MDG BRF+ Decision Tables. Abdullah Azzouni, Principal Consultant December, 2013

MDG BRF+ Decision Tables
Abdullah Azzouni, Principal Consultant

December, 2013
Agenda
Introduction
MDG Customization Tables
Process to be Modeled
How to Model for MDG BRF+ Decision Tables
Process Re-modeled
Model to Next-Step Decision Table
Model to Dialog-Step-Agent Decision Table
Model to Background-Step Decision Table
References
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 2

Introduction
Introduction
• BRF+ is a generic tool; not specific to MDG.
• MDG utilizes BRF+ in many ways; one of which is to determine the

workflow process and handling agents.
• Workflow template WS60800086 was built specifically for MDG to use the
BRF+ application in order to dynamically control MDG processes. This
workflow template is not to be changed using conventional workflow
development tools.
• From the view point of MDG, this workflow template is a black box. The
BRF+ application is the window through which MDG controls the behavior
of the process.
• Each MDG change request type has its own BRF+ application built
automatically by the corresponding MDG IMG node to have the same
application structures.

Introduction – Cont.
• The key elements in each applications are three decision tables: a table to
determine the next step, a table to determine dialog step agents, and a
table to determine background step type.
• These tables work with some MDG customization tables.

• Next Step Decision Table

14 columns*
• Input Columns • Result Columns
• Previous Step • Condition Alias
• Previous Action • New Step
• Change Request Priority • New Change Request Status
• Change Request Reason • Hours to Completion
• Change Request Rejection Reason • Merge Type
• Change Request Parent Step • Merge Parameter
• Change Request Parent Step Agent Group • Dynamic Agent Selection Service
* For simplicity reasons, only columns in bold are considered in this how-to guide
MDG BRF+ Decision Tables – Cont.
• Dialog Step Agent Decision Table

5 columns*
• Condition Alias • Agent Group
• Step Type
• Agent Type
• Agent Value
• Background Step Type Decision Table

4 columns*
• Condition Alias • Agent Group
• Processing Pattern
• Service Name
How do these tables work?

• First, find out what my next step is.
- Prev. Step
- Prev. Action
Next-Step
Workflow
Decision
Table
- Condition Alias
- New Step
- New Status

How do these tables work?

• Second, where is the condition alias defined?
Cond. Alias Agent - Step Type

Table - Agent (Type & ID)
Cond. Alias
Workflow in agent or
background
table?
Back-
Cond. Alias
ground - Processing Pattern
Table

• Status of Change Request V_USMD130C

Master Data Governance General Settings Process Modeling Change Requests Edit Statuses of Change Requests

• Priorities of Change Request V_USMD210C

Master Data Governance General Settings Process Modeling Change Requests Define Priorities for Change Requests

• Reasons of Change Request V_USMD211C

Master Data Governance General Settings Process Modeling Change Requests Define Reasons for Change Requests

• Rejection Reasons of Change Request V_USMD212C

Master Data Governance General Settings Process Modeling Change Requests Define Rejection Reasons for Change
Requests

• Actions for Change Request UIs V_USMD220C

Master Data Governance General Settings Process Modeling Change Requests Define Actions for Change Request UIs

• Step Types and Assigned Actions V_USMD230C & V_USMD2301

Master Data Governance General Settings Process Modeling Change Requests Define Step Types and Assign Actions

• Change Request Steps for Rule-Based Workflow V_USMD202C_SSW

Master Data Governance General Settings Process Modeling Change Requests Define Steps for Rule-Based Workflow

Start
Requester
Reviewer
Approver
End

Things to note:
- Decision tables model the workflow behavior. The requester step triggers
the start of the workflow. So, technically, the requester step is outside the
workflow.
- All output options of each step must be modeled completely.
- Status of each step must be modeled.
- Background steps such as activation and verification need to be modeled.

Each step in the diagram needs to contain the following:
<Step Number>
<Status> <Action>
<Condition Alias>
<Step/Process Type>
<Action>

Process Re-modeled
Process Re-modeled
07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
Background Step RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
Dialog Step
REV: Review RES: Resubmit

APP: Approve RLB: Rollback
ACT: Activate COM: Complete
07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
Prev. Step Prev. Action Cond. Alias New Status New Step
00 … REV 02 10

Model to Next-Step Decision Table – Cont.
07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
10 05 APP 01 20

07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
10 06 RES 03 40

07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
20 03 ACT 05 30

07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
20 04 RES 03 40

07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
40 07 REV 02 10

07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
40 08 RLB 06 50

07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
30 31 COM 05 60

07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
30 <> 31 REV 07 10

07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
50 … COM 06 60

Table after completing all steps and branches

00 … REV 02 10
10 05 APP 01 20
10 06 RES 03 40
20 03 ACT 05 30
20 04 RES 03 40
40 07 REV 02 10
40 08 RLB 06 50
30 31 COM 05 60
30 <> 31 REV 07 10
50 … COM 06 60

07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
Cond. Alias Group Step Type Agent Type Agent

REV 1 3 US <user name>

Model to Dialog-Step-Agent Decision Table – Cont.
Table after completing all steps

Cond. Alias Group Step Type Agent Type Agent
REV 1 3 US <user name>
APP 1 2 AG <security role>
RES 1 4 SU INIT
Possible Agent Types

• US: User (User Master)
• O: Organizational Unit (Org. Structure)
• C: Job (Org. Structure)
• S: Position (Org. Structure)
• AG: Role (Security Role)
• SU: Special User (INIT: Initiator, LAST: Previous Agent)

07 <> 31
10 20 30
00 02 01 05
REV APP ACT
Request 05 03
02 3 2 05
06 04 31
03 03 05
40 06 50 60
06
RES RLB COM
07 08 *
4 08 99
Cond. Alias Group Processing Pattern

ACT 1 05

Model to Dialog-Step-Agent Decision Table – Cont.
Table after completing all steps

Cond. Alias Group Processing Pattern
ACT 1 05
RLB 1 08
COM 1 99
Possible Processing Types

• 01: Dialog (not applicable for this background step table)
• 02: Call synch method
• 03: Call sub-workflow
• 04: Call data replication
• 05: Activate (don’t bypass snap shot)
• 06: Activate (bypass snap shot)
• 07: Validate change request
• 08: Rollback change request
• 98; Error
• 99: Complete
Summary
Summary
• BRF+ is a generic tool; MDG utilizes BRF+ in many ways – Change Request
workflow routing is one of them
• This document shows a simple example; the key point here is how the decision
tables tie back to the different customization tables
• Columns that were ignored can be used in modeling the process; they were just
left out for the simplicity of this example – for example, priority can be used so
that the same action on a CR could result in different paths for high priority than
for low priority

References
References
SCN: http://scn.sap.com/community/mdm/master-data-governance
MDG Extensibility Guide: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-7858
SAP Help: http://help.sap.com/mdg

Thank you
Contact information:
Abdullah Azzouni
Principal Consultant
Palo Alto, CA
a.azzouni@sap.com
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

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MDG BRF+ Decision Tables

Abdullah Azzouni, Principal Consultant

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 2

• BRF+ is a generic tool; not specific to MDG.

• MDG utilizes BRF+ in many ways; one of which is to determine the

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 4

• These tables work with some MDG customization tables.

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 5

• Next Step Decision Table

• Dialog Step Agent Decision Table

• Background Step Type Decision Table

How do these tables work?

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 10

How do these tables work?

Cond. Alias Agent - Step Type

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 11

• Status of Change Request V_USMD130C

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 13

• Priorities of Change Request V_USMD210C

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 14

• Reasons of Change Request V_USMD211C

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 15

• Rejection Reasons of Change Request V_USMD212C

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 16

• Actions for Change Request UIs V_USMD220C

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 17

• Step Types and Assigned Actions V_USMD230C & V_USMD2301

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 18

• Change Request Steps for Rule-Based Workflow V_USMD202C_SSW

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 19

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 21

- All output options of each step must be modeled completely.

- Status of each step must be modeled.

- Background steps such as activation and verification need to be modeled.

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 22

Each step in the diagram needs to contain the following:

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 24

REV: Review RES: Resubmit

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 28

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 29

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 30

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 31

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 32

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 33

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 34

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 35

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 36

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 37

Table after completing all steps and branches

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 38

Cond. Alias Group Step Type Agent Type Agent

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 40

Table after completing all steps

Possible Agent Types

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 41

Cond. Alias Group Processing Pattern

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 43

Table after completing all steps

Possible Processing Types

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 46

MDG Extensibility Guide: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-7858

SAP Help: http://help.sap.com/mdg

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 48