AX2189
You can use process management to define a plan file process for on-demand plan files—meaning, a set of defined steps for plan files to progress through. This section details some design considerations to keep in mind when defining the plan file process definition for an on-demand file group.
As each new plan file is created in the on-demand file group, it will be automatically added to the process and will progress through each step. In order for newly created plan files to be automatically started in the process, the process must be set up as follows:
- The process must be created as a plan file process definition within the on-demand file group.
- The process must be designated as the Plan File Process in the file group properties, on the Options tab.
- The process must be active.
When configuring the process settings, note the following:
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Typically the ownership assignment for the first step is set to Process Initiator. In most cases this means that the owner is the user who created the file and therefore caused the plan file to be started in the process. Other ownership assignment options can be used, but if the creator is not the owner of the first step then the creator may be unable to create the file at all, or if the file is created they may be unable to save it (unless their security permissions already allow that level of access).
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In most cases, relative due dates should be used for each step. For example, in the first step, you could specify that each new plan file must be moved to the next step within 5 days. Then, in the next step, managers could have 7 days to approve or reject the plan file.
However, you could use defined due dates if the cycle of creating and approving plan files is limited to a specific time period rather than an ongoing process. For example, users could have a month-long window to propose new projects, and then managers would have to review them and determine which are approved, by a specific due date.
Plan file processes for on-demand file groups also have access to a special option that allows owners of approval steps to "deny" a request, meaning that the plan file is aborted in the process and does not progress further. This is intended for processes such as capital requests or purchase orders, where some requests need to be denied rather than temporarily rejected. For more information, see Enabling the "deny request" option for a plan file process.
