Document versioning approval workflow stuck after DMS configuration change in master control object management

PLM SAP PLM
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1

We recently updated our DMS versioning configuration to support parallel approval paths for controlled documents. After applying the changes, our approval workflow gets stuck at the second approval step. The workflow status shows ‘In Progress’ but no approval tasks are being generated for the next approvers.

The issue occurs specifically when documents transition from Draft to Under Review status. I’ve verified the workflow status network connections and the approval step linkage appears correct in the configuration. However, the status profile mapping might be causing the blockage.

<VersioningRule name="DOC_APPROVAL">
  <StatusTransition from="DRAFT" to="REVIEW"/>
  <ApprovalStep sequence="2" role="QA_MANAGER"/>
</VersioningRule>

This is blocking our document release cycle and causing significant delays in getting technical specifications approved. Has anyone encountered similar workflow interruptions after modifying DMS versioning settings?

2

Check your status network configuration in transaction CMOD or the DMS customizing tables. The status profile needs to explicitly allow the transition and trigger the approval routing. If the status profile doesn’t have the correct approval determination rule linked, the workflow engine won’t know which approval step to activate next. Look at table TDWP for the workflow-status linkages.

3

Look at your workflow container elements. Sometimes after DMS config changes, the workflow binding between the document object and the approval task container gets disconnected. You can check this in SWDD by examining the workflow template. Make sure the binding for the document key and version are properly mapped to the task container.

4

Thanks Sarah. I checked the sequence numbers and they’re consecutive (1, 2, 3). The QA_MANAGER role permissions look correct too. I’m wondering if the status profile mapping is the issue. When I look at the workflow monitor, it shows the transition from DRAFT to REVIEW completed, but then nothing happens. No error messages in the logs either.

5

I’ve seen this before. Check if your approval step sequence numbers are consecutive in the workflow definition. Sometimes when you modify versioning rules, the step linkage gets broken if there’s a gap in the sequence. Also verify that the QA_MANAGER role has proper authorization to receive approval tasks.

6

I had a similar problem last year with SAP 2020. The issue was that the approval step linkage wasn’t properly connected to the status profile after we changed the versioning configuration. The workflow would complete the first step but couldn’t determine the next approver because the status mapping was incomplete. You need to ensure that each status in your versioning rule has a corresponding entry in the approval routing table with the correct organizational assignment.

7

Another thing to verify - check if your approval determination rule is active for the document type. In DMS customizing, there’s a setting that controls whether approval routing should be triggered for specific document types and status combinations. If this got inadvertently changed during your configuration update, it would explain why tasks aren’t being generated.