Are there any other triggering methods than Message control, Change pointer, user exit/ABAP Program for Workflow and which one is preferred?
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Hannah Smalltree, Editorial Director
This is an excellent question and one that I am asked often. To my
knowledge, these are the mechanisms available in triggering workflows:
1. Manual - Call a function module to trigger the workflow (ie.
SWW_WI_START_SIMPLE). It would be logical to say that there is less overhead
using this method (ie. no writing to the event log) however I am yet to
encounter a situation where I have chosen to manually start a workflow
because of performance issues.
2. Raising an event - Raising a workflow event seems to be the most common
way of triggering workflow. This approach follows the publish/subscribe
paradigm and hence provides more flexibility then simply 'hard coding' the
workflow that you want to kick off.
All the other workflow mechanisms end up utilizing one of the above
approaches. They are:
Message Control - Uses workflow events and manual triggering. Message
control is used more often in SD and MM applications
Change Document - Uses workflow events
Status Management - Uses workflow events
LIS (Logistics Information System) - Uses workflow events
I am sure this list is not exhaustive and that there are other mechanisms
that I have not mentioned.
Regarding the second part of your question, I do not think that either is
'preferred'. It all depends on what your considerations are. If performance
issues are a concern then perhaps the 'manual' approach is preferable else I
would recommend using events due to the flexibility offered.
This was first published in August 2001
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