Document Approval & Link help please!

[MattWindsor]

Hi all,

I'm using document approvals but struggling to get a report created that shows the approval status / pending approver. I also need a link that will either open the document (not the document details page) or if not, a link to the folder area. My link open the folder area, but just shows a grey space without folders or options.

Here's the textmode for the link:

Here's my report I need to populate. Thanks in advance!

[skyehansen]

hey Matt, please forgive me if I’m misinterpreting your instance configuration. It looks like you are using legacy doc approvals?

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/workfront/using/product-announcements/product-releases/re...

New doc approvals functionality is being rolled out in the next six months, and potentially many folks have not realized that these are a different object that do not respond to legacy reports. So—have to ask—since the old doc approvals reports would no longer work, have you given any thought to what your eventual reporting landscape will look like? 

(handy hint: new doc approvals reporting lives purely in canvas reports which don’t allow for textmode workarounds, and in Home widgets)

[MattWindsor]

Hi Skye,

I assume I'm still on legacy. I'm setting the document approvals the same way as I have for the last year and I'm using the same document reporting. I also see the option to "Join the Canvas Dashboards Beta" in the dashboards area.

I'd happily more to the new canvas reporting, but would be concerned that our many old reports would stop working. Do you know if that's the case?

[skyehansen]

your old doc approval reports will not work with the new doc approval transition that is coming up. All Workfront reports start with the concept that you are building a report for a specific object. The doc approval report is a report for the Document Approval (DOCAPL). The new doc approval is not a DOCAPL object. So you simply won't see new doc approvals. But feel free to test (see point 2 below).

Canvas reporting is a separate topic, since it covers more than just document approval reporting. 

1) My advice to you and others would be to start off with signing up for canvas -- this is because it would be valuable to start building those skills in any reports (they'll transfer over to doc approval reports obv)

2) I don't know whether this is possible, but you should check in with Workfront Support, to see if they can turn on the new doc approvals in your Preview Sandbox, so you can begin testing and seeing how reporting would work for you.

[MattWindsor]

Okay, will do. Thanks for the advice. Do you have any ideas on how to populate and link as per my original request please?

I have a deliverable for Monday that needs this populated.

Thanks, and have a good weekend.

Matt

[skyehansen · Accepted solution]

I don't believe you can get a link to a folder view. I know you mentioned being able to do this by appending /foldername/view to the end of the URL, but you'll see that if you put anything in the "foldername" part of the URL, you'll get the same result. In other words, the grey space you're getting is because your link doesn't work. 

I'm not sure what you mean by opening the document (do you mean opening the proof? or downloading the document?) but it's very likely that the best result you're likely to get by Monday, is the details page as you mentioned getting before.

[MattWindsor]

Thanks for coming Skye, I'll find another solution 🙂