Pending tasks
The Pending view contains a list of your approval tasks to be completed. Each task in the list is identified by a header area that provides basic information about the task such as a unique ID number of the task, who requested the operation that is subject to approval, when the task was created, the time limit of the task (if any), and the target object of the operation. In the middle of a task’s header area is a section that contains the title of the task (Approve operation by default), a label indicating the status of the task, and summary information about the operation that is subject to approval.
The task’s header area contains the action buttons you can use to apply the appropriate resolution to the approval task. The action buttons are displayed at the bottom of the header area. Which buttons are displayed depends upon configuration of the approval rule. You may encounter the following action buttons there:
- Approve Click this button to allow the requested operation.
Depending on configuration of the approval and policy rules, the Web Interface may request you to enter additional information that must be added to the operation request. For example, when you approve the operation of creating a user account, you may have to supply certain properties of the user account in addition to those supplied by the administrator who requested creation of that user account. If additional information is required, clicking Approve displays a page where you can supply the required information. You can also access that page by clicking the Examine task button.
- Reject Click this button to deny the requested operation.
- Escalate Click this button to assign the approval task to an approver of a higher level.
This button is displayed if the approval rule has one or more approver levels (referred to as escalation levels) configured in addition to the initial approver level. Escalation levels are normally used to assign (escalate) the approval task automatically to the approver of a higher level if the task is not completed in time. The approval rule may be configured to allow approvers to escalate approval tasks as needed, in which case the task’s header area contains the Escalate button.
- Delegate Click this button to assign the approval task to a different person. You can select the user account of the person to whom you want to assign the task.
This button is displayed if the approval rule is configured with the option to allow approvers to reassign (delegate) their approval tasks to others.
- Custom buttons The approval rule may add custom buttons to the task’s header area. The action that Active Roles performs when you click a custom button depends upon configuration of the workflow containing the approval rule. The administrator who configures the workflow should normally supply an instruction on the use of custom action buttons. To view the instruction, click the Examine task button. This opens a page containing the same action buttons that you see in the task’s header area. The instruction text is displayed above the action buttons on that page.
The task’s header area contains the Examine task button allowing you to get detailed information about the task, review the object properties submitted for approval, and supply or change additional properties. Clicking the Examine task button displays a page containing a replica of the task’s header area, the action buttons, and a number of information sections. Review the information on the page, supply or change the object properties for which the task requests your input, and then click the appropriate action button.
The page that appears when you click the Examine task button includes the following information sections:
- Object properties
The contents of this section heavily depends upon configuration of the approval rule. Thus the approval rule may request you to enter additional information that must be added to the operation request. For example, when you approve the operation of creating a user account, you may have to supply certain properties of the user account in addition to those supplied by the administrator who requested creation of that user account. In this case, enter the requested properties in the fields under Supply or change the following properties.
Normally, the approval rule is configured so that the approver is allowed to review the values of the object properties that were supplied or changed by the operation that is subject to approval. The approval rule may also be configured to allow the approver to change those property values. In either case, you can view or change them in the fields under Review the properties submitted for approval.
- Approvers
This section displays a list of the user accounts or groups to which the approval task is currently assigned. Any of the listed users or members of the listed groups can act as an approver on the task in question.
- Approval progress
This section provides information on the date and time that the task was created and whether the task was escalated to a higher approver level or reassigned (delegated) to other persons. If the task was escalated, you can view when escalation occurred and what caused escalation. If the task was reassigned (delegated), you can view who and when delegated the task and to whom the task was delegated.
- Details
In this section you can view aggregated information about the approval task properties and configuration, and some details of the operation that the task is intended to allow or deny. The Operation ID filed provides a link to a page where you can examine the operation in more detail.
To complete a pending task
- Click Examine task in the task’s header area.
- On the Object properties page, review, supply or change the object properties for which the task requests your input, and then click the appropriate action button.
You can also complete a task by clicking the appropriate action button in the task’s header area. However, if the current policy and approval rules require the approver to supply some additional information, the Web Interface would open the Object properties page, prompting you to configure the required properties.
Completed tasks
The Completed view contains a list of your approval tasks that are completed and do not require approver action. Each task in the list is identified by a header area that provides basic information about the task such as a unique ID number of the task, who requested the operation that is subject to approval, when the task was created, and the target object of the operation. In the middle of a task’s header area is a section that contains the title of the task (Approve operation by default), a label indicating the status of the task, and summary information about the operation that was subject to approval. The header area also identifies the approver action that was applied to complete the task and the completion reason, if any, specified by the approver who completed the task.
The task’s header area contains the Examine task button allowing you to get detailed information about the task and review the object properties that were submitted for approval or changed by the approver who completed the task. Clicking the Examine task button displays a page containing a replica of the task’s header area and the following information sections:
- Object properties
The contents of this section heavily depends upon configuration of the approval rule. Thus the approval rule may request the approver to enter additional information that must be added to the operation request. For example, when you approve the operation of creating a user account, you may have to supply certain properties of the user account in addition to those supplied by the administrator who requested creation of that user account. The values of the properties supplied by the approver are displayed in the fields under Supply or change the following properties.
Normally, the approval rule is configured so that the approver is allowed to review the values of the object properties that were supplied or changed by the operation that is subject to approval. The approval rule may also be configured to allow the approver to change those property values. In either case, you can view them in the fields under Review the properties submitted for approval.
- Approvers
This section displays a list of the user accounts or groups to which the approval task was assigned.
- Approval progress
This section provides information on the date and time that the task was created, and whether the task was escalated to a higher approver level or reassigned (delegated) to other persons. If the task was escalated, you can view when escalation occurred and what caused escalation. If the task was reassigned (delegated), you can view who and when delegated the task and to whom the task was delegated.
The Task completed sub-section indicates the date and time that the task was completed, identifies the approver who completed the task and the approver action that was applied to complete the task, and lists the values of the object properties that were supplied or changed by the approver.
- Details
In this section you can view aggregated information about the approval task properties and configuration, and some details of the operation that was allowed or denied by the completed task. The Operation ID filed provides a link to a page where you can examine the operation in more detail.
Using “My Operations”
In the My Operations area, the Recent view lists your operation requests that are waiting for approval from other individuals, as well as those allowed (approved) or denied (rejected) by the approver. You can use this view to monitor the status of your requests. You also have the option to cancel any of your requests that are not yet approved or rejected.
Each operation listed in the Recent view is identified by a header area that provides basic information about the operation such as a unique ID number of the operation, when and by whom the operation was requested, and the target object of the operation. A section in the middle of the operation header contains a summary of the operation, operation status and an operation reason that was supplied when the operation was submitted for approval.
The operation summary identifies the operation type (such as Create user or Change user) and may provide information about the changes to the object properties that result from the operation. From the operation status you can tell whether the operation is waiting for approval (pending), allowed (completed), denied (rejected) or canceled. If a given operation is waiting for approval, you can remove the operation request by clicking the Cancel operation button.
The operation header contains the View operation details button allowing you to get detailed information about the operation and review the object properties that were submitted for approval or changed by the approver who allowed the operation. Clicking the Examine task button displays a page that contains a replica of the operation header and the following information sections under the operation header:
- Properties changed during this operation
This section lists the object property values that were changed as a result of the operation, new values assigned to the properties, and identifies who made the changes.
- Workflow activities and policy actions
This section provides detailed information about all policies and workflows that Active Roles performed when processing the operation request, including information about the approval tasks created as a result of approval workflow activities. For each approval task, you can view the status of the task along with aggregated information about the properties and configuration of the task.
From the task status you can tell whether the task is waiting for completion (pending), completed to allow the operation or rejected to deny the operation. From the additional information about a task, you can identify, for instance, the approvers to whom the task is assigned, the due date of the task, the approver who allowed or denied the operation and what changes, if any, the approver made to the original operation request.
- Operation details
This section contains additional information about the operation, including when and by whom the operation was requested, the target object of the operation, the current status of the operation, and the date and time that the record of the operation was last updated.
Customizing the Web Interface
