. You decide that the review request resolution is satisfactory.

Click the Approve button.

13. Enter your final comments.


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Click in the Enter remarks for Rvw_ID1 field.

14. Enter the desired information into the Enter remarks for Rvw_ID1 : field. Enter "Approved.".


16. The selected review request is now approved.


18. Once approved, the cell is color coded to show the task's progression into the Approved

status.

19. At this stage, you must save all your changes and check in the file. Click the Settings menu.



22. In this example, a file has already been uploaded for you.

Click the OK button.

23. The review request status is set to Approved.


25. You have completed the Approving a Review Request topic.


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Administering Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel

This section is for administrators who maintain Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel (AME). Use Oracle AME as delivered or modify it to meet your requirements. This section covers the data elements you can modify.

Upon completion of this section, you will be able to:

Maintain document types.

Maintaining Document Types

Document types are used as an organizational structure for the various types of documents you may want to attach to an approval cycle. Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel ships with seeded values for document types. The seeded values are:

Document Type

Excel Documents

Supporting Documents

You can add additional document types to meet your organization's needs. In this topic, you will modify document types.

Procedure: Maintaining Document Types

Step Action

1. Begin by navigating to the Manage Document Types page.

Click the Links link.

2. Click the Manage Excel Driven Approvals link.

3. Click the Manage Document Types link.

4. Use the Manage Documents Type page to add and maintain the document types that can be attached to an approval cycle.


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5. First, add a document type. Click the Add button.

6. The Id field is automatically populated.

7. Click in the Document Type field.

8. The name entered in this field appears as a tab on the Manage Review Request page. Enter the desired information into the Document Type field. Enter "Word Document".

9. Click in the Document Type Code field.

10. This field is a unique key in data tables. Enter the desired information into the Document Type Code field. Enter "WORD DOC".

11. Click the Save button.

12. The document type has now been added.

13. To delete a document type, select the document type you want to delete. Click the Delete button.

14. Click the Save button.

15. The document type is now deleted.

16. You have completed the Maintaining Document Types topic.


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Understanding the Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel Reports

This section is for users reviewing reports for submitted review requests. Use Oracle BAM Active Viewer to view the reports delivered with Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel (AME).

You must have a solid working knowledge of Oracle Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) before creating or editing reports. For information on creating and editing Oracle BAM reports, see "Creating and Managing Reports," in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Activity Monitoring. Oracle Approval Management for Microsoft Excel has one dashboard, Top List Dashboard, with

four views. These reports use information from the review request data submitted in AME. Top List Dashboard

The Top List Dashboard includes five views pertaining to the analysis of review requests. By default, the views show data for all approval cycles. Use the Select Approval Cycle ID list to show data for a specific approval cycle. The following provides an explanation and sample

image of each view. Review Requests Activity The Review Request Activity view is a streaming list summarizing all review request activity by the approval cycle ID. From left to right the view displays the Approval Cycle ID, Review Request ID, Resolver, Reviewer, and Status. The list is displayed in descending order.

Review Request by State The Review Request by State is a 3D pie chart view summarizing the percentage of requests that have been approved. Each slice displays the percentage of that slice in relation to the whole pie.


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Review Requests Time

The Review Requests Time is a stacked bar chart summarizing the total time it takes to resolve and approve a review request. The X-axis displays the Resolution Time and the Approval Time stacked for each Review Comment ID. The Y-axis displays the time in hours.

Alerts Alerts is an updating ordered list view that displays alert messages for all review requests. The

left column displays the alert message. The right column specifies the Received Date when the alert was received.