Concept: ID Definitions and Sequence Generators

ID definitions specify the format of identifiers (IDs) that Workday generates for various business objects. You can select default ID definitions for business objects, such as invoices, orders, receipts, employees, and beneficiaries, by accessing the

Edit Tenant Setup

tasks where the sequence generators are used. If you don't select an ID definition, Workday generates its own internal ID codes.

Sequence generators identify people, positions, or incidents by using a unique number for a specified time period.

You can create a sequence generator using the

Create ID Definition / Sequence Generator

task.

You can view a specific ID definition or sequence generator in the

View ID Definition / Sequence Generator

report.

You can run the

Sequence Generator Padding Report

to monitor sequence generators for potential overflow issues. For each sequence generator, the report displays:

A percent usage metric that indicates how close the current sequence number is to the maximum sequence number allotted.
The overflow behavior and notification groups for each sequence generator.

For these business objects, Workday uses the sequence generator ID you set up as the integration reference ID:

Advance Ship Notice
Purchase Order
Purchase Order Acknowledgment
Receipts
Request for Quote (RFQ) Awards
Requisition
RFQ Response

If you have multiple companies, you can make Workday generate distinct IDs in numeric order for the business objects of each company. You can override the default ID definition for a specific company by accessing the

Edit Company ID Definitions

task. You can distinguish companies by entering a wide gap between the

Last Sequence Used

for the sequence generator of each company. You can access the

Edit Company ID Definitions

task to assign these unique sequence generators to companies in your tenant.

Example: An administrator enters 1000001 in the

Last Sequence Used

field for the sequence generator of Company A. They also enter 2000002 in the

Last Sequence Used

field for the sequence generator of Company B.

The result is that separate sequence generators create IDs in numeric order on purchase orders for each company:

PO#1 - ID of Company A: CA-PO-2018-09-1000001

PO#2 - ID of Company A: CA-PO-2018-09-1000002

PO#3 - ID of Company B: CA-PO-2018-09-2000002

PO#4 - ID of Company B: CA-PO-2018-09-2000003

Example: An administrator enters the same number in the

Last Sequence Used

field for the sequence generator of both Company A and Company B.

The result is that the same sequence generator provides ID numbers across companies on their purchase orders:

PO#1 - ID of Company A: PO-2018-09-00001

PO#2 - ID of Company B: PO-2018-09-00002

PO#3 - ID of Company B: PO-2018-09-00003

PO#4 - ID of Company A: PO-2018-09-00004

If the sequence numbers might generate URLs, avoid white space in the format string. Example: Some external career sites add the Job Requisition ID (generated during a Job Requisitions Integration) to the job posting URL. If a site doesn't encode special characters, such as spaces, the result is an invalid URL.

A sequence generator can leave gaps if you roll a transaction back. A gapless sequence generator has a built-in mechanism to prevent these gaps.

You can create a gapless sequence generator using the

Create ID Definition / Gapless Sequence Generator

task.

You can view a specific ID definition or gapless sequence generator in the

View ID Definition / Gapless Sequence Generator

report.

You can use a combination of constants and variables when you create the definition to generate a sequence number in the

Sequence ID Format

field of these tasks:

Create ID Definition / Gapless Sequence Generator
Create ID Definition / Sequence Generator
Edit ID Definition / Gapless Sequence Generator
Edit ID Definition / Sequence Generator

In the

Sequence ID Format

field:

Include a sequence variable to ensure Workday generates unique sequence numbers automatically. You can use [seq], [Seq], or [SEQ].
You can use Workday-delivered or custom locale-dependent variables. You can access the
Create Custom Sequence Generator Locale
or
Edit Custom Sequence Generator Locale
tasks to define fixed-text strings for custom locale-dependent variables.

For the list of available variables, see Reference: Sequence Generator Variables. Variables are case-sensitive, must be enclosed in square brackets, and can’t contain more than 4 consecutive identical letters. Date-related variables are evaluated based on the date the sequence number is generated.

Custom sequence generator locales enable you to define abbreviations or naming conventions for custom locale-dependent variables used in sequence generator definitions. For a list of the available custom locale-dependent variables, see Reference: Sequence Generator Variables. You can manage definitions for custom locale-dependent variables using these tasks and report:

Create Custom Sequence Generator Locale
Delete Custom Sequence Generator Locale
Edit Custom Sequence Generator Locale
View Custom Sequence Generator Locale

When creating or editing sequence generator definitions, you can use custom locale-dependent variables in the

Sequence ID Format

field of these tasks:

Create ID Definition / Gapless Sequence Generator
Create ID Definition / Sequence Generator
Edit ID Definition / Gapless Sequence Generator
Edit ID Definition / Sequence Generator

For Workday to evaluate the locale-dependent variables using a specific locale definition, select either a custom sequence generator locale or system locale from the

Sequence Generator Locale

prompt.

Selecting a specific locale ensures sequence numbers maintain a consistent format, regardless of the location or language preferences of the user who initiates the task that generates the sequence number. If no locale is selected, Workday evaluates locale-dependent variables based on the preferences of the initiating user.