CentraSite 10.5 | CentraSite User’s Guide | Policy Management | Built-In Design/Change-Time Actions Reference | Initiate Approval
 
Initiate Approval
Initiates an approval workflow.
When this action is executed, CentraSite initiates the approval process. CentraSite does not process any subsequent actions in the policy or execute the requested operation until the approvals specified by the Initiate Approval action are received.
CAUTION:
When you use this action on the Pre-State Change event, only certain kinds of actions can be executed after this action in an approval policy. Some actions, if they occur after this action, will cause the policy to fail.
Note:
To use the email options provided by this action, CentraSite must have a connection to an SMTP email server.
If You Migrate this Action from a Pre-8.2 Release
If you have a policy that contains this action and the policy was created prior to version 8.2, that policy continues to exhibit the old email-notification behavior (that is, it continues to send the earlier version's standard email message to approvers). If you want to use the email-notification enhancements that were introduced in version 8.2, simply edit the policy and enable the email parameters in the Initiate Approval action.
Event Scope
Pre-State Change
OnTrigger
OnConsumerRegistration
Object Scope
This action can be enforced on any object type that the policy engine supports.
Input Parameters
User
(String). The user name that is used together with the Password parameter as authentication credentials for performing a lifecycle model state change on a service asset. The credentials are stored in the approval request and passed to the web service for completing the approval. The user specified must have the permissions required to perform the state change.
This parameter is only visible to users with the CentraSite Administrator role.
Password
(String). The password that is used together with the User parameter as authentication credentials.
This parameter is only visible to users with the CentraSite Administrator role.
Approval Flow Name
(String). The name to be given to the approval workflow that this action initiates. This name serves to identify the workflow in the Approval History log and in the approver's inbox.
An approval flow name can contain any combination of characters, including a space.
You can also include substitution tokens in the name to incorporate data from the target object on which the policy is acting. For a list of the allowed tokens, see the list of Substitution Tokens shown in the Send Email Notification action.
Approver Group
(String). (Array). The user group (or groups) that identifies the set of users who are authorized to approve the requested operation.
Note:
If the user groups specified in Approver Group are empty at enforcement time, the user's request is auto-approved.
Approval is Needed From
(String). The manner in which the approval is to be processed:
Value
Description
AnyOne
Default. The request can be approved or rejected by any single user in Approver Group. In this mode, only one user from the set of authorized approvers is required to approve or reject the request.
EveryOne
The request must be approved by all users specified in Approver Group. (It does not matter in which order the approvals are issued.) A single rejection will cause the request to be rejected.
Reject State
The lifecycle state that is to be assigned to the object if the approval request is rejected. If this parameter is not specified, the object's lifecycle state does not change when a rejection occurs.
The lifecycle model must define a valid transition from the state that the target object is in at the time it is submitted for approval to the state specified in Reject State. Otherwise, the target object's state does not be switched when a rejection occurs.
Send Pending Approval Email
(Boolean). Specifies whether CentraSite is to send an email message to specified users and groups when the request is initially submitted for approval. If you enable this option, you must set the following parameters to specify the text of the message and to whom it is to be sent.
Note: 
*If the request is auto-approved, this message is not sent.
*CentraSite automatically sends the email message to the approvers in addition to the users and groups that you specify below.
Users
(Array of Users). Users who are to receive the email.
Note:
You can specify the recipients of the email using the Users parameter, the Groups parameter, or both.
Groups
(Array of Groups). Groups whose users are to receive the email.
Note:CentraSite will only send the email to those users in the group whose CentraSite user account includes an email address.
Subject
(String). The text that you want to appear in the subject line of the email. This text can include substitution tokens to insert run-time data into the subject line. For available tokens, see the list of Substitution Tokens shown in the Send Email Notification action.
Use Email Template
(Email Template). Specifies the template that is to be used to generate the body of the email message.
Note: 
*You can use the predefined template, PendingNotification.html, for pending-approval notifications if you do not want to create an email template of your own.
*If you use an email template to generate the body of the message, you cannot specify the body of the message using the Custom Message parameter. (In other words, you specify the body of the message using either the Use Email Template or the Custom Message parameter.)
Custom Message
(TextArea). The text of the email message. This text can include subs Send Email Notificationtitution tokens to insert run-time data into the message. For available tokens, see the list of Substitution Tokens shown in the action.
Note:
If you use the Custom Message parameter to specify the body of the email message, you cannot generate the body of the message using an email template. (In other words, you specify the body of the message using either the Custom Message or the Use Email Template parameter.)
Format
(String). Specifies whether the message in the Custom Message parameter is formatted as HTML or plain text. For more information about using this option, see the CentraSite User’s Guide.
Include owner in notification
(Boolean). When the parameter is enabled, CentraSite sends the email to the owner of the object (on which the policy is acting) in addition to the other recipients.
Send Approval Email
Boolean. Specifies whether CentraSite is to send an email message to specified users and groups when the request is approved. If you enable this option, you must set the following parameters to specify the text of the message and to whom it is to be sent.
Note: 
*CentraSite automatically sends the email message to the user who submitted the approval request in addition to the users and groups that you specify below.
*When the EveryOne option is specified in the Approval is Needed From parameter, CentraSite sends this email only after all approvers have approved the request.
Users
See description of Users parameter.
Groups
See description of Groups parameter.
Subject
See description of Subject parameter.
Use Email Template
See description of Use Email Template parameter.
Note:
You can use the predefined template, ApprovalNotification.html, for approval notifications if you do not want to create an email template of your own.
Custom Message
See description of Custom Message parameter.
Format
See description of Format parameter.
Include owner in notification
See description of Include owner in notification parameter.
Send Rejection Email
Boolean. Specifies whether CentraSite is to send an email message to specified users and groups when the request is rejected. If you enable this option, you must set the following parameters to specify the text of the message and to whom it is to be sent.
Note:CentraSite automatically sends the email message to the approvers (except for the approver who rejected the request) and to the user who submitted the approval request in addition to the users and groups that you specify below.
Users
See description of Users parameter.
Groups
See description of Groups parameter.
Subject
See description of Subject parameter.
Use Email Template
See description of Use Email Template parameter.
Note:
You can use the predefined template, RejectApprovalNotification.html, for rejection notifications if you do not want to create an email template of your own.
Custom Message
See description of Custom Message parameter.
Format
See description of Format parameter.
Include owner in notification
See description of Include owner in notification parameter.