EAAutomaticGenerateEntityFromEntityActionWithApproval

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Purpose

This is an approval-aware automatic entity generation action that creates related entities from a source entity and ensures the generated entities go through proper approval workflows if they require approval. It extends the automatic generation functionality to handle approval requirements for the newly created entities.

When to Use This Action

  • Generated Entity Approvals: When the created entities themselves need to go through approval workflows
  • Compliance Requirements: When automatically generated documents must follow approval processes
  • Controlled Generation: For automatic processes where generated entities require approval before being active
  • Audit Trail Management: When generated entities need approval history and workflow tracking

How It Works

Entity Generation Phase

  1. Entity Creation: Creates new entities based on source entity's data (same as standard automatic version)
  2. Field Mapping: Copies specified fields from source to target entities
  3. Conditional Processing: Applies filters and conditions to determine what to generate
  4. Batch Processing: Can process detail lines individually or in groups

Approval Integration Phase

  1. Approval Workflow Setup: Ensures generated entities are properly integrated with approval system
  2. Approval Case Creation: Creates approval cases for generated entities if they require approval
  3. Approval Status Management: Manages approval status and workflow progression for generated entities
  4. Approval Rule Compliance: Respects approval rules and requirements for the generated entity types

Deletion Phase (Post-Delete)

  1. Related Entity Cleanup: Automatically deletes related entities when source is deleted
  2. Uses Same Configuration: Uses the same SQL finder to locate entities to delete
  3. Safe Deletion: Performs deletion through business logic, not direct SQL

Key Differences from Standard Automatic Version

With Approval (This Action)

  • Generated Entity Approvals: Creates approval workflows for the generated entities
  • Approval Integration: Ensures generated entities follow proper approval processes
  • Compliance Management: Generated entities go through required approval steps
  • Workflow Tracking: Maintains approval history and audit trails for generated entities

Without Approval (EAAutomaticGenerateEntityFromEntityAction)

  • No Approval Processing: Generated entities bypass approval workflows
  • Direct Creation: Created entities are immediately active without approval requirements
  • Simpler Processing: No additional approval overhead or workflow management

Parameters Required

This action uses the exact same parameters as EAAutomaticGenerateEntityFromEntityAction:

Parameter 1: Target Type (Required)

  • What it is: The type of entity to create
  • Format: Entity type name from system entity definitions
  • Purpose: Determines what kind of entity will be generated

Parameter 2: Finder SQL (Required)

  • What it is: SQL query to find existing target entities (for updates) or determine if creation is needed
  • Format: SQL query returning entity IDs
  • Template: select id from [TargetTable] where [conditions]

Parameter 3: Field Map (Required)

  • What it is: Defines how to copy fields from source to target entity
  • Format: targetField=sourceField pairs, one per line

Parameter 4: Update Only

  • What it is: If true, only updates existing entities, doesn't create new ones
  • Format: true or false
  • Default: false (creates new entities)

Parameter 5: Inverse Copy

  • What it is: Copies fields back from generated entity to source entity
  • Format: Same as Field Map - sourceField=targetField pairs

Parameter 6: Run Entity Flow Per Each Line

  • What it is: Property name containing detail lines to process individually
  • Format: Property name (like details, lines)

Parameter 7: Insert Only

  • What it is: If true, only creates new entities, never updates existing ones
  • Format: true or false
  • Default: false (can update existing)

Parameter 8: Apply When Query

  • What it is: Conditional filter to determine which lines to process
  • Format: SQL CASE statement returning 1 (include) or 0 (exclude)

Parameter 9: Group Details By

  • What it is: Groups detail lines before processing
  • Purpose: Creates one target entity per group instead of per line

Parameter 10: Run Only If

  • What it is: Overall condition to determine if the action should run at all
  • Format: SQL expression that should return a number greater than zero

Approval Integration

How Generated Entity Approvals Work

  • Approval Workflow Creation: Generated entities that require approval get proper approval workflows created
  • Approval Case Management: System creates approval cases for generated entities based on their type requirements
  • Workflow Processing: Generated entities follow the same approval rules as manually created entities of the same type
  • Status Tracking: Approval status and history are properly maintained for generated entities

Configuration Requirements for Generated Entity Approvals

The system handles approval integration by:

  • Checking if the generated entity type requires approval workflows
  • Creating appropriate approval cases and workflow steps
  • Applying approval rules and definitions for the generated entity type
  • Managing approval permissions and candidate assignments

Important Notes

⚠️ CRITICAL WARNINGS:

  1. Generated Entity Approval Requirements: Created entities will go through approval workflows if their entity type requires it
  2. Automatic and Forced: This action CANNOT be disabled once configured - it will always run
  3. Post-Commit Only: Only runs after database transactions are committed, not during
  4. Creates AND Deletes: Handles complete lifecycle of related entities
  5. Approval Overhead: Generated entities requiring approval will add approval processing overhead

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Purchase Order → Approval-Required Journal Entry

When a purchase order is created, automatically generate journal entries that need approval:

Parameter 1: [JournalEntryType]
Parameter 2: select id from [JournalTable] where poId = {id}
Parameter 3: debitAccount={expense.account.id}
amount={totalAmount}
poId=$this
Note: Generated journal entries will require approval before posting

Use Case 2: Sales Order → Approval-Required Credit Limit Adjustment

When large sales orders are created, automatically generate credit limit adjustments that need approval:

Parameter 1: [CreditLimitAdjustmentType]
Parameter 2: select id from [CreditTable] where orderId = {id}
Parameter 3: customerId={customer.id}
newLimit={requiredCreditLimit}
orderId=$this
Note: Credit limit adjustments will go through approval workflow

Use Case 3: Contract → Approval-Required Payment Schedule

When contracts are created, automatically generate payment schedules that need approval:

Parameter 1: [PaymentScheduleType] 
Parameter 2: select id from [PaymentTable] where contractId = {id}
Parameter 3: contractId=$this
amount={installmentAmount}
dueDate={calculatedDueDate}
Note: Payment schedules will require approval before activation

Monitoring and Troubleshooting

Success Indicators

  • Generated Entities Created: New target entities are created automatically when source entities are processed
  • Approval Workflows Active: Generated entities that require approval have approval cases created
  • Proper Approval Status: Generated entities show correct approval status and workflow progression
  • Cleanup on Deletion: Related entities are removed when source entity is deleted

Common Issues

"Generated entities created but no approval workflow"

  • Check if the generated entity type is configured to require approval
  • Verify approval definitions exist for the target entity type
  • Review approval workflow configuration for generated entity types

**"Generated entities bypass approval unexpectedly" **

  • Verify you're using the "WithApproval" version, not the standard automatic version
  • Check entity flow configuration and action class name
  • Confirm the generated entity type actually requires approval

"Approval workflow errors for generated entities"

  • Ensure generated entity type has proper approval definition configured
  • Verify approval permissions and candidate setup for generated entity type
  • Check approval rule configuration and dependencies

Configuration Requirements

Generated Entity Approval Setup

  • Target entity type must have approval workflow configured if approvals are needed
  • Approval definitions must be properly defined for the generated entity types
  • Approval permissions must be correctly assigned for generated entity approvals

Entity Flow Configuration

  • Action should be configured to run post-commit
  • Should be triggered on source entity creation/modification events
  • No special approval-related triggers needed for source entity

SQL to Check Results

-- Check generated entities and their approval status
SELECT s.id as source_id, s.code as source_code, r.id as generated_id, r.code as generated_code, ac.state as generated_approval_state
FROM [SourceTable] s
JOIN [GeneratedTable] r ON s.id = r.sourceId
LEFT JOIN ApprovalCase ac ON r.id = ac.entityId
WHERE s.creationDate > DATEADD(day, -7, GETDATE())

-- Check generated entities that should have approval but don't
SELECT r.id, r.code, r.creationDate
FROM [GeneratedTable] r
LEFT JOIN ApprovalCase ac ON r.id = ac.entityId
WHERE r.creationDate > DATEADD(day, -1, GETDATE()) 
  AND ac.id IS NULL
  AND r.id IN (SELECT entityId FROM [EntityTypesThatRequireApproval])
  • EAAutomaticGenerateEntityFromEntityAction: Version without approval requirement
  • EAGenerateEntityFromEntityAction: Manual version for user-controlled generation
  • ApprovalFlow Actions: For managing approval workflows

Module: core
Full Class Name: com.namasoft.infor.domainbase.util.actions.EAAutomaticGenerateEntityFromEntityActionWithApproval

⚠️ Note: This action is forced automatic and ensures generated entities go through approval workflows if required by their entity type.