Configuring Forms

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Create forms in guided buying using forms builder
  • Work with externally managed forms
  • Configure transfer of ownership forms

Forms Builder Functionality

In the guided buying forms builder, you can design forms that initiate RFQs or add custom fields to the standard non-catalog request page. To use the forms builder, users must belong to the Customer Administrator or Customer Catalog Manager groups in SAP Ariba Buying solutions.

We recommend that form designers keep these guidelines and tips in mind when designing forms:

  • Plan your form and its workflow and test forms thoroughly after publishing and activating them on your test site. Test scenarios where users perform unexpected actions and test all widget and approver conditions.
  • To prevent users from entering sensitive personal information in a form, consider adding help text to remind them that such information isn't allowed.
  • Before creating a form, check the forms selection section of the forms builder to see if your organization already has a template for the type of form you want to create. Starting with a template and modifying it to suit your needs can save time.

For more information on configuring forms, please see Designing and Managing Forms in the Guided Buying Administration guide.

Play the video for an overview of the guided buying forms builder options menu.

Externally Managed Forms

Guided buying allows users to fill out and submit forms that are then sent to external client applications. This capability allows guided buying to be a repository of business-specific forms used by your organization.​

To use this feature, your organization must have a client application that can use REST APIs through HTTPS.​

To enable communication with your client application, you create an outbound API and add it to the SAP Ariba developer portal, and you also use an inbound API available on the SAP Ariba developer portal.​

For more information about the APIs this feature uses, see Guided Buying Functional Documents API.​

On the SAP Ariba side, the following guided buying parameters must be set to true:

  • PARAM_ENABLE_FDS
  • ​PARAM_ENABLE_EXTERNALLY_MANAGED
  • ​EXTERNALLY_MANAGED_OSG_RULE_NAME

Note

Create externally managed forms using the Admin → Manage externally managed forms forms builder, not the regular guided buying forms builder, so that these forms are available outside of the guided buying application. The Manage externally managed forms forms builder displays forms from other areas of guided buying. When naming externally managed forms, you might want to use a prefix to visually separate them from other forms in lists.

Mapping Processes to Forms

After you design header forms or externally managed forms, declare your processes and assign them to those forms. You must create and publish forms before you assigning them to one or more processes. Process mapping can be done through a JSON file upload or directly in the UI through the Process configuration documents section in the Admin menu.

On the Manage process and template mappings page, administrators can add or upload their desired process and link it to functional document, either a project or an externally managed form.

Procurement Workspace Projects

​Procurement workspace projects can be created from guided buying forms and include tasks, teams, and documents for collaboration, tracking, approval, and completion.​

​When configuring a procurement workspace project, you define a process representing a corporate or organizational goal. For example, you might have processes for anti-corruption and bribery efforts, cost-cutting goals, new capital expenditures, organizing donations, or disabled-employee hiring goals.

Projects can contain an unlimited hierarchy of subprojects, which allows users to organize complex procurement activities. Each project and subproject has its own tasks, documents, team members, requisitions, and invoices.​

​Procurement workspace projects can be initiated via:

  • A header form that users fill out to provide a high-level description of a project; it has fields for all required fields in the Overview page of the sourcing template.
  • ​Project specific forms that collect additional user data for each type of project. These forms become available in guided buying after the sourcing project is approved in SAP Ariba Sourcing. Users fill in the remaining fields to provide detailed project information, such as dates, places, and user names, to create complete procurement workspace projects.​

Create these forms in the Process configuration documents section of the Admin page. When designing project forms, you must explicitly map their fields to field names recognized by SAP Ariba Sourcing, even if they have the same name in both places. Use the Application mapping field in the forms builder to specify the name of the corresponding SAP Ariba Sourcing field..​

Note

To use these forms, your organization must have SAP Ariba Sourcing enabled, and appropriate procurement workspace project templates must be configured to accommodate the process.

Note

To make a header form or externally managed form available to users, create a functional document tile of type Project or ExternallyManaged and add it to a landing page. These tiles don't directly refer to forms; they refer to process names, and the process mapping file matches those names to specific forms.

Transfer of Ownership Forms

Self-service transfer of ownership enables any user to submit a transfer request with the required details for purchase requisitions (PR) and invoices. The submitted transfer of ownership form goes through a predefined approval flow. If the transfer is approved, a new user becomes the owner of the selected approvable documents. After the transfer of ownership is complete, details about it can be sent to the customer’s ERP system.

If this feature is enabled, customers can create a custom form for transferring ownership of approvable documents using a global template available in the forms builder. Administrators can link a new tile to the transfer of ownership form, which any user can access and request a transfer.

Note

Transfer of ownership is useful when a user is on an extended leave of absence, moves to a new role, or leaves the organization.

Play the video to learn how to create the transfer of ownership form and add it to the guided buying UI. 

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