Displaying Multiple Approval Comments
Introduction
Case Introduction
For the collaboration on a workflow by multiple members, one may need to summarize or view the comments of last approvers, and the number of approvers is not fixed. In the case, things may be complex. If you choose to countersign the workflow, the approval comments from the system will be used and some comments may be overwritten. Thus it is not possible to export and view them later. If you resort to parallel workflows, you are not sure about the number of fields and nodes.
In the case, you can summarize approval comments and view the comments of multiple approvers.
Application Scenarios
The case is applicable to the scenario of workflow review by multiple approvers, where the number of approvers are not fixed, and you need to summarize and check the submitted approval comments.
Design Ideas
Create a parent workflow form and a child one, and add a Members field in the former. Then initiate multiple workflows in the child workflow form. After that, in the parent workflow form, tick the records you would like to view via RelatedData.
Preview
If you are the final approver, click the RelatedData field and tick all the records. Then the system will display them all in the subform.
Setting Procedure
Designing Workflow Forms
Design two workflow forms, namely:
- A project request form: a parent workflow
- A project review form: a child workflow
1. Design a project review form.
Field Name | Field Type | Notes |
Project Number | Single Line | The corresponding data in the project request form will be filled in to the fields. |
Project Name | Single Line | |
Project Amount | Number | |
Approver | Member | |
Approval Comment | Single Line | Approvers fill in their own approval comments. |
2. Set the project request form.
In the project request form, you need to set both form fields and subform ones.
- Set the form fields
Field Name | Field Type | Notes |
Project Number | Single Line | Automatically generated through the following formula: CONCATENATE(TEXT(DATE(TODAY()),"yyyyMMdd"), Project Name) |
Project Name | Single Line | The data you need to input when applying for a project. You can customize the field. |
Project Amount | Number | The data you need to input when applying for a project. You can customize the field. |
Approvers | Members | The number of approvers you selected equals that of the pending tasks generated in the child workflow form. |
Approved | Radio | Added at the end of the form. Used for final approval. |
- Set subform fields
Field Name | Field Type | Notes |
Project Number | RelatedData | Used to associate with the data from the child workflow form. |
Name | Member | Used to fill in the members from the child workflow form. |
Approval Comment | Multi Line | Used to fill in the approval comments from the child workflow form. |
2. Set RelatedData.
The followings are the settings in RelatedData:
Setting Item | Description |
Related Form | Project Review – Child Workflow |
Fields Displayed When Selecting | Project Number |
Show Record Title | Do not tick. |
Display Fields in Current Form | Project Number |
Filter Data | Project Number equals Project Number in the current form. |
Data Filling | The data in the child workflow form will be filled into the corresponding subform fields of the parent workflow form. |
Setting the Workflow
After designing the two workflow forms, you need to set two workflows: a parent workflow and a child workflow.
1. Set the parent workflow.
The workflow in the project application form is a parent one. It includes:
- A start node
- A child workflow node
- A task node for summarizing approval comments
- An end node
The followings are the settings in the child workflow:
Setting Item | Description |
Child workflow form | Project Review – Child Workflow |
Child workflow initiator | The members from the Members field — Approvers Note that the number of members you selected equals that of the initiated child workflows. |
Data transfer rules | You only need to set Parent Workflow > Child Workflow. The followings are the fields you need to set. |
2. Set the child workflow.
In the child workflow, you only need to set the workflow initiator as the approver and set field permissions.
Demonstration
1. Initiate a parent workflow.
Initiate a parent workflow that should be reviewed by multiple approvers.
2. Review the workflow via a child workflow.
The approvers you selected will receive tasks and review the workflow.
3. Display all approval comments.
If you are the final approver, you can click the RelatedData field and tick all the records. Then the system will display them all in the subform.
