List Builders

A list builder is the method to use for routing a workflow task, for example, by going up the supervisory hierarchy or sending to an approval group.

When the conditions in a rule are met, the task is assigned based on the action in the Then section of the rule. To define an action, you select a list builder and then provide settings for that list builder to determine whom to assign the task to.

Here are the available list builders:

  • Approval Group

  • Job Level

  • Position

  • Resource

  • Supervisory

Let's take a closer look at some of the more widely used list builders.

Approval Group

An approval group is a specific set of users that can act on a task. Depending on the participant type, tasks are routed to an approval group in serial or parallel.

  • Parallel: Someone in the approval group can claim the task and act on it. When the task is claimed, no one else in the group can act on it. But if the person who claimed the task releases it, then someone else from the group can claim it.

  • Serial: The task is routed to each member of the approval group in sequence, so everyone must act on it.

After you select Approval Group as the list builder, you select the approval group to assign the task to when the rule's conditions are met. If you select True for the Allow empty groups list, there won't be any errors if the group you select doesn't have any members when the rule is evaluated. In most cases, the task is then rejected or routed back to the previous assignee, with the same status that the task was in when it was first routed to that assignee.

Job Level

This routing is based on the supervisor hierarchy in Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM. Employees must be set up in HCM with job levels and supervisors. The approval chain goes up the hierarchy and includes assignees based on what you define. For the number of levels, enter a positive number in the At most or At least fields, or both. And select a value from the relative to list.

Number of levels settings for the job level list builder
  • At least: Let's call the corresponding job level X1.

    • Users in the hierarchy are included in the list of assignees if their job level is less than X1. As soon as we get to a user whose job level is the same as or more than X1, the list of assignees includes that user but goes no further.

    • The at least condition takes precedence, so after it's met first, then the at most condition is applied from where the at least condition left off.

  • At most: Let's call the corresponding job level X2.

    • We start with the last assignee from the at least condition. If their manager's job level is less than or the same as X2, then their manager is added to the assignees list and becomes the last assignee. The manager of this new last assignee is then evaluated the same way, and so on up the hierarchy.

    • When we reach a job level that's more than X2, the list of assignees ends, and that user isn't included.

The job levels that X1 and X2 represent depend on what you select from the relative to list. Here are examples of what X1 and X2 would be if you enter 3 in the At most and At least fields.

Relative To

What That Means

What X1 and X2 Would Be

Absolute

The first job level, job level 1

Job level 3

Creator

The user who did something to create a workflow task

Job level 5, if the user at job level 2 created the task

Starting Point

What you define in the Starting Participant field

Job level 6, if the starting participant corresponds to the user at job level 3

Also, there are a couple of optional settings you can use for the job level list builder:

  • Utilized Participants: Include the entire assignee list or just a part of it.

    • All approvers: Everyone in the list.

    • Final approver only: Just the very last assignee in the list.

    • Manager and final approver: The first assignee in the list and the very last assignee.

  • Include all managers at last level: Include all users with a job level that's the same as the last level needed for approval.

Let's take a look at some examples of what the assignee list would be from this reporting hierarchy:

  • Clerk (job level 1)

  • Manager (job level 2)

  • Director (job level 3)

  • Vice president (job level 5)

  • Senior vice president (job level 6)

  • Chief executive officer (job level 6)

For all the examples, the clerk at job level 1 created the task, and the rule has these settings:

  • Relative to: Absolute

  • Starting Participant: Manager at job level 2

  • Top Participant: Job level 6

  • Utilized Participants: All approvers

At Least (X1)

At Most (X2)

Include All Managers at Last Level

Assignees

3

3

No

The assignees are the manager (job level 2) and director (job level 3).

  • Starting participant: Manager at job level 2 is included no matter what.

  • At least condition: Director at job level 3, the last and only assignee for this condition because he has the first job level that's the same as or more than X1.

  • At most condition: No match because the director's manager, the vice president, has a job level (5) that's more than X2.

2

5

No

The assignees are the manager (job level 2), director (job level 3), and vice president (job level 5).

  • Starting participant: Manager at job level 2 is included no matter what.

  • At least condition: Director at job level 3, the last and only assignee for this condition because he has the first job level that's the same as or more than X1.

  • At most condition: Vice president at level 5, because she is the director's manager and has a job level that's the same as X2. But, her own manager isn't included because the senior vice president's job level (6) is more than X2.

4

6

No

The assignees are the manager (job level 2), director (job level 3), vice president (job level 5), and senior vice president (job level 6).

  • Starting participant: Manager at job level 2 is included no matter what.

  • At least condition: Director, whose job level (3) is less than X1, and the vice president, who is the last assignee for this condition because her job level (5) is the first that's the same as or more than X1.

  • At most condition: Senior vice president at level 6, because he is the vice president's manager and has a job level that is the same as X2.

4

6

Yes

The assignees are the manager (job level 2), director (job level 3), vice president (job level 5), senior vice president (job level 6), and chief executive officer (job level 6).

This example is the same as the previous one, except that the Include all managers at last level check box is selected. So in this case, the CEO is also an assignee because she has the same job level as the senior VP, who is the last assignee based on what's defined for the rule.

1

1

No

The only assignee is the manager (job level 2).

  • Starting participant: Manager at job level 2 is included no matter what.

  • At least condition: The manager is already the first assignee with a job level that's the same as or more than X1, so the condition is already met.

  • At most condition: No match because the manager's manager, the director, has a job level (3) that's more than X2.

Position

Create approval rules based on the position hierarchy in Oracle Human Capital Management Cloud. The approval process will ascend the position hierarchy, starting at the position specified in the approval rule and continues until a position with a sufficient job level is found, based on other conditions in the rule.

For the number of levels, enter a positive number in the At most or At least fields, or both. And select a value from the relative to list.

  • Number of levels defines the number of levels the approval request should proceed to. It has two values, – x1 (at least) and x2 (at most). It can be relative to Starting Point, Creator, or Absolute.
    • Starting Point: Here the values x1 and x2 will be relative to the Starting Participant defined in the Rule. Again, x1 & x2 will be relative to Job Level of this user.
    • Creator: Here the values x1 and x2 will be relative to the creator. If the creator is Job Level 3 (JL3) then x1 and x2 will refer JL4 as the Job Level for x1=1 and x2=1.
    • Absolute: Here the values x1 and x2 (at least and at most) will be absolute values starting from the 1st Job Level.
  • Starting Participant is the first participant in a list, usually a manager. This isn't affected by any other condition like at-least, at-most, or Top Participant. Substitution can happen after all the rules are executed.

  • Top Participant is the last participant in the approval. If this participant is assigned in the approval flow and not skipped, then the request doesn't go beyond this participant.

  • Utilized Participant: From the calculated list of participants, only participants specified in this option are used. Choose Everyone, First and Last manager, or Last manager.
  • Auto Action Enabled: Specifies if the list builder automatically acts on task based on the next option.
  • Auto Action: Specifies the outcome to be set, and can be null if auto action is not enabled.
  • nclude all Managers at last level: If the job level equals that of the previously calculated last participant in the list then the next manager in the list is included.

Field

Example of a Value

What This Means

Number of Levels

3 and 2

Three approvals are needed

Starting Participant

HierarchyBuilder.getPrincipal(Task.Workflow Submitter,-1,"","")

The first participant in a list, usually a manager.This is not affected by any other condition like at-least, at-most, Top Participant(Except in case of Substitution. Substitution happens after all the rules are executed).

Top Participant

HierarchyBuilder.getPrincipal("KLEE",-1,"","")

The person with the user ID KLEE, in this case, the vice president

Let's take a look at an example of what the assignee list would be from this position hierarchy:

User with job level JL1 reports to JL2 and so on to level JL6. The task creator has JL1, and the Starting Participant is set as HierarchyBuilder.getManager("supervisory","Task.creater",-1,"",""), or JL2.

At least (relative to)

At most (relative to)

At most (relative to)

Utilize Participants

Approval Chain

3 (Absolute)

All Approvers

All Approvers
  • Starting participant: JL2
  • At least = JL3
  • At most = JL3

JL2 to JL3.

3 (Absolute)

5

All Approvers

No

3 (Absolute)

6

Final Approver Only

No

The assignees are the manager (job level 2), director (job level 3), vice president (job level 5), and senior vice president (job level 6).

  • Starting participant: Manager at job level 2 is included no matter what.

  • At least condition: Director, whose job level (3) is less than X1, and the vice president, who is the last assignee for this condition because her job level (5) is the first that's the same as or more than X1.

  • At most condition: Senior vice president at level 6, because he is the vice president's manager and has a job level that is the same as X2.

3 (Absolute)

6

Manager and Final Approver

Yes

The assignees are the manager (job level 2), director (job level 3), vice president (job level 5), senior vice president (job level 6), and chief executive officer (job level 6).

This example is the same as the previous one, except that the Include all managers at last level check box is selected. So in this case, the CEO is also an assignee because she has the same job level as the senior VP, who is the last assignee based on what's defined for the rule.

1 (Absolute)

1

All Approvers

No

The only assignee is the manager (job level 2).

  • Starting participant: Manager at job level 2 is included no matter what.

  • At least condition: The manager is already the first assignee with a job level that's the same as or more than X1, so the condition is already met.

  • At most condition: No match because the manager's manager, the director, has a job level (3) that's more than X2.

Resource

You can assign the task to a specific user or application role. (Even though LDAP group is also a possibility, it's recommended that you don't use them.) Select the assignee in the Users or Application Role field, and leave the other fields for participants with null.

Supervisory

This routing is based on the supervisory hierarchy in Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM. Employees must be set up in HCM with jobs and supervisors. For example, the clerk reports to the manager, who reports to the director, who reports to the vice president. The list of assignees begins with the starting participant in the rule, then goes up the supervisory hierarchy. The list ends when it has gone through the specified number of levels or reached the top participant, whichever comes first.

Here's an example of an action in the Then section of the rule, based on the supervisory list builder.

Field

Example of a Value

What This Means

Number of Levels

3

Three approvals are needed

Starting Participant

HierarchyBuilder.getPrincipal(Task.Workflow Submitter,-1,"","")

The user who created the task

Top Participant

HierarchyBuilder.getPrincipal("KLEE",-1,"","")

The person with the user ID KLEE, in this case, the vice president

So with the reporting structure from the clerk to the vice president, say the clerk submits a transaction that creates a workflow task. The starting participant is the clerk, so the task would go first to the clerk, the manager, and then the director. Because only three levels of approvals are needed, the task is completely approved without going up to the vice president, who would be the final assignee no matter how many levels are needed.