What is a Workday EIB?
An EIB, or as it is less commonly known, Enterprise Interface Builder, is an integrations tool that can be leveraged for both inbound and outbound integrations to import or export Workday data in mass.
Today, we will primarily focus on the use of Inbound EIBs.
Before jumping in, be sure to bookmark the database of Inbound EIB Examples on Workday Community!
When Should I Use an EIB?
Unfortunately, there is not a magic formula to determine when an Inbound EIB should be used rather than inputting data in manually. As you might imagine, the quantity of the data you are loading is a major factor, but it is not the only thing that should be considered.
The type of EIB you are dealing with can play a big part. There are many use cases for EIBs across Workday, ranging from loading Job Requisitions in Recruiting to Organization Changes in HCM to Pay Inputs in Payroll. Each EIB type will come with its own unique template to populate.
These templates can vary greatly in terms of how long it takes to populate the necessary fields per instance. More time-consuming EIB templates affect the decision of when to use an EIB vs manual entry.
Another consideration on when to use an EIB is your familiarity with that particular template. Loading an EIB often takes a few tries of data validation and error resolution before the data is ready to be officially loaded in. The less comfortable you are with an EIB, the longer it may take to validate the file and therefore adjust when it makes sense for you to use it vs manual processing.
How do I Create an EIB?
To create an EIB, simply search for the task Create EIB (keep in mind you will need the appropriate security to have access to the task). First, determine an identifiable name for your EIB and whether it will be an inbound or outbound EIB. Typically, we recommend aligning as an organization to come up with a consistent naming convention.
Once in the Create Inbound EIB task, navigate to the Get Data tab, find the field labeled Web Service Operation. In the field box, search for your desired EIB. After selecting your appropriate Workday Web Service, you can click through the remaining settings. For more information on the different types of Inbound EIBs check out the community link at the bottom of this page.
After your EIB is created, you will need to generate the spreadsheet template to populate the data. To do so, select the related actions on the View Integration System page and find the Template Model Tab > Generate Spreadsheet Template. Run the background process until completion and the template can be pulled either from the output file or your notifications inbox.
- NOTE: To find your Integration System page for your EIB in the future you can search with the prefix ‘Intsys:’ and the name of your EIB.
Populating and Loading Your EIB
Populating an EIB can greatly vary EIB to EIB. There are, however, a few consistencies across the board to note.
If the EIB is associated with a business process, the first tab on your EIB xml file you will see is labeled Overview and instructs the EIB how to handle certain steps and subprocesses within that business process.
Each EIB template can vary from one tab and minimal fields that are required to populate to over a dozen tabs with many fields to populate. For a non-overview tab, it is important to pay attention to the fields that are marked Required vs Optional.
Not filling out a required field will most likely automatically generate an error when loading. Additionally, what is consistent throughout each EIB is a need for the spreadsheet key column. This will mark a unique instance of data each time a new number is listed.
Once your template is populated, it is time to validate and load in Workday. We always recommend first validating and loading into a test environment, and then validating again in Production before officially loading the xml file in. To validate an EIB, return to the integration system page and from the related actions select the tab Integration > Launch / Schedule.
For the initial Launch prompt, you should be able to click “OK” to be taken to the Schedule an Integration page. Once on the Schedule page, use the Create Integration Attachment option to upload your EIB spreadsheet xml file into Workday. To validate the file, you will also need to check the Validate File Only box and we recommend checking the Add Errors to Attachment box as well.
Next, on the View Background Process page, click the refresh button until the file fully loads. If there are issues with the file, you will see a status of ‘Completed With Errors’ in the status field. If your file was successful validated, you will see a status of ‘Completed’.
To review the error report for the load, scroll down to the executive summary section and open the Attachment with Failure Details to review.
You will need to review the error details and make adjustments to the EIB spreadsheet template. You should repeat the process of validating until you are able to load the file with no errors. Error handling and interpreting the error report can be challenging and vary EIB to EIB.
- Once the file is validated, repeat the loading process one last time with the same Schedule settings, except you will want to leave the “Validate Only” box unchecked.
- During this final load you should receive a status of ‘Complete’ and ‘All Records Loaded Successfully!!’ in the Execution Summary section.
EIBs can be a challenge even for the most experienced Workday users. It’s important to remember that there are plenty of resources available to guide you on Workday Community as well as here at Commit. If you ever need assistance, please reach out as we would be happy to help with any of EIB related needs!
