Top 10 reasons to use Universal Worklist: Getting the most out of Universal Worklist

Jocelyn Dart Platinum Consultant and guru of all things workflow and UWL SAP Australia Ginger Gatling SAP NetWeaver Solution Management SAP Labs

What Well Cover

Why getting the business process right isnt enough Making the most of the UWL Out of the Box Quick win extensions to the UWL More advanced extensions Extended Notifications for mail integration Strategy tips Wrap-up

SAP 2009 / Page 1

Why Getting the Business Process Right Isnt Enough

A high quality end-user experience ensures higher quality participation in business processes with fewer support calls Taking a strategic approach to the end-user experience
Encourages fast and effective user participation in the process Makes it easier for business process owners to focus on process specifics instead of re-inventing the wheel Reduces TCO for user training time, support costs, development time

The Forgotten Step

Time and time again we see companies putting lots of effort into getting their workflow processes right, but neglecting the end-user experience

PLEASE NOTE: This session presents options currently available in EP 7.0 with an SAP NetWeaver 7.0 back end (such as ECC 6.0). Most, but not all, options are available in earlier EP and SAP NetWeaver/R/3 releases.
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What Well Cover

Why getting the business process right isnt enough Making the most of the UWL Out of the Box Quick win extensions to the UWL More advanced extensions Extended Notifications for mail integration Strategy tips Wrap-up

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Reason 1: UWL supports multiple task types

Universal Worklist renders tasks from multiple provider systems Universal Worklist is delivered with the SAP NetWeaver Portal Provider systems connect to UWL via connectors Connectors such as SAP Business Workflow, Alert connector are provided by SAP UWL provides an API so that connectors can be written by partners and customers

SAP NetWeaver Portal

Universal Worklist

KM Notifications

SAP Business Application Application Workflow

System System

Non-SAP tasks

SAP NetWeaver BPM

Guided Procedures
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Application Alerts System

You should consider UWL if SAP Business Workflow is used in applications in the SAP Business Suite (CRM, SRM, ERP) and some users must execute tasks in more than one system Your users have different types of tasks they need to access (alerts, Guided Procedures, NetWeaver BPM tasks) and you want to centralize on a single task list Your users have SAP and non-SAP tasks and you want to centralize on a single task list

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Please Note!

This presentation slants towards SAP Business Workflow. Not all task providers have the same feature set.

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Reason 2: UWL is included in SAP NetWeaver Portal, standard functionality The Universal Worklist Out of the Box
Standard inbox features: Substitution

You can also: Add attachments View history Standard workflow features: Forwarding Assignment

Main launch action: Launch via button or via hyperlink

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Reason 3: Basic configuration is done in matter of minutes

The minimum steps for setting up the Universal Worklist
1. Go to System Administration > System Configuration > UWL Administration 2. Create an entry for your system using its System Alias 3. Register the system

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The results of basic UWL configuration

Register/re-register:
Generates the UWL XML configuration file uwl.webflow.MySystemAlias, a delta file that adds specific configuration for your workflow tasks to the standard delivered files uwl.standard and uwl.webflow
Tips! Re-register whenever you: Create new workflow tasks Make changes in transaction SWFVISU or WF_EXTSRV Clear the Cache to make new changes appear: After re-registering After changing any UWL XML configuration file

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Where Do I See That?

You can view and download all UWL XML configuration files (and the UWL Configuration DTD file) on the Configuration Content page in the UWL Administration view. You can also upload your own custom UWL XML configuration files.

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Reason 4: UWL by default knows how to launch tasks

The default launch mechanism for all work items sourced from an SAP Business Workflow is SAPGUI for HTML, but you can override this.
Tips!
You can override the default launch mechanism using any of the following: Special settings in the task (e.g., DECISION.PROCESS method) Settings in transactions: SWFVISU, WF_EXTSRV Creating a custom UWL XML configuration file Globally in the PCD entry for the UWL iView

Dont forget to re-register and clear the Cache!

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Reason 5: You can launch a Web Dynpro Application instead

Most SAP-based Web applications can be launched by making an entry in the Task Visualization section of transaction SWFVISU. You dont even need to change your workflow task!

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So What Do I Put in the Task Visualization?

You need to enter your application type and application ID The application type pre-determines what other details are needed

Tip!
To apply the SWFVISU settings you need to: Re-register the system You will see a matching entry in the file uwl.webflow.MySystemAlias

Dont forget to clear the Cache!

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Substitution is done either in provider systems or UWL

You can prevent users from creating/deleting substitution rules in the Object Visualization section in the Portal Content Directory

Tip!
To find the iView go to: Portal Content > Content Provided by SAP > End User Content > Standard Portal Users > iViews >

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What Well Cover

Why getting the business process right isnt enough Making the most of the UWL Out of the Box Quick win extensions to the UWL More advanced extensions Extended Notifications for mail integration Strategy tips Wrap-up

SAP 2009 / Page 15

Reason 6: UWL look can be customized

Just three steps
1. Create a custom UWL XML configuration file (use the standard files as examples) with your delta changes 2. Upload the file. You can upload multiple files and name them however you wish (e.g., mycompany.PLM.<OurSystemAlias>).

Tip! 3. Dont forget to clear the Cache!

Using an XML editor is helpful, but not essential you can maintain your XML file using WordPad if you wish. Use the UWL Configuration DTD file to check your XML syntax.
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Reason 6 and there is a wizard to help

The UWL Administration view includes these wizards:

Define custom attributes and customize the corresponding view Define and configure what you want to launch when an item is clicked Customize attributes and define what you want to launch when an item is clicked (both of the above options) Customize the look of the UWL main page (tabs, etc.)

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Reason 7: Memos can be added Activate the standard Add Memo feature
View Memos shows automatically once a memo has been added to a work item

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Reason 7 and passed on to the next agent

1. Download the standard file uwl.webflow 2. Rename the file (e.g., mycompany.webflow) 3. Add the Add Memo action here:
<ItemType name="uwl.task.webflow" <Actions> <Action reference="addMemo"/> <Action reference=manageAttachments .

4. Upload the file and clear the Cache

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Reason 7 you can enforce a reason for rejection

Use the User Decision with Note style
A memo is created and automatically passed to subsequent work items Careful!
Comments are only saved when an answer button is pressed. Ask users to use addMemo to add comments when forwarding.

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Enforcing a reason for rejection

1. Copy the ItemType tag for your decision-based workflow task from uwl.webflow.<OurSystemAlias> change decision to your own decision name
<ItemType name=uwl.task.webflow.ourdecision.TS99999999

2. Within the ItemType tag, add an Actions tag, with an Action tag for each button
<Actions> <Action name="approved" groupAction="yes" handler="UserDecisionHandler" returnToDetailViewAllowed="yes" launchInNewWindow="no"> On the first button only: Turn on the note and set <Properties> <Property name="UserDecisionNote" value="true"/> <Property name="decisionKey" value="1"/> <Descriptions default="Approved"/> </Action> <Action name="rejected" groupAction="yes" handler="UserDecisionHandler" returnToDetailViewAllowed="yes" launchInNewWindow="no"> <Properties> <Property name="UserDecisionNote" value="mandatory"/> <Property name="decisionKey" value="2"/> </Properties> <Descriptions default="Rejected"/> </Action> </Actions>

up the note title

<Property name="UserDecisionTitle" value="Enter a Rejection Reason"/> </Properties>

On the other buttons: Indicate if a note is mandatory

Tip!
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Get the correct values for the decisionKey by running function module SAP_WAPI_DECISION_READ against any work item based on the relevant workflow task

You can also hide unwanted features

Completely hide unwanted features globally by adding the Exclude from UWL Preview and Detail property
<Action name="launchSAPDetails" <Properties> <Property name="display_order_priority" value="uwlExcludeFromPreviewDetail /> </Properties></Action>

Tip!
A list of action names for standard features is found in the UWL configuration documentation.

Dont hide it until you know what it does!

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Reason 8: You can create filters by tasks.

Solution: Create your own process-specific filters
Filters show as Subviews if, and only if, the user has work items of that process in his/her worklist Filters automatically give a count of new/total number of work items

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Creating filters by task

1. Copy the ItemType tag for your workflow task from uwl.webflow.<OurSystemAlias> 2. Copy the defaultView tag from file uwl.standard. Rename it, add a description, and link it to your process-specific tasks.
<Views> <View name=OurShopCartView" selectionMode="SINGLESELECT" width="98%" supportedItemTypes="uwl.task.webflow.TS10008126,uwl.task.web. > <Descriptions default=Shopping Carts/> . </View> </Views>

3. Add the View tag for your business process to the end of the file just above </UWLConfiguration> 4. Change the default View of each process-specific task to your View
<ItemType name="uwl.task.webflow.TS10008126.<OurSystemAlias>" connector="WebFlowConnector" defaultView=OurShopCartView"

Tip!
If there is no ItemType tag for your task in uwl.webflow.<OurSystemAlias>, copy uwl.task.webflow.default from file uwl.webflow and change default to your task ID TS9999999

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What Else Can I Do with Filters?

Change sort order
Property sortby in the View tag

Change column order

Property columnOrder in the View tag

Change durations for due date color coding

Properties dueDateSevere (turns due date red) and dueDateWarning (turns due date yellow) Note: Duration is in milliseconds (e.g., 86400000 = 1 day)

Add columns (DisplayAttributes tag) try the wizard! Add buttons (Actions tag) Add multi-approval/rejection

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What Else Can I Change for a Specific Workflow Task?

Hide unwanted buttons
Set the property display_order_priority to uwlExcludeFromPreviewDetail for a specific Action within the ItemType

Change the launch mechanism

E.g., launch a transaction in WinGUI instead of WebGUI

Add extra fields (CustomAttributes tag) for display in the View or to pass to the launch application
Try the UWL configuration wizard!

Add buttons (Actions tag)

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What Well Cover

Why getting the business process right isnt enough Making the most of the UWL Out of the Box Quick win extensions to the UWL More advanced extensions Extended Notifications for mail integration Strategy tips Wrap-up

SAP 2009 / Page 27

Reason 9: You can add your own columns and..

Add your own Custom Attributes

Tip! Try the UWL Configuration Wizard!

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Reason 9: You can do mass processing Use Multi-approval/rejection

Tip!
Save time by using the standard view WorkItemApprovalsView

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Use action handlers to create a custom forward button

Add your own actions using the Action handlers (e.g., create your own custom Forward to Superior button calling your own custom function module using the FunctionModuleActionHandler)
IViewLauncher SAPAppLauncher SAPMiniAppLauncher SAPIACLauncher SAPWebDynproLauncher SAPWebDynproABAPLauncher SAPTransactionLauncher SAPBSPLauncher ObjectLinkLauncher ObjectNavigationLauncher

Tip!
Make sure you read the UWL Advanced Configuration guide to understand what properties are relevant for each handler!

UrlLauncher XhandlerLauncher TerminatingEventHandler FunctionModuleActionHandler UpdatingContainerHandler UserDecisionHandler PortalEventLauncher

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Reason 10: We Want One Inbox for All Work SAP and Non-SAP
Include non-SAP work in the UWL by using the UWL Java API to create your own UWL Connector

https://help.sap.com/javadocs/NW04S/current/uw/index.html

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How Much Work Is It to use the UWL API?

UWL API has the following parts:
1. Registration Service to register a unique ID for the non-SAP system ID 2. UWL Connector Service to push and pull the worklist from the non-SAP system and map it to the UWL item attributes 3. Action Handler Services to support any buttons you need 4. Attachment Connector Services to support any attachments you need (optional) 5. UWL XML Configuration for your non-SAP item types Estimated effort: 10-30 person days depending on depth of integration. Basic integration is usually possible within 10-15 days.

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But Has Any One Else Done This

This has been implemented at a number of customers already and its the same approach as is used for the standard connectors

Connectors already exist for:

WebFlow Ad Hoc Workflow Alerts KM Action Inbox Generic ABAP connector

Publicly available details of how others did it:

SONiC Connector available as part of the SONiC download UWL Connector for MDM
See SDN Blog www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/4762

RSS Feeds presented at SAP TechEd

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What Well Cover

Why getting the business process right isnt enough Making the most of the UWL Out of the Box Quick win extensions to the UWL More advanced extensions Extended Notifications for mail integration Strategy tips Wrap-up

SAP 2009 / Page 34

How Do I Get from My Email Inbox to the UWL?

Use Extended Notifications to notify users of work, giving hyperlinks to launch into the UWL. Avoids complex integration issues with mail groupware versions.

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We Need to Set Up Extended Notifications Fast

Minimum setup of Extended Notifications in transaction SWNCONFIG, then schedule a batch job for program SWN_SELSEN
1. 2. 3. 4. Create a Delivery Schedule Add a Subscription to Scenario WORKFLOW Category STANDARD Create a Schedule Selection for filter ALL_DELTA Adjust the General Settings

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We Need Details but Not SPAM

By default, emails are only sent if the user has had work added to his/her inbox since the last job run, and he/she has not yet executed the work
Additionally setting Granularity to One Message Contains Multiple Notifications in the Subscription gives a maximum of one email per user per job run, but with sufficient detail to assess the urgency of the work.

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What Well Cover

Why getting the business process right isnt enough Making the most of the UWL Out of the Box Quick win extensions to the UWL More advanced extensions Extended Notifications for mail integration Strategy tips Wrap-up

SAP 2009 / Page 38

UWL Strategy Tips

Consider what you will need for the long term (not just for the first-phase workflows) Consider how you want your users to use standard features
Especially Substitution and Forwarding

One workflow inbox in the Portal the UWL

Decide your corporate attitude towards the Windows GUI SAP Business Workplace inbox (avoid supporting it if you can)

Dont forget the obvious

Consistency in subject and detail text format

Dont turn it off until you understand what it does!

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Why Do Texts Matter So Much?

The no-control approach: No consistency, not sortable, critical information is buried A better way: Sortable on action type, critical information first, quicker to assess and respond

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Give Yourself a Break

In your Development Portal, turn on the UWL Support Information in the Portal Content Directory. This can save you a lot of time when configuring the UWL XML.

Support Information: Appears immediately below the work item preview.

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What Well Cover

Why getting the business process right isnt enough Making the most of the UWL Out of the Box Quick win extensions to the UWL More advanced extensions Extended Notifications for mail integration Strategy tips Wrap-up

SAP 2009 / Page 42

Top 10 reasons to use UWL

1. 2.

UWL supports multiple tasks types UWL is included in as standard functionality in SAP NetWeaver Portal Basic configuration can be done minutes UWL knows how to launch tasks You can launch develop new UIs, such as Web Dynpros and use them to launch tasks UWL look and feel can be customized You can add memos and enforce rejection reasons You can create filters for specific tasks You can add custom columns You can access non-SAP tasks via UWL API

3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

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Key Points to Take Home

Dont settle for UWL Out of the Box Dont leave usability up to your developers Business process owners need to sign off on usability As a minimum, set up UWL Filters to improve usability Set enterprise-wide Workflow Standards to improve consistency Consider what you will need for the long term Dont turn it off until you know what it does

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Resources UWL Configuration

Advanced Configuration of UWL
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw70/helpdata/en/27/8be9f12c6746158328 764a13c0ef99/frameset.htm

SDN UWL Blogs

www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/advancedsearch?cat=sdn_weblog&query=UW L&adv=false&sortby=cm_rnd_rankvalue

SDN Extended Notification Blogs

www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/advancedsearch?cat=sdn_weblog&query=SW NCONFIG&adv=false&sortby=cm_rnd_rankvalue

SAP SDN BPM and Workflow Forum

https://forums.sdn.sap.com/forum.jspa?forumID=146

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Thank you!

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