Creating vendor forms

Vendor forms are BMC Remedy AR System objects that let you view and process external data using BMC Remedy AR System processes and workflow.

This topic contains the following details:

• • Vendor forms introduction
  • To create a vendor form using an ARDBC plug-in

Vendor forms introduction

Vendor forms allow AR System to present data from external sources as entries in an AR System form. When you create a vendor form, you can request a list of candidate forms or fields (preferred method) or you can enter the information yourself.

Vendor forms require you to have an ARDBC plug-in installed and configured. The ARDBC plug-in and the plug-in server handle data exchange between BMC Remedy AR System and the external data source. The AR System server maps the external data to fields in the vendor form, and the form displays the data. See ARDBC plug-ins introduction.

You can use vendor forms to do the following tasks:

• Implement workflow on creation and modification of external data.
• Execute escalations on external data.
• Access external data to populate search style character menus or table fields.

You can create a vendor form after you have built and installed your ARDBC plug-in, and configured your server to recognize it. For information about configuring your server to recognize a plug-in, see the Configuring after installation section.

The vendor form can be manipulated as a regular form type with the following exceptions:

• You can add only Required and Optional fields that correspond to actual columns in the data source. In addition, you can add a Display Only field only when the column name does not correspond to a column in the data source.

To create a vendor form using an ARDBC plug-in

1. In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, choose File > New > Vendor Form.
   The New Vendor Form Wizard appears.
2. Select the server on which you want to create the vendor form, and click Next.
3. Select the ARDBC plug-in to use in the list of Available Vendor Names, and click Next.
4. Choose a table from the list of Available Vendor Tables and click Next.
   Alternatively, type a table name in the Table field, click Validate, then click Next.

5. (optional) On the Field Selection page, choose a key column in the Key Field list box.
   The key column uniquely identifies the entries in your vendor form. Key values are mapped to the Request ID field on the Vendor Form.

   Note

   This step is not always optional as it depends on the plug-in that you are using to create your vendor form. For example, with LDAP plug-in, it is optional. If you create your own own plug-in wherein you override the initialize method and add the Request ID field to the Table field, then this step is mandatory.

6. In the Available Columns list on the Field Selection page, select columns to access in BMC Remedy AR System. Use the arrow buttons to move them to the Selected Columns list.
   
   New Vendor Form Wizard, Field Selection page
   
7. Click Finish to create the vendor form.

8. Use Developer Studio to edit the new form, then click File > Save.

   Note

   For information on creating a join form using a vendor form, see Requirements for creating a join form using a vendor form.

BMC Remedy AR System does not support Vendor form search if you have read-only database. For more information on using read-only database, see Using read-only database.