Preparing a Team Member Rules File

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to prepare team member rules files

Describing Team Member Rules

Team Member Rule File Overview

Team Member Rules consist of a multi-tab Microsoft Excel file used to set conditions for adding team members to the project team:

  • The file can conditionally assign team members (individuals or groups) based on field selections.
  • This file includes three reference tabs: Instructions, Field Names, and Project Groups.
  • The Team Member Rules tab is where the table is to be completed, following the rules outlined on the reference tabs.

This allows conditions to be built such as:

  • If Region is USA, User1 is assigned to the project group Contract Observers.
  • If Region is APAC, add the system group APAC Users to the project group Contract Observers.

Team Member Rule File Attributes

The Team Member Rules template contains a workbook tab for each area in the table below, where three of the four tabs are for your reference and won’t need to be populated with information. The instructions tab contains some brief instructions on how to populate the file.

NameDescription
InstructionsA set of instructions for using the team member rules file.
Field NamesContains a list of all header fields that are a part of that project type and available for use in the TMR file. Fields become available for use in the TMR when they are made reportable. The field names exist on this tab mostly so you have a reference to know what to place into the Team Member Rules tab of the workbook.
Project GroupsA list of all of the template’s current project groups.
Team Member RulesA worksheet where you create team member rules by entering values in columns.
Team Member Rules file is open with the tabs highlighted. Text box states Use the information on the field names and the project groups tab to create team member rules on the Team Member Rules tab.

Summary

  • Team Member Rules (TMR) files are Excel files that can help assign system groups or users to project groups based on field values.
  • The Team Member Rules tab is the only tab in the TMR file that requires user input, as the other three are for reference only.
  • The field that are acceptable in cell A1 <Field Name> are listed in the Field Names tab of the Excel workbook.
  • Case-sensitivity is important for entries on the TMR file.

Preparing Team Member Rule Files

The Team Member Rule File tab of the Excel file will need to have rows added as entries that will be read by the system.

You will need to download a Team Member Rule template if your project template does not already have a TMR file. You can download a new TMR file template from the Team tab of your project template. Choose Actions → Download Team Member Rules  to download a template you can use to start configuring your TMR.

Actions menu is expanded with Download Template highlighted under Team Member Rules highlighted.

Setting Fields and Creating Row Entries

Template creators completing the TMR file will edit the column header, cell A1, where Field_Name is listed. They will change this to match a field name that has the same case-sensitivity as shown in the Field Names tab of the Excel workbook.

Not all columns are required, but multiple fields (columns) and multiple rules (rows) can be used as needed, and case sensitivity matters.

TeamDefinition
Field_NameRepresents the names of fields in SAP Ariba; the values in this column match those in a project created from the template. The template adds the users or groups in the row to the project group or makes the specified user the default project owner.
ProjectGroupThe name of the project group to which you want to add users or groups.
UserThe user names of the users you want to assign to a project group.
PasswordAdaptorThe password adapter that’s associated with the user name or user names. It is used to distinguish between users with the same user names.
GroupThe name of the global user group that you want to assign to the project group.
OwnerIDThe user name of the default project owner for all projects completed from the template.
OwnerPasswordAdaptor​The password adapter associated with the owner’s username.

Examples

Let's use the examples based on the Region field in our example from our overview:

  • If Region is USA, User1 is assigned to the project group Contract Observers.
  • If Region is APAC, add the system group APAC Users to the project group Contract Observers.

Team Member Rules entries with USA in Region column (A), Contract Observers for ProjectGroup column (B) and User1 for User column (D). Second row has APAC in Region column (A), Contract Observers for ProjectGroup column (B) and APAC Users for Group column (C).

The Column A has been renamed to Region and there are two row entries that include the unique names of the group and users that will be assigned to the project group Contract Observers.

The CSV format of the Team Member Rules page would be:

  • Row 1 entry sets column headers: Region, Project Group, Group, User
  • Row 2 entry assigns User1: USA, Contract Observers,User1
  • Row 3 entry assigns APAC Users: USA, Contract Observers,APAC Users

Matching and Validating Team Member Rules

When the system matches values to add team members, the following criteria for each row in the rules file are used:

  • All values in field name columns must match the template project’s values for those fields, or the row is not considered a match and is ignored.
  • Wildcards (*) and empty column values always match.
  • Hierarchical field matches can be matched by child field values.
  • If you want the rule to apply to a range of values for a column, use the tilde character (~).
    • Range expressions are inclusive of the lower boundary but not the upper boundary.
    • Example: To create a rule that applies to every value of 1000 and over, enter 1000~;
    • Example: To create a rule that applies to every value from 0 to 3, enter 0~4;

Additional Team Member Rules File Attributes

  • Tasks cannot be created for team member rules documents or the conditions set on them.
  • There’s no limit to the number of team member rules files you can add to a template.
  • To modify an existing team member rules template, edit a file saved to your local computer and upload the file as a replacement document.
  • Team Member Rules files are validated by publishing the document.
  • Edits made to a published Team Member Rules file will only apply to projects created from the republished template.
  • The edits are not retroactively applied to existing projects, unless a template upgrade is performed.

Summary

  • Create TMR Entries: Download and edit the Team Member Rule template to add rows that the system reads for project assignments.
  • Match Field Names: Ensure field names in the TMR file are case-sensitive and match those in the template project's workbook.
  • Use Match Criteria: Include wildcards or range expressions to apply rules to specific values or value ranges in the TMR file.

Learning

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