VPVI-38:Adding UDFs & Workflows – Where Do You Start?

Nate Brown & Barbara Bunting, Stambaugh Ness

Introductions

Determine the Requirements

Document Decisions

Make A Plan

Best Practices for UDFs

Best Practices for Workflows

Questions

Come See Us

Agenda

Introductions

Stambaugh NessProvides Professional Services Firms with a Future-

Ready approach that aligns services to our client’s

needs

Years of Professional Experience

in the Architectural and Engineering industries

Years of Experience working with Deltek solutions

Nationally Recognized Deltek Platinum Partner

Clients in 43 States & Canada

Nate Brown, Senior Consultant

9+ years working with Deltek systems

Specializes in:Improving Business Processes with

Stored Procedures

Workflows

User Defined Info Centers

Custom Reports

Data Migrations

API Integrations

Barbara Bunting, Senior Consultant

20+ years working with Deltek systems

Specializes in:Resource Planning (Vision, iAccess, Vantagepoint)

Project Management Training

Project Management Process Assessments and Development

Info Center Design

Security / System Administration

Workflows

Determine the Requirements

• Determine what the request really is…get the details• Why do they want it?

• Would others benefit?

• Should others be included in the planning?

• Does it solve a problem or eliminate dual entry?

• Would it be user defined fields / grids in a standard Info Center

or a User Defined Info Center (UDIC)?

• Will workflows be needed?

• Will searches and / or reports be needed?

Determine the Requirements

• Only add fields / grids / User Defined Info Centers

(UDICs) when you can answer the following:• What is the business purpose of the field / grid / UDIC?

• What will the output be (i.e. report, search, alert notification,

dashpart, etc.)?

• Who will enter the data?

• Who will maintain the data?

• Who will QC the data (if it needs to be QC’d)?

New Field / Grid / UDIC Questions

Make A Plan

• Document the answers to the new field / grid / UDIC

questions

• Meet with appropriate people

• Decide on: • Fields to create

• Field types

• Field names

• Field controls (required, locked, hidden, tool tip, help text, etc.)

• Field placement

• Security / Access rights

Make a Plan

Document Decisions

• Create a document that• Explains the purpose

• Lists the fields and field types to be added

• Lists the workflows

• Details the workflow triggers

• Details the workflow actions

• Explains how data was initially populated

• Explains how data will be maintained

• Explains how data will be QC’d (if necessary)

• Document the process flow (if creating a process)

Document Decisions

• Share the document

• Store the document in a place that is accessible

(consider a UDIC)

• Future team members may need this information

• Update the document when changes are approved /

implemented

Document Decisions (cont.)

User Defined Fields, Grids, and Info Centers

• Can only have one value per field

• Can include many fields on a report

• Can edit

in List

view

Fields

• Grids can have one or

multiple columns

• Can only include one

grid on a report

• Cannot edit in List view

Grids

• Can only include results that match the search selection

(i.e. only certain degrees, only certain licenses, etc.)

Grids (cont.)

• Group fields together in searching by adding a common

name or an abbreviation of the name to the beginning of

each field• To identity the UDIC or the field purpose

• To keep them unique

• To prevent duplication

• Does not impact the lookups

• Easier to identify in lookups

Naming Fields, Grids, and Columns

• Do not use the same name as a standard

field

• The names should make sense as to the data

expected in the field

• Use hover help, tool tips, or text label to help

define purpose / expected values

Naming Fields, Grids, and Columns (cont.)

• Open screen designer to modify the name of the column for

screen display

Naming Fields, Grids, and Columns (cont.)

Choose the Right Field Data Type

• User Defined Fields (UDFs) have these data types to

choose from:• Dropdown

• Employee

• Equipment

• Firm [VP]

• Lead [Vision]

• Lookup [Vision]

• Marketing Campaign

• Memo

• Numeric

• Opportunity [Vision]

• Organization

• Phone [VP]

• Project

• Text Library /

Boilerplate

• UDIC

• URL

• Vendor [Vision]

• Account

• Character

• Checkbox

• Client [Vision]

• Contact

• Currency

• Date

• Date/Time [VP]

• Dropdown vs. Lookup• Dropdown Data Type

• Click on an arrow and pick from a list

• Cannot type in characters to search in

Vision but can in Vantagepoint

• Can click on the first letter repeatedly

• Can’t copy and paste when in List view

• Lookup Data Type• Can type in characters to search

• Can open a lookup screen

• Info Center Lookups• Can select record from other Info Centers

Choose the Right Field Data Type (cont.)

• Character vs. Memo• Character Data Type

• Can use alpha and numeric characters

• Can have certain symbols

• Limited to 255 character

• Searchable

Choose the Right Field Data Type (cont.)

• Character vs. Memo• Memo Data Type

• Can use alpha and

numeric characters

• Can have certain

symbols

• Can have formatting

(i.e. bullets)

• Unlimited field

• Searchable with

‘contains’ only

Choose the Right Field Data Type (cont.)

(cont.)

• Checkbox – Easy to use but..• How do you really know if unchecked means false or they just

forgot to check the box

• Can search but only if checked or unchecked

• Can’t really make it required – then it would always be checked

• Dropdown with Yes & No – May be a better option…• If empty you know they forgot

• Can search for Yes / No / Empty / Not Empty and more

• Can make it required and get a real value – or at least a

guessed one

Choose the Right Field Data Type (cont.)

• Currency• Can set minimum and maximum values

• Doesn’t allow a 0 (zero) entry [Vision]

• Does allow a 0 (zero) entry [Vantagepoint]

• Numeric• Can set minimum and maximum values

• Can set decimal places

• Doesn’t allow a 0 (zero) entry [Vision]

• Does allow a 0 (zero) entry [Vantagepoint]

• Cannot sort / group by a numeric field

Choose the Right Field Data Type (cont.)

• UDIC’s can be referenced in other Info Centers as a field

type (Data Type: the name of your UDIC)

• Consider a UDIC for anything tracked outside of Vision• Terminology / Formulas

• Workflows / Custom Programming

• Leased Vehicles

• Training

• Business Licenses or Memberships

• Applicants or Benefits

• Storage

User Defined Info Centers

Best Practices for User Defined Fields / Grids / Info Centers

• Don’t forget you can move fields between tabs

• You can make a field system required for only the

Accounting or CRM type of role

• When you add a new Date field, it defaults to Current

Date (can be removed; change column order to view)

• You can set a default value for a field when you create it

General Information

• Affects the screen and lookups only• There is a lookup / report labels option but doesn’t change

everywhere

• Can cause confusion• Viewing online help

• Contacting support

• Developing workflows

• Can create duplicates

Avoid Changing Names of Standard Fields

• May be completely different than intended purpose of

the field

• Could have unexpected results in other areas

• May cause issues with future versions

• Can cause confusion with online help / or tech support• Especially if nobody knows they were repurposed – good

reason to document

Avoid Repurposing Fields

• The UDIC Number and Name

fields are system required field

if they are shown on the screen

• They can be hidden for all

roles which makes them no

longer system required (i.e.

you don’t want to number your

records, etc.)

User Defined Info Center Screen Designer

• TIP: Create a “hidden” States UDIC; it can be used

over and over in other Info Centers instead of creating

new drop down lists• Vision uses the Data Type “Name” field as the record lookup to

the UDIC. If you want the “state” to list the abbreviation, set

the Name field to be the abbreviation

• If you want the “state” to list the state

name, set the Name field to be the

state name

User Defined Info Center Suggestion

• Clean Up Fields – Create Unused Fields Tab• Move UDFs not used – even if you are not sure if they are

used

• Move standard fields not used – you can always move them

back

• If the field was used – someone will let you know

• Remove Fields – If the Fields are Not Missed• Backup the appropriate custom fields table and store it or put

the fields into List view and export the information to Excel

• Delete the UDFs

Housekeeping

Workflows: General Information

• Available for Info Center / Hub records and Billing Terms

• Allows you to automate processes based on certain

conditions

• Allows you to generate alerts via email and / or

Dashboard

• Helps to enforce business processes and rules via

warnings or errors

• Creates Vision activities to document change or to

remind users to do something

What are Workflows?

• Reduces mistakes

• Prompts for missing data at applicable times

• Standardizes data entry

• Enforces business processes

• Saves time and reduces redundancies

• Notifies employees of certain action items

Benefits of Workflows

Best Practices for Workflows

• Add a User Defined Info Center (UDIC) to log and track

all workflows and changes to them• Upload the workflow printout to the Attachments tab

• Track who created it, when it was created, and when it was last

modified

• Why did we create it?

• What is it going to do?

• List conditions and actions

• Include the details of each action

Document the Workflows

• Add a number to the workflow description • The number can reference back to your documentation

• Add a brief descriptor to the beginning of the workflow

for easy sorting• Alert

• Button (makes it easy to find the workflow when linking it to a

button in screen designer)

• Column Change

• Stored Procedure

Tips for Organizing Workflows

• Add the workflow creator name and creation /

modification date to the end of the description

• Make sure the workflow description clearly states the

purpose

• Make sure the action description clearly states the

action

• Keep descriptions generic where possible• Avoid “Send email to Jane”

• Try “Send email to Project Coordinator”

Be Purposeful with Workflow Descriptions

• Use database field codes when possible in messages to

the users

• Avoid using specific names in the email subject and / or

email body• “Please contact Jane” to “Please contact HR”

• “Please report to Boston Office” to “Please report to [EM.ORG]”

Avoid Constant Editing

• Always make sure to test things in your test system

before using it in your production system

• Always verify the results

• Scheduled workflows must have at least one condition

• Validate Warning / Validate Error actions must have at

least one condition

• If you can’t find a field in workflow, look at the name in

screen designer or the data dictionary

Workflow Tips & Tricks

• Create a “self” field in the Employees IC to use for

workflows / emails / alerts

• Use “This change was made by [:ModUserFullName].”

when documenting data changes

• Lock fields that are populated via workflow to avoid

overwriting the auto populated information

• Enable the Workflow Log in Configuration > General >

System Settings > Miscellaneous to view whether

actions succeeded or not

Workflow Tips & Tricks (cont.)

• Checkboxes • Have a value of Y (checked) or N (unchecked)

• Cannot use Empty or Not Empty

• Must use Equals Y / N or Not Equals Y / N

• To set a checkbox to unchecked, change it to N; don’t use the

Empty Field option for Column Change

Workflow Tips & Tricks (cont.)

• Use employee fields or roles for emails (to / cc / bcc)

• Include workflow name at the bottom of the email

• Include before and after results for field change

notifications

• Use Validation Warning or Validation Error instead of

system required fields• Can’t control who can set a project to dormant, if they are

allowed to edit the project, but you can have a workflow error

that will not allow them to save the record if they select

dormant

Workflow Tips & Tricks (cont.)

• Scheduled workflows can be set to run on a specific

date / time or at regular intervals

• Can also create on-demand workflow buttons in Info

Centers

• Scheduled workflow best practices• Schedule during off hours

• Do not schedule more that one workflow with the same start

time

• Allow time between workflows – so then can complete before

the next one starts

Scheduled Workflows

• Process server is set up in Configuration > System

Settings > Servers• Cloud customers will not have access to set this up themselves

• Have IT restart the process server on a regular basis (nightly,

weekly, etc.)

• Periodically check the process queue (sometimes things get stuck)

• Make sure the process server is disabled for

test databases or that the email server has

been removed in Configuration for test

databases

Process Server

Questions

VPVI-37 Transaction Center – Which Transaction Type Should I Use?

VPVI-55 Don’t Just Fly, Soar (Dumbo) – See How Vision Customization Can Work for You

VPVI-34 Build Out a Marketing Infrastructure – More Than Just an Accounting System

VPVI-56 The Magic of AP Approvals in Vantagepoint and Vision

VPVI-87 Reduce Time & Expense Error & Delays

VPVI-33 Simplifying Your Project Planning Process

VPVI-42 Play Nice Together to be More Efficient and Effective in Our Roles

VPVI-88 Leave the Imagination to Disney – Avoid Custom Invoices

VPVI-18 Creating Actionable Vantagepoint Dashboards

VPVI-89 Eliminate Spreadsheets & Harness the Power of User Defined Info Centers

Come See Us Check out the sessions that our team will be presenting!

Contact InformationNate Brown, Senior Consultant

nbrown@stambaughness.com

Barbara Bunting, Senior Consultant

bbunting@stambaughness.com

Visit us at www.stambaughness.com/events

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