FPDS Query Library
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Approved By

Username of the individual or system account that approved the IDV transaction in FPDS. This is a free-text attribute, not a coded status value.

Family: IDV
Category: General
Data Type: string
Semantic Type: attribute
Mapping: flattened_fpds_xml_field
AI Confidence: high

Variable Overview

FPDS Query Variable
content__IDV__transactionInformation__approvedBy
Title
Approved By
FPDS Path
IDV/transactionInformation/approvedBy
Description
Username of the individual or system account that approved the IDV transaction in FPDS. This is a free-text attribute, not a coded status value.
Business Meaning
This field supports auditability and process oversight by showing who authorized a procurement action. Analysts use it to trace approval patterns, identify approving offices or users, and support reviews of delegation, workload, or unusual approval behavior.
Example Value
EPROCUREMENT.SYSADMIN.DLA
Observed Non-Null Count
3,872,106

FPDS Compare

FPDS Query Variable
content__IDV__transactionInformation__approvedBy
FPDS XML Path
IDV/transactionInformation/approvedBy
Mapping Type
flattened_fpds_xml_field
Comparison Summary
FPDS Query flattens the original nested FPDS XML path 'IDV/transactionInformation/approvedBy' into the SQL-ready variable 'content__IDV__transactionInformation__approvedBy'.

Use Cases

  • Dictionary lookup and field explanation
  • SQL filtering and grouping
  • Analytical reporting and reusable query building

Common Usage

  • approval tracing and audit support
  • grouping transactions by approver or approving account
  • spotting system or delegated approval patterns

Common Mistakes

  • assuming the value is always a human name rather than an account name
  • joining on this field without normalizing case or accounting for account aliases

Query Guidance

Use this field for grouping, filtering, and distinct-count analysis on the approving account. In SQL, compare with normalized text functions such as UPPER(trim(approvedBy)) when matching users, and combine with approval date or office fields if you need workflow analysis.

SQL Examples

Preview values

SELECT
    content__IDV__transactionInformation__approvedBy AS approved_by
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__IDV__transactionInformation__approvedBy IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 25

Top values

SELECT
    content__IDV__transactionInformation__approvedBy AS value,
    count() AS record_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__IDV__transactionInformation__approvedBy IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY value
ORDER BY record_count DESC
LIMIT 25

Each dictionary item includes SQL-ready examples generated alongside the variable metadata, allowing immediate use in FPDS Query for filtering, aggregation, and analysis.