Workflow and SAPforms

[Aydin, Kemal (Kemal)** CTR **]

Jim,
 
I believe a quick solution that does not require "form" disribution would be WebForms ( which requires ITS installation ). Here is a link:
 
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_46c/helpdata/en/e1/8e51341a06084de10000009b38f83b/frameset.htm
 
You just need the browser on the user end. You can design the form, the fields on your side, and when the user accesses the link they can process the Work Item.
 
Thanks,
Kemal
 
 
 
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Jim Sauceman [SMTP:sauceman at tennessee.edu]
> Sent: Friday, October 11, 2002 3:06 PM
> To:   SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject:      Workflow and SAPforms
>
> Workflow Experts,
>
> Our Payroll Director would like to automate the approval of various Employee
> Master Data Change Forms which now exist in paper form. After some research,
> I found references in our 46B documentation to SAPforms. Within a day or so,
> I implemented the Notification of Absence Demo Workflow from SAPforms using
> both the Visual Basic program (Approve.exe) and the Excel spreadsheet
> (Approve.xls). These forms came with my SAPGUI installation and submit an
> approval Workflow via RFC. It appeared as if I had found a solution for
> automating our forms and their respective approval processes. However, my
> joy was soon squelched by the discovery that the "Form" would have to be
> distributed to every potential requester and approver's PC (NOTE: If it were
> just the requesters, it might work, but the approvers would never stand for
> it). In our case, this is 2,000 users covering 400 miles. There are also
> issues of distributing revised forms, etc. that make this seem like an
> undesirable solution.
>
> My question is what combination of technology (e.g. development platforms
> such as WebStudio, Smartforms, R/3 Business Objects, Standard Tasks,
> Workflow Templates, etc.) would you recommend to accomplish the following
> goals:
>
> 1. A standard form that is pre-populated from R/3 Data (via BAPI's, RFC's or
> whatever) based on the entry of the Employee's Personnel Number and allows
> the requester to overtype existing data and/or add to that which was
> returned from R/3.
>
> 2. A mechanism whereby the completed form is submitted to Workflow for
> routing to the appropriate approvers (no further changes). The routing is no
> problem, it is the Submit button that must be readily available.
>
> 3. The ability for the approver(s) to see the completed form along with
> Approve and Reject Buttons. This could be a simple Decision Task as long as
> I could present the original form in a very nice format.
>
> 4. Ultimately, the ability for Workflow to apply the changes to the
> Employee's various Info types after the approval process is complete.
>
> I would appreciate any suggestions or advice.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Jim Sauceman ...................... sauceman at tennessee.edu
>
> University of Tennessee ................ Voice: (865) 974-2448
>
> OIT Computer System Services ....... Fax: (865) 974-4810
>
> Manager of Campus Database Administration
>
> Project IRIS Workflow Team Leader