Overview of Configurable Workflow Notifications in Project Management

As part of workflow tasks, the application automatically sends notifications. For example, when a project manager assigns a task to a resource, the application sends a notification to the resource.

For some workflow tasks, you can use Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) Publisher to tailor the content, layout, and style of the notifications. These report-based notifications aren't only configurable, but also optimized for viewing on mobile devices.

Tip: In some workflows, the notifications aren't sent to the user performing the action. For example, Change Order Status Change Notification is sent to previous owner, new owner, and creator when the ownership changes. If the creator changes the ownership, the notification isn't sent to the creator because notifications aren't sent to the user performing the action. In most other workflows, you can configure who can receive the notifications.

In addition to getting notifications in email, users can also view in-app notifications by:

• Clicking the Notifications icon in the global header and opening a notification

• Going to the Worklist: Notifications and Approvals work area and opening a notification

• Clicking the In-App Notification link at the end of an email notification

Here's a table that shows the products that have configurable notifications, along with their associated report name, description, recipients and when it's sent. To navigate to the reports, open Reports and Analytics work area > Browse Catalog > Shared Folders > Projects > Workflow Notifications. Keep in mind that each report caters to multiple cases.

Product	Report Name	Description	When It's Sent	Default Recipients
Project Management	Milestone Completion Approval Notification	Approval notification that's sent to the approval participants when a billable milestone is set to the Completion approval requested status.	Milestone status is set to Completion approval requested	Primary Project Manager
Project Management	Change Order Status Change Notification	Information notification that's sent when a change order is assigned, closed, or canceled.	Ownership changes	Previous owner New owner Creator
Project Management	Change Order Status Change Notification	Information notification that's sent when a change order is assigned, closed, or canceled.	Owner closes or cancels change order	Participants Creator
Project Management	Change Order Participant Notifications	Information notification that's sent when participants are assigned or removed from a change order.	Change order is submitted for impact assessment	Change Order Assessors
Project Management	Change Order Participant Notifications	Information notification that's sent when participants are assigned or removed from a change order.	Change order is submitted for review	Change Order Reviewers
Project Management	Change Order Approval Request Notifications	Approval notification that's sent to the approval participants when a change order is moved to the approval stage.	Change order is submitted for approval	Change Order Approvers
Project Management	Change Order Participant Notifications	Information notification that's sent when participants are assigned or removed from a change order.	Change order is submitted for implementation	Change Order Implementors
Project Management	Change Order Stage Completion Notifications	Information notification that's sent when a participant completes a stage, approves a change order, or rejects a change order.	Assessor completes the impact assessment stage Reviewer completes the review stage Approver approves or rejects the change order Implementor completes the implementation stage	Owner
Project Management	Issue Notifications	Information notification that's sent when an issue is assigned, closed, or reopened.	Ownership changes	Previous owner New owner Creator
Project Management	Issue Notifications	Information notification that's sent when an issue is assigned, closed, or reopened.	An issue is closed or reopened	Creator Owner
Project Management	Deliverable Notifications	Information notification that's sent when a deliverable is assigned, or completed.	Owner is changed	Previous owner New owner Creator
Project Management	Deliverable Notifications	Information notification that's sent when a deliverable is assigned, or completed.	Deliverable is completed	Owner Creator
Project Management	Gate Approval Request Notification	Action notification that's sent when an approver is assigned to a gate.	Gate approver is assigned	Gate approver
Project Management	Gate Status Change Notifications	Information notification that's sent when a gate is approved or rejected.	Gate is approved or rejected	Project manager
Task Management	Task Details Notifications	Information notification that's sent when a follower is added, a followed task is completed, or a project task, action item, to-do task, or milestone is assigned.	A follower is assigned to a project task, action item, to-do task, or milestone Project task, action item, to-do task, or milestone is completed	Follower
Task Management	Task Details Notifications	Information notification that's sent when a follower is added, a followed task is completed, or a project task, action item, to-do task, or milestone is assigned.	Project task, action item, to-do task, or milestone is assigned	Assignee
Project Resource Management	Resource Request Notification	Information notification to the resource manager when a project resource request is created.	Project manager creates project resource request for fulfillment.	Resource Manager
Project Resource Management	Proposed Resource Approval Notification	Approval notification to the project manager when the resource manager proposes a resource on a project resource request.	Resource manager proposes a resource to fulfill assignment	Project Manager
Project Resource Management	Proposed or Nominated Resource Notifications	Information notification to the project manager when the resource manager proposes or nominates a resource on a project resource request.	Resource manager proposes or nominates resources	Project Manager
Project Resource Management	Resource Assignment Notifications	Information notification when a project resource assignment is created directly, or when a proposed or nominated resource is approved on a request.	Resource manager proposes and approves resources on a request Resource manager creates direct resource assignment Resource manager approves the nominated resource that the project manager requested for assignment Project manager approves the proposed resources on a request .	Project Manager Resource Manager
Project Resource Management	Proposed or Nominated Resource Reject Notification	Information notification when a proposed resource is rejected, or when an assignment request for a nominated resource is rejected.	Project manager rejects the proposed resource Resource manager rejects the nominated resource requested by project manager for assignment	Resource Manager Project Manager
Project Resource Management	Assignment Notifications Notifying Resource	Information notification to the resource when the resource is assigned to a project, or when an existing project resource assignment is rescheduled or canceled.	Resource manager creates a direct resource assignment, proposes and approves a resource, approves a nominated resource that project manager requested for assignment, cancels an assignment, or updates and approves an assignment schedule change Project manager accepts a proposed resource, approves a canceled assignment, approves a change in assignment schedule	Resource
Project Resource Management	Assignment Cancellation Approval Notification	Approval notification to the project manager when the resource manager requests a project resource assignment cancellation.	Resource manager cancels an assignment	Project Manager
Project Resource Management	Assignment Cancellation Notifications	Information notification that informs that a project resource assignment is directly canceled, or a cancellation request is approved.	Resource manager cancels an assignment Project manager approves the request for assignment cancellation	Project Manager Resource Manager
Project Resource Management	Assignment Adjustment Rejection Notifications	Information notification that informs that a project resource assignment schedule change or cancellation request is rejected.	Project manager rejects the request for assignment cancellation or the assignment schedule change	Resource Manager
Project Resource Management	Assignment Schedule Change Approval Notification	Approval notification to the project manager when the resource manager requests a project resource assignment schedule change.	Resource manager updates the assignment schedule	Project Manager
Project Resource Management	Assignment Schedule Change Notification	Information notification when a project resource assignment is adjusted, or the request for adjustment is approved.	Resource manager updates and approves the assignment schedule Project manager approves the assignment schedule change	Project Manager Resource Manager
Project Resource Management	Nominated Resource Approval Notification	Approval notification to the resource manager when the nominated resource is requested for assignment by the project manager.	Project manager requests for assignment on the resources that Resource Manager nominated	Resource Manager
Project Resource Management	Resource Staffing Unavailability Notification	Information notification to the resource pool manager when a resource is no longer available for staffing on project resource assignments.	A resource is no longer available for staffing	Staffing Owner
Project Control	Financial Project Plan Approval Notification	Approval notification that's sent when a budget is submitted for baseline or a forecast is sent for approval.	Project manager submits a budget for baseline or forecast for approval	Project Managers and Project Administrators
Project Billing	Project Contract Invoice Approval Notification	Action notification that's sent when a project contract invoice is submitted for approval.	Project contract invoice is submitted	Contract Administrator
Project Costing	Project Expenditure Batch Approval Notification	Approval notification that's sent when a project expenditure batch is submitted for approval.	Project expenditure batch is submitted for approval.	Approvers configured in the workflow approval rules.
Project Costing	Project Cost Adjustment Approval Notification	Approval notification that's sent when adjustments to project cost transactions are submitted for approval.	Adjustments to a project cost transaction is submitted for approval.	Approvers configured in the workflow approval rules.
Project Foundation	Project Status Change Approval Notification	Approval notification that's sent when a project status is changed to a status that's enabled for approval workflow.	Project status is changed to a status that's enabled for approval workflow.	Project Manager

Note: Project manager is the project resource requester and resource manager is the staffing owner but in some organizations, if the staffing owner is explicitly defined, the notifications are sent to the staffing owner and not the resource manager.

Process Overview

Generating configurable notifications through BI Publisher involves various types of objects in the BI catalog, including data models, subtemplates, style templates, and reports. Reports pull data from data models and generate notifications in an HTML format. The report layout templates use common table and paragraph styles and refer to a central subtemplate that contains reusable notification components.

• Data Sources: Store the attributes and attribute values for business objects and transactions in the application (example of data sources being transaction tables)

• Data Model: Determines which attributes from data sources are available to be included in the notification and how that data is retrieved

• Subtemplate: Provides common components, for example a branding logo and buttons, that can be reused in multiple reports

• Style Template: Provides styles such as the type of lines and fonts to use in tables, or the font type, size, and color to use for headings

• Report: Contains a layout template that determines:

  • Which attributes appear in the notification, from the data model used for the report

  • What the notification looks like, leveraging components from the subtemplate and styles from the style template used for the report

• HTML: Is the output generated from the report

• Email Notification: Has the HTML output embedded in the email body

• In-App Notification: Has the HTML output embedded in the application UI

Each workflow task with configurable notifications has a corresponding predefined report in the BI catalog. For example, the Gate Approval Request Notification contains Gate Approval Request Notification Layout and uses the Gate Notifications data model. The generated output is included in notifications that are sent to users.

Notification Modifications

After you enable configurable workflow notifications, the predefined reports and related objects in the BI catalog work by default. If you need to modify the notifications, you can edit copies of the predefined reports, data models, and subtemplate (but not the style template). You proceed as you would to edit any report, data model, or subtemplate in the catalog:

1. Open the Reports and Analytics work area and then click Browse Catalog. The Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence page appears.

2. Navigate to Shared Folders > Projects > Workflow Notifications. And then, select the product. For example, to configure notifications related to Project Management, click Project Management Control.

3. Click Edit corresponding to the layout that you want to edit. A page containing all the existing layout appears.

4. Click Edit corresponding to the default layout to download a copy.

5. Edit the copied report layout template.

6. Upload the modified template and set it as default.

You should get familiar with BI Publisher in general before modifying configurable notifications.

• Use only the Template Builder For Word add-in to edit the .rtf template in Microsoft Word, not the layout editor or other tools available for creating and editing report layout.

• Edit a copy of predefined layout templates, rather than create new reports or layout templates.

Security

To modify reports and data models for workflow notifications, you must have the BI administrator role.

Setup

To use configurable notifications for Project Management, you must opt-in to the Configure Project and Task Management Notifications feature to configure notifications.

You must download and install the Template Builder for Word add-in:

1. Open the Reports and Analytics work area.

2. Click the Browse Catalog button.

3. Click Home.

4. In the Get Started pane, click Download BI Desktop Tools and then click Template Builder For Word.

5. Save and run the installer.