Workflowintermediate
Workflow Notifications and Notification Templates
Explain how workflow notifications are designed, formatted, and routed to end users through multiple channels
A notification activity sends a message and waits. It is how a workflow involves a person.
Workflow notifications are like a smart mail-forwarding system: a letter (notification) is addressed not to a specific named person but to 'whoever currently holds the Branch Manager position,' so the letter automatically reaches the right recipient even if the branch manager changes, and includes a simple reply form (response values) the recipient can fill out and send back to trigger the next step.
Key Concepts
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Where notifications appear.
Worklist the notification inbox on the EBS home page
email HTML or plain text, through the Notification Mailer
response Approve/Reject buttons that resume the process2
A message defines the content.
subject: Requisition &REQ_NUMBER for &AMOUNT requires approval
body: &REQUESTER has submitted requisition &REQ_NUMBER ...
results: APPROVED, REJECTED3
&ATTRIBUTE_NAME substitutes an item attribute at send time, so the notification carries the transaction's
own values.
&ATTRIBUTE_NAME
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The response values are what the workflow branches on — the user's click becomes the resultout that
decides the transition.
resultout
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Notifications go to a role, not a user. This is the important design point.
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a single user
a position -- resolves to whoever currently holds it
a group -- everyone in it
an ad hoc role -- built at runtime by the process7
Routing to a position rather than a person means the notification follows the job. When somebody leaves,
approvals continue to their successor without any process being edited.
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The Notification Mailer sends the email, and it is the component that fails quietly.
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A mailer that is down stops every email notification. The workflows continue and the notifications sit in
the Worklist — so nothing errors, and approvals simply stop happening because nobody was told.
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That makes mailer availability something to monitor rather than something to notice.
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Responding by email works by parsing the reply, which is why the reply format matters and why templated
responses exist. It is also why a mailbox rule that alters replies breaks approvals in a way nobody
connects to the mailbox.
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Reassignment and delegation. A recipient can forward a notification to someone else, or delegate it —
forwarding transfers ownership, delegation lets someone act on your behalf while it remains yours. The
distinction matters for audit, since the record shows who actually approved.
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What the interviewer is probing.1. "How is a notification delivered?" Probing: the mechanism. Stalls: "Email." Moves up:
to the worklist always, and by email through the notification mailer if the user preference and
mailer configuration allow.
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2. "A user says they got no email — what do you check?" Probing: the practical skill.
Stalls: "Resend it." Moves up: the mailer status, the user's notification preference, their
email address on the FND user, and WF_NOTIFICATIONS for the mail status.
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3. "What is a response-processing notification?" Probing: the capability. Stalls: "A reply."
Moves up: one where the reply is parsed to progress the workflow, which is how approval by email
works and why format matters.
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4. "Why customise a notification template?" Probing: the business angle. Stalls: "Branding."
Moves up: to give approvers the context to decide without opening the application, which is what
actually shortens approval time.