🌞🏗 Custom Objects Part 3: How to free your custom data from spreadsheet prison

Read time: 6 minutes

Hey, there! Mia here.

The past couple weeks (during our time together in your email inbox 🤗) we’ve been building your custom object knowledge!

We talked strategy, week one…

Custom object strategy—when to use ‘em, when not to

Then configuration, week two…

Custom object mechanics (setup basics)

And today?

Today, we’re talking data entry.

That is, when your company’s custom data is trapped in spreadsheet prison, or even worse… paper purgatory 😳

But—you’ve finally created custom objects in Workday where the data can live!

How do you then get that data into Workday? 🤔 

By the end of today’s newsletter, you’ll have a solid overview of how 😜 So, let’s get to it!

✍️ Data entry for custom objects

Initial configuration of a custom object is the same for both non-effective and effective dated custom objects. However, data entry is a different story.

Here’s a chart that sums it up…

You can enter your custom data into Workday manually via a standalone task or BP step, or en masse via EIB. While both of these options are available for non-effective and effective dated custom objects, the mechanics are different.

Let’s discuss…

Non-effective dated custom objects…

Data for non-effective dated custom objects is entered manually via the Edit Additional Data task, which can be accessed in 2 ways:

1. From the related actions on the BO the custom object lives on.

2. From the “Additional Data” tab on the BO the custom object extends. For this option, the Additional Data section must be configured to display on the BO using the task Configure Profile Group.

For non-effective dated custom objects, if/when you edit the data, it simply replaces the existing data. If you need to update the data again, no problem! It only takes a few clicks.

And remember—only those with modify access to your custom object’s domain will have access to edit.

If you know you’re not going the API route, (and you need to enter a bunch of data all at once) your other option is to load via EIB.

To load data onto a non-effective-dated custom object, create an EIB like this…

1. Run the task Create EIB. Select Inbound.

2. On the Get Data tab, in the Data Format section, set File Type to Custom Object Spreadsheet Template, and select your custom object.

3. To create your template, click the related actions button on the integration system, and follow the path Template Model > Generate Spreadsheet Template.

The template will have a column for the business object your custom object lives on (e.g., worker, job profile, etc.), and a column for every field on your custom object:

✏️ Notes:

• Workday doesn’t support Validate mode when loading a Custom Object Spreadsheet Template. So make sure you test your load in Sandbox first, and proceed with caution!

• For custom list values, populate the corresponding EIB column with web service alias(es) of your selected value(s) (e.g., xLarge is the web service alias for the X-Large Apparel Size on the example above). Be aware—these web service aliases are case sensitive.

• Find more info on this EIB here.

Effective dated custom objects…

Now, let’s cover your data entry options for effective dated custom objects.

Effective dated custom objects are updated via a business process. Through the BP mechanism, you get a current and proposed value for each field on your effective dated custom object.

Every BO that supports effective dated custom objects has its own Edit Additional Data BP (e.g., Edit Worker Additional Data, Edit Position Restrictions Additional Data, etc.).

You can initiate the standalone business process from the related actions menu of the object that houses the custom object. Follow the path Additional Data > Edit Effective-Dated Custom Object.

You can also add the Edit Additional Data BPs as subprocess steps within other BPs tied to the business object where the custom object is built. For example, below, we added an Edit Additional Data step for the “Drug Test” effective-dated custom object on the Hire BP:

Here are the business processes you can add an Edit Additional Data step to for each BO…

You also have the option to load effective-dated custom object data via EIB. The inbound EIB template depends on which business object your custom object is built on.

1. Run the task Create EIB. Select Inbound.

2. On the Get Data tab, within the Data Format section, select the web service for the BO extended by your custom object in the Web Service Operation input.

3. Once again, to create your template, click the related actions button on the integration system, and follow the path Template Model > Generate Spreadsheet Template.

🚨 Don’t forget! Your Edit [Business Object XYZ] Additional Data business process definition must be set up properly for these EIBs to work. We’re not covering this BP setup today—but hit reply on this email to let us know if a guide on this would be helpful ☺️

✏️ And, one last note on effective-dated custom objects…

All effective-dated custom objects on the same parent object share the same set of effective dates. Here’s what that means…

Imagine you have 3 custom objects that live on the Worker BO—Company Car, Drug Test, and Essential Worker. When you add new data and a new effective date for the Company Car object, the existing values for Drug Test and Essential Worker are copied to the new effective date as well. This is important to be aware of as you update and report on data!

For a more in-depth description of this behavior and its potential complications, run the “View Out of Order Custom Object Changes” report, which you can find via the pathway below:

🛑 Custom Object Validations

Okay. There’s one more thing we’ve gotta cover before we wrap up our data entry methods discussion…

Let’s revisit our Job Profile Tags custom object from last week 😉

Recall the Internal Career Track field. There are 4 tracks to choose from, but let’s say your org’s policy is every job profile should have a maximum of 2 tracks. To enforce this policy, configure a Custom Object Validation.

First, run the task Create Custom Object Condition Rule. Select the custom object you’re creating a rule for, and press OK.

Configure your rule per standard boolean logic. Build the rule so that if it is TRUE, an error is triggered (a TRUE evaluation = an error). Our rule to trigger an error if a user selects more than 2 Internal Career Tracks looks like this:

Next, run the task Configure Custom Object Validations, and select the custom object you’re creating a validation for.

Set up your validation for the field it governs. Give the validation a Name, a Message, and add the Rule you just built. Select a Severity of Critical or Warning. You can also choose to trigger the error only once the user tries to submit the data—if you leave that box unchecked, the error appears immediately upon entry. Press OK to save your validation!

When we edit the Job Profile Tags custom object, we can see our validation at work:

Almossttt there…

Alright! We’re on the final stretch of our custom object overview series 💪 Coming soon, the most fun and exciting custom object topic (in our opinion 😜)…

Once your custom data is in Workday, how do you view it, and how do you use it?

See ya next week, ya’ll! 🤠

As always, thank you for being a reader!

We’re celebrating you and your pursuit of a Well Built Workday 🥳 

Until next time!

Ceci & Mia

Co-Founders of Well Built Solutions

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