Using Siebel Approval Manager

After administrators configure the Siebel Approval Manager (SAM) application, SAM users and developers can use the SAM application to create and approve the approval requests.

This chapter describes how to perform the tasks used by SAM users, developers, and approvers. This chapter includes the following topics:

Note: If you are authorized as a SAM administrator, you can also select the Administration option from the Main Menu button to perform SAM administrative tasks. For more information, see Configuring Siebel Approval Manager.

Overview of the Creating Approval Request Process

After you log into the SAM application, the SAM Home page appears listing all requests that you created, all requests that are pending your approval, or all requests across the system.

There is a list of approval profiles and the Create button that you can use to create new approval requests.
After you click the button used to create the approval request, the Create New Approval Request page appears, enabling you to enter the unique identifier from your issue tracking system, such as Bugzilla bug number, Jira ID, and so on.
After you enter an ID and tab out of that ID field, the fields are populated using the information from your issue tracking system (such as the Bugzilla, Jira, and so on) as defined in the profile configuration.
If a field has been configured for validation, it is displayed with a checkmark (in green) if its value is valid or it is displayed with an alert symbol (in red) if its value is not valid.
Other than the fields from the issue tracking systems, the Create New Approval Request page displays some additional internally generated fields (such as Approval ID, Approval Status, Last Approver) along with optional Comments and Approval Manager Override fields.
You can specify one or more software configuration locations (ClearCase branch, Workspace name, and so on) that contain the changes to be approved.
When you click one of the available action buttons to create a request, the approval request is saved and an email notification can optionally be sent to the assigned approvers.

Explanation of fields in the Home page

Main Menu button.
This button appears next to the Home title. Clicking this button displays these options: Home, Administration, and About.
You use the Administration option to configure and manage the SAM application.

Create New Approval Request drop-down list.
This section enables you to select a profile from a list of all available profiles used to create new approval requests.
The Profile values on the drop-down list are defined by the SAM administrator. For more information, see Managing the Approval Profiles and Creating New Approval Profiles.
List of Approval Requests.
This section displays a list of existing approval requests. You can filter the approval request list by selecting one option from the Approval Request drop-down list.
The available options are My Approval Requests (requests that you created), Pending My Approval, and All Requests.
Search text box and button.
Enter an issue tracking ID in the search text box and click the Search button (or click the Enter key on your keyboard) to view the approval request for the corresponding issue tracking record, such as Bugzilla bug number.
User icon.
Click this icon to access the User Settings page or Log Out of the SAM application.

Changing the Password in Siebel Approval Manager

You can use the Change Password page to change the password of your user ID in the SAM application.

To change the password in Siebel Approval Manager

From the SAM Home page, click the User icon.
A dialog box appears displaying the user ID, Settings button, and Log Out button.
Click the Settings button.
The Settings page appears.
Enter a new password and reenter it to confirm the change.
Click the Save button.

Creating and Submitting Approval Requests

You can use the Create Approval Request page to create and submit approval requests. The following table describes the fields in the Create Approval Request page.

Table Create Approval Request

Field/Column	Description
Back button	Click this button to return to the Home page.
Configured buttons	Click the appropriate button to follow the next step in your organization’s configured approval workflow.
Issue ID text box and Refresh button (two curved arrows)	Enter an issue ID into the Issue ID text box and click the Refresh button (or tab out of the text box) to enable the SAM application to populate the issue’s detailed information from the issue tracking system into the SAM system. If the data from the issue tracking system has changed since the first time it was initially populated or the data needs to be refreshed, clicking this button refreshes the information on the page. For example, when a populated field fails validation and you use the drilldown button to access the issue tracking system to fix the issue, when you came back to the SAM system, you should click this Refresh button to reload the data and remove the validation error.
Drilldown to the issue tracking system (down arrow).	Click this button to open the issue in its own tracking system where you can view the issue’s detailed information.
Tracking System fields (view-only)	The values in these fields are transferred over from the issue tracking system.
SAM internal fields (view-only)	The values in these fields are specific to the SAM system. These values are not transferred from the issue tracking system.
Comments field	Use this field to add any additional comments that might help the approver or next owner. This field is configurable (may or may not be on the page) and optional. These comments will be available in the Approval History section of the page.
Override Manager field	Use this field to specify a different approver other than the current user’s manager (as defined in the Administration \ Users page). This field is configurable (may or may not be on the page) and optional. Note that the value in this field only overrides the approver where the approver is set to Approving Manager (as opposed to a different role).
SCM Details section	Use this section to add the SCM entries to identify the SCM location(s) of the changes that are involved in the approval request.
Approval History section	This section displays the approval history of the request, including the date and time of each approval, the user who approved the request, and so on.

Note: The Back button along with any configured action buttons are available when the status of the approval request is New.

To create an approval request

From the SAM Home page, select a profile from the Create New Approval Request drop-down list.
Click the Create button.
The Create Approval Request page appears. The Back button is displayed along with other action buttons that are configured for new requests.
Enter an existing unique identifier from your issue tracking system and click the Enter key on your keyboard.
The field values are populated using the information from the tracking system (the review sources such as the Bugzilla, Jira, and so on). For example, if you enter a Bugzilla bug ID from the Bugzilla system, all detailed information of that bug is displayed in the Create Approval Request page.

Note: If a field has been configured for validation, it is displayed with a checkmark (in green) if its value is valid or it is displayed with an alert symbol (in red) if its value is not valid.
Correct any validation errors in the tracking system and click the Refresh button to repopulate the data.
Optionally, enter a name of an approver to send the approval request directly to that approver instead of the current user’s manager (as defined in the Administration\Users page) if the approving manager is specified as an approver for the current profile.
Use the SCM Details section to add the source code locations for the changes that are involved in the approval request.

Note: This step is optional or required depending on how the approval profile is configured. If an action (for example, Submit) is configured with the Validate SCM option selected, then that action button is disabled when there is not at least one validated SCM entry in an approval request. If another action (for example, Save Draft) is configured with the Validate SCM option cleared, then this is an optional step.
1. Click the Add button on the SCM Details section.
2. Select an appropriate SCM system from the SCM Profile drop-down list.
3. Enter the source value (such as ClearCase private branch or Workspace name) and click the Validate button.
  The Validation dialog box appears.
4. Click the OK button on the Validation dialog box to validate the source value and return to the Create Approval Request page.
  The Validation Results column displays a link that you can click to access and view the validation results.
5. Optionally, repeat steps a to d to add another SCM entry.
  
  Note: You can add multiple SCM entries if needed.
Click one of the available action buttons.
The request is sent to the next reviewer(s) in the approval workflow. Email notifications are also sent to these reviewer(s) if email notification is configured in the SAM application.
Return to the SAM Home page to view the approval status of the submitted request.
The status is changed to the next status in the approval workflow.

Reviewing Requests

You can use the SAM Home page to view and approve the requests that are submitted to you for approvals.

To review a request through the Approval Request Details page

From the SAM Home page, select the Pending My Approval option from the Approval Requests drop-down list.
The Approval Requests section is filtered and it displays only requests that have an approval action pending by the current user.
Click the approval ID link of the request that you want to review.
The Approval Request Details page appears displaying the action buttons, including the Cancel button and others that are configured for this profile’s workflow.
Review the request.
Click an appropriate action button based on your review (for example, Approve button or Reject button).
If email notification is configured, then the SAM application sends an email to the next reviewer in the approval workflow as well as the request owner and/or manager.
The status of the request is also changed to the next status in the approval workflow.

To review a request through email

Open the Submitted for Approval email that was sent from Siebel Approval Manager.
When you receive the Submitted for Approval email as an approver, all action buttons that are on the Approval Request Details page are also on the email.
Review the email and click an appropriate action button on the email to send the subsequent email.
The SAM application is updated accordingly as if you reviewed the request using the Approval Request Details page.