Working with the Global Settings

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to identify and configure general and advanced form template settings

The General Settings Section

You can define the foundational pieces of the template in the General Settings section. Here, you can edit the name of the template and the description, as well as select the workflow (route map) and rating scale.

Modifications of the General Settings Section in Manage Templates

You can configure the following items through General Settings:

General Settings

SettingDescription
NameThe name of the template.
DescriptionThis is an informational field that appears only during the form launch process. It does not display to the end user on in the XML form template
Route Map:Forms follow steps defined in the route map associated to the template
Route Map DescriptionThis area automatically populates with the description you assigned to the route map when it was created
Rating ScaleAssociate the rating scale that must be used in the template here
Hide Numerical Rating ValuesIf checked, this option makes ratings appear only as their text label
Unable to RateThe text entered into this field is used if an employee cannot be rated for some reason. Text entered in this field shows as a part of the rating scale, but it is not included in the overall rating. It’s the equivalent of Not Applicable.
Allow Managers to Stack Rank Employees on Competency Sections.

Controls: Globally / Section by Section

Enables the stack ranker (also known as team rater) function, if the function has also been turned on in Provisioning.
Advanced Settings

Selecting this link opens a window with more advanced general settings.

You can also access this window through Form Template Settings.

Show advanced options...Additional options can be enabled:
  • Enable Previous Step Button
  • Enable Delete Button
  • Enable Scale Adjusted Calculation

Moreover, you will be able to set up permissions affecting the whole performance form template.

Modification of the General Settings Section in XML

The general settings in the XML are located in the <fm-meta> section of the code. In this section, you may: 

fm-meta section

ElementDescription
<scale-id>Attach a default rating scale to be used throughout the performance form
<enable-previous-step- button>Enables the button to send a form to the previous step.
<enable-delete-button>Enables the button to delete a form.
<my-team-rater>Enables stack ranker.

The following is an example of a typical performance form meta section: 

Configuration of Rating Scales

The rating scale for the entire form is selected in General Settings. Rating scales can be configured per section in Manage Templates.

Below the selection area, you can also determine whether you want the numbers and rating description to show, or just the descriptions.

Enable a Rating Scale for the Entire Form

If one rating scale is to be used for all ratable sections, it can be specified in the <fm-meta> section, using the code illustrated in the figure Enable Rating Scales in XML.

Form Template Settings – Advanced Settings

Advanced settings are also known as Form Template Settings. These settings allow for management of different elements of a form’s behavior. These settings do not change the forms XML and may or may not affect existing (launched) forms.

Watch this video to learn about the form template settings:

Note

For a list of all the form template settings definitions and whether they impact live forms, review the Implementing and Managing Performance Management guide on the SAP Help Portal.

Some of the most common options that you can configure in Form Template Settings are settings that you can turn on and off. The following table includes some of the most utilized options:

Form Template Settings

Setting / Group of settingsDescription
Template NameAdd localized labels for the template name in any of the language packs active in your instance
Default Start/End/Due DatesSet dates for the form template (fixed or relative). You can set a specific date or set your dates relative to form creation date.
Disable Ask For Feedback FunctionalityEnable/Disable the option to gather feedback from Team Overview
Display circle icon as ratingYou can use this option to set at the template level the circle icon instead of star icon for the rating fields. Those sections that display with a rating field as a dropdown won't be affected.
Automatic Manager TransferDetermine when the performance forms will be transferred to new manager or matrix manager
Do Not Remove Inactive Employee's In-Progress/Completed DocumentsPrevent removal of forms when an employee is inactivated.
Spell Check / Legal ScanEnable/Disable Spell Check and Legal Scan at the template level or On Route (at every step)
Enable Writing AssistantAllow to use Writing Assistant and Coaching Advice for Competency comments.
Disable Ask For Comment / Ask For Edit RoutingEnable/Disable Get Feedback functionality
Disable Toolbar ButtonsEnable/Disable action buttons in the form template (Delete, Info, Print, Send, etc).
Disallow users from changing Start/End/Due DatePrevent users from changing the dates specified at the template level
Enable form routing to previous stepAllow to send the form backwards
Enable attachmentsAllow users to add attachments in the form
Enable New Confirmation Experience for Sending FormsThis option will allow to send the form to the next step or to another user (depending on the type of step) without navigating to a confirmation page. Instead, user will display a pop up dialog to confirm action and send the form.

Configure General and Global Settings in the Performance Form Template

Business Example

You will start to configure the Performance Management form template you added in a previous exercise. Now, you will define general settings for the form template in the instance through Manage Templates and the meta section in the XML data model.

Note

Starting from this exercise and the following ones will allow you to complete the configuration of the form template including the general and global settings and different sections. You will have the chance to test all your configuration changes in a later exercise, to launch a performance form and verify the configuration from an end to end perspective.

Learn how to configure performance form template general and global settings from Manage Templates and verify changes from the XML.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Task 1: Edit General Settings (Global Settings) in Manage Templates

Steps

  1. Log in to your Instance, and edit General Settings from Manage Templates. Make the following changes:

    FieldValue
    Allow managers to stack rank employees on competency sectionsSelected
    GloballySelected

    1. Log into the Instance, and navigate to Manage Templates using Action Search.

    2. Select the Performance Review tab.

    3. Open the template you added from SuccessStore or from the course files in the exercise Create a Performance Form Template.

    4. Select General Settings.

    5. Verify the route map and rating scale are those that you previously created and assigned to this form template.

    6. Verify Allow managers to stack rank employees on competency sections checkbox it selected.

    7. Verify the Globally radio button is selected.

  2. Return to General Settings, and, on the Show advanced options screen, enable the Previous Step and Delete buttons.

    1. Choose the link for Show advanced options ....

    2. Update the following:

      FieldValue
      Enable Previous Step ButtonSelected
      Enable Delete ButtonSelected

    3. Save the form and navigate away from this page.

      Result

      You have now edited general settings in the instance.

  3. On the Advanced Settings screen, make the following changes (some settings might already have the correct values in your Instance):

    FieldValue
    Default Start DateRelative to Form Creation Date
    Default End DateRelative to Default Due Date
    Default Due DateRelative to Form Creation Date. Set number of Days after(+) or before(-) to 30
    Disable Ask for Feedback functionalitySelected
    Enable Spell CheckSelected
    Enable Legal ScanSelected
    Disable Spell Check On RouteSelected
    Disable Legal Scan On RouteSelected
    Enable Writing AssistantSelected
    Disable Ask For Comment RoutingNot selected
    Disable Ask For Edit RoutingNot selected
    Allow Add Approver/EvaluatorSelected
    Hide Add/Remove Signer buttonsNot selected
    Disable Delete buttonNot selected
    Allow form creator to select anyone as the subjectSelected
    Option 2 – Allow adding/removing signers during both the Modification and Signature stagesSelected
    Show digital signatures in Document Print PreviewSelected
    Disallow users from changing the Start DateSelected
    Disallow users from changing the End DateSelected
    Disallow users from changing the Due DateSelected
    Enable form routing to previous stepSelected
    Enable AttachmentsSelected
    Enable New Confirmation Experience for Sending FormsSelected

    1. Select the Advanced Settings link.

      This links to Form Template Settings and is unique to editing the form in Manage Templates. You cannot access these settings in the XML file. You can also assess this information by choosing Form Template Settings. using Action Search.

    2. Update the settings as outlined in the table.

    3. Select Update Form Template, and close out of the pop-up window.

Task 2: Verify General Settings (Global Settings) in the XML template

Steps

  1. Export the Performance form template from the instance.

    1. Navigate to From Template Settings using Action Search.

    2. Select the form, and then select Download in the upper right-hand corner.

  2. Place the DTD and Performance form XML template in the same folder, and replace row 004 with the exact case and space sensitive spelling of the DTD in the folder.

    1. Example:"sf-form.dtd">

  3. Find the<scale-id> start- and end-tags. Verify the title of the rating scale you associated to the form in Manage Templates is listed here. Case and space sensitive spelling are very important.

    1. Example: <scale-id><![CDATA[Default Scale]]></scale-id>

  4. Find the <enable-previous-step-button> and <enable-delete-button>start- and end-tags. Check that they are both set to true as configured in Form Template Settings in the Instance.

  5. Find the <my-team-rater> tag. Make sure that it is right above the last tag of the Meta section.

    1. Example:

      Code Snippet
      Copy code
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      12
      <my-team-rater/>
  </fm-meta>

  6. Find the<sf-pmreview> tag. Attributes within this tag affect all sections within the Performance form. Verify the following attributes are correct in your XML template:

    • no-calc=false

    • overall-rating=true

    • rate-by-adding-values=false

    • weight-lockdown=true

    • show-weight=true

    Note

    Can’t find these tags in the Meta section? Keyword search for the start tag in the DTD to find where this chunk of code should be placed. The tag is correct, so you would just need to find where the tag should be placed in the meta section and add the corresponding end-tag.

    All the information about the attributes in this step and what they control can be found in the Document Type Definition (DTD). The one that we can use to validate PM Forms is the sf-form.dtd

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