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Ovidiu_1968's avatar
Ovidiu_1968
Copper Contributor
Jan 28, 2023

Need help to access

Hello
I am new here and I would like you to help me with a problem
I created a database with some projects that need to be signed by various departments.
the problem is that each project must be taken to 2-3 different departments to be signed
I have a list of 15 departments
how could I create a table in which, after entering the project and selecting the departments for signing, to manage the date of departure and arrival of the document only on the selected departments

  • George_Hepworth's avatar
    George_Hepworth
    Silver Contributor

    Ovidiu_1968 

     

    The workflow rules have a big impact on how you set this up.

    Does the workflow, for example, require the same set of signatures in the same order to all projects? Or does that get determined when a project is set up initially? And what does it mean, by the way, to say that "... projects ... need to be signed by various departments." What does that entail? Is there a document with one or more signatures on it? Physically as well as logically, how does this work in practice?

     

    The solution will involve a history table with yet-to-be determined fields. It will have to include, at a minimum, a foreign key field to identify the project, plus a "Department Sign Off" field, which is a foreign key to the Departments table, and a date/time field on which that department "signed" the project. It should also have fields, based on your description for the date/time it arrived in each department, and the date/time it was forwarded. Again, assumptions based on your description lead me to wonder if the rules allow for a document to be signed, but not forwarded immediately. Also, I would imagine it should have a "sequence" field indicating the order in which must sign off, in turn. That is assuming the sequence matters to your process.

     

    This Signature History table might be prepopulated by the originator of the document, with one record for each required department signature. If sequence doesn't matter, that field wouldn't be needed probably. 

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