Approval Framework

The Approval Framework is the engine that provides the framework and capabilities for creating, running, and managing approval processes. The engine uses a series of database objects combined with application component configuration settings to determine how to process approvals using workflow.

Approval workflows are triggered when requesters submit a transaction, such as a promotion. The application hands the transaction over to the Approval Framework, which finds the appropriate approval process definition and launches the approval workflow. A set of approvers then carry out tasks related to the transaction.

The Approval Framework enables three levels of users to develop, configure, and use transaction approvals that meet their organizational requirements. For example, the process of submitting a promotion and getting it approved requires defining who will approve the promotion, the order in which they will approve it, and how it will be routed to approvers.

In contrast to the standard PeopleSoft workflow, which requires advanced technical skills in PeopleSoft PeopleTools to create and maintain, approval workflow provides an alternative workflow that is much easier to create, configure, and maintain. For example, all of the steps in approval workflow are defined using PeopleSoft pages rather than underlying PeopleSoft PeopleCode, so functional users can design and maintain workflow using these online PeopleSoft pages instead of requiring technical developers to create workflow rules.