Managing Change Calendar preferences

As an administrator, you can perform the following actions to customize the Calendar:

• Customize the display preferences like the default filter, view, and duration
• Add or remove fields to be displayed on InfoTips
• Select the color scheme field and customize the colors
• Manage custom queries
• Manage data source status settings
• Set auto-collision

To manage the Calendar administrator preferences

Administrator preferences apply to all Calendar users as default settings. You can define display preferences, customize the information that is displayed on the InfoTip when you hover over an event, define custom colors for selected fields, and create custom queries. Custom queries defined in the administrator preferences are listed as Predefined Queries in the Filters & Queries pane. 

Users can define user-specific display preferences that are restricted to the user and take precedence over the administrator preferences. Users can create custom queries specific to their requirements. User-defined custom queries are listed under User Defined Queries in the Filters & Queries pane.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select one of the following options and then click Open:
   • Foundation > Advanced Options > Calendar Configuration
     
   • Change Management > Advanced Options > Change Calendar

   • Release Management > Advanced Options > Calendar Configuration
     The Calendar Configuration form appears.
     

     If you are using Internet Explorer 11, you must configure the values for the fields described in the following figure:

     

3. Select the data source. 
   The data source defines the set of forms that are used to populate the data. From the list, you can select change, release, incident, or problem as the primary data source preference. 

4. Select Default to use the selected option as the default data source.

   Important

   You must enable the data source before you can set it as the default data source.

   The Company and Primary forms fields are auto-populated with the appropriate values.

5. Open the Preferences tab to define the following data display preferences:

   Field name	Description
   Query	Select the default filter to apply to the Calendar data. The filter lists the predefined queries and user-created custom queries.
   View	Select the preferred view. You have the following options: Calendar—View the calendar events on a calendar view. Eventlist—View a list of the calendar events. Timeline—View the calendar events and records related to them across a timeline.
   Timespan in	Select the duration (Days, Weeks, or Months) for which the calendar events are displayed.
   Status	Select a status for the selected data source: Proposed, Enabled, Offline, Obsolete, or Delete. The status must be set to Enabled for the data source to be marked as a default data source.  If the data source should not be available in BMC Helix ITSM, select Delete.
   Auto collision	(Applicable only for changes and releases) Select this option to enable the auto-collision detection feature in the Calendar. The Calendar displays a collision indicator on the changes that have collisions detected.  Important: To display the collisions in the Calendar for any locale other than the English language, make sure that you manually enable this option for the required locale.

6. Open the InfoTip Template tab and customize the fields that are included in the InfoTip that is displayed when you hover over an event on the calendar.

   Section	Description
   All Fields	Lists the data source fields that are not currently displayed on the InfoTip. To add a field from this list to the InfoTip, select the field and click >.
   InfoTip Fields	Lists the data source fields that are displayed on the InfoTip. To remove a field from the InfoTip, select the field and click <.
   InfoTip Template	Displays the template file that includes details of the selected fields displayed on the InfoTip. If you add a field to or remove a field from the InfoTip Fields section, you must include or remove the field details from this template file and upload it again for your changes to take effect.  For example, if you add the Product Name field to the InfoTip Fields section, you must perform the following steps: Click Save to Disk to download and save the attached template. Add the following entry to the file and save it:  <tr><td class=\"toolTipLabel\">{1000002268Label}:</td><td>{1000002268}</td></tr> 1000002268 is the displayed Field ID for the Product Name field. The field ID is displayed with the field name in the All Fields and InfoTip Fields lists. Click Add to select, upload, and replace the existing template file with the file that you updated.

7. Open the Colors tab and select field and color preferences for the calendar data. Select the field for which you want to define the color scheme from the Color scheme based on field. 

   Data source	Available fields
   Change Request	Change Reason Change Request Status Class Impact Priority Risk Level Urgency
   Release Request	Business Justification Deployment Type Impact Milestone Priority Release Status Release Type Risk Level Urgency
   Incident Record	Impact Incident Type Priority Reported Source Status Urgency
   Problem Record	Impact Investigation Driver Priority Status Urgency

   The valid values for the selected field are displayed in the table on the tab. 

8. To change the color value of a field, select the field from the table, select a color from the color panel, and click Change Color. 

9. Open the Manage Queries tab and perform the following steps:
   

   1. Click Create Query to define a new query, or select an existing query from the Query Selection list and add or modify the following query details:

      Field name	Description
      Query Tier	Select or enter up to three levels of categorization for your query. The Query Tier fields allow three levels of categorization for your search queries. Important: If you are creating a new query with an existing tier value, you must add the same level of tier values for the new query, as defined for the existing tier value. For example, you create a query with Tier 1 = Change, Tier 2 = Status, and Tier 3 = Open. Any new queries you define with Tier 1 = Change must include Tier 2 and Tier 3 values, and any new queries you define with Tier 1 = Change and Tier 2 = Status must include a Tier 3 value.
      Data Source	This field is automatically populated depending on the data source selected.
      Form	Select the form that you want to use to build your filter query. The Form list displayed depends on the data source selected. For Change Management, the following forms are available: Change and Associations—Performs a search of change records and associated records Change and Impacted Areas—Performs a search of change records and related impacted areas Change Management Main Form—Performs a basic change record search Release Manifest to Change Association—Performs a search for change records included within a release manifest For Release Management, the following forms are available: Release and Associations—Performs a search for release records and associated records Release Management Main Form—Performs a basic search of the release records
      Build Qualification	Click the (+) icon to add search criteria to the defined filters based on the fields from the data source form. Use the Advanced Qualification builder to define the search criteria by using a combination of valid operators, wildcards, and keywords and fields found on the selected form. The Advanced Qualification dialog box includes to the following items: Operators and symbols required to create the search query The Keywords field, which enables you to select basic BMC Helix ITSM keywords The Fields option, which displays the database name of the fields available on the selected data source form. Use the operators, symbols, and fields to create your query, and then click Select to save the query.
      Enable status	Select this option to enable the query.

   2. Click Save Query to save the new query or updates made to the existing query.
      Any new queries that you create are listed under the query tiers that you defined when creating the query in the Query selection list of the Manage Queries dialog box. 
   3. Log off and log on again to view the new queries in the Queries > Predefined Queries list of the Filters & Queries pane.
   4. (Optional) To delete an existing query from the Query Selection list, select it and click Delete.
10. Click Save to save your changes.

To manage your display preferences

Define your display preferences for each data source according to your requirements. You can set the display preferences to display data for a selected data filter, a specific calendar view, and for a specific duration, and define preferences of the type and level of business events.

1. In the top-right area of the Calendar console, click the Settings icon and select Preferences.
   

2. In the Display Preferences dialog box, select the following preferences:

   Field name	Description
   Data Source	Select the name of the primary data source for which you are defining preferences. To make this data source the default data source, select Default. Only one primary data source can be set to default, so when you set a data source as default, any existing default data source will no longer be the default one. The data source defines the set of forms that are used to populate the data. From the list, you can select the primary data source preference — change, release, incident, or problems.
   Timespan in	Select the duration in Days, Weeks, or Months for which the calendar events are displayed.
   Default View	Select the preferred view. You have the following options: Calendar—View the calendar events on a calendar view. Eventlist—View a list of the calendar events. Timeline—View the calendar events and records related to them across a timeline.
   Query	Select a query to filter the data. Select the preferred status from By Status to filter based on the status of the data source. If you have defined any custom filters for the data source, you can select them from the list.
   Business Events	Global—This setting is especially useful in a multitenancy environment. The global flag retrieves business events with Global as the company identifier. If selected, all business events are shown. If cleared, only business events local to the user's company are shown. Level—This setting retrieves the level of business event indicated. If no level is defined (that is, it contains no value), all business events of all levels are retrieved. Important: To create a business event, select Functions > Time Segments > Create Business Events in the Change console.
   Outages	Select the type of outages (planned and unplanned) that you want to see in the Calendar.

3. Click Save.

To limit the number of records

You can define the maximum number of records that appear in the different views on the Calendar. 

1. Log on to Mid Tier as a AR System Administrator.

2. Open the NGC:Config form by using the Mid Tier URL. 
   For example, http://midTier/arsys/forms/arHostName/NGC:Config
   Replace the variables in this URL with the values in your environment. 

   Important

   By default, the NGC:Config form contains only one record. Do not create records in this form.

   Do not modify any values except the ones related to limits.

3. Search the available record. 
   The options displayed vary based on the browser you are using.
4. Change the appropriate values as required.
   For example, if you want to display 200 records in Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 for the Timeline view, select the appropriate field and set the value to 200.
5. Click Save.

Examples of setting Calendar preferences

You can set user and administrator preferences for the Calendar. Some examples of these settings are provided below.

Example - Setting administrator preferences

Allen has upgraded to the latest version of BMC Helix ITSM. When he was using the earlier version of the solution, he used the Change Calendar extensively to manage events across the organization.

Allen wants to review and update the default administrator preferences for the Calendar. He wants to define the following preferences:

• View all open changes for the month in the Calendar view.
• View change requests and related tasks on the calendar, color coded on the basis of their Class.

Allen performs the following procedure to set the administrator preferences.

1. On the Custom Configuration tab of the Application Administration Console, he selects Change Management > Advanced Options > Change Calendar.
2. From Data Source, he selects Global > Change Request.

3. On the Preferences tab, he selects the following values:

   Field name	Selection
   Query	By Status > All Open Changes
   View	Calendar
   Timespan in	Months

   
   
   
   

4. On the Colors tab, he selects Class from Color scheme based on.
5. For each field value:
   1. Allen selects the field value from the table.

   2. He enters the # value from the following table

      Field value	Color
      Emergency	#FF2C01
      Expedited	#A62F2B
      Latent	#3CA968
      Normal	#4963CA
      No Impact	# F0FF26
      Standard	#38CAB7

      
      
      
      

   3. He clicks Change Color.
6. He clicks Save.
7. He logs out and logs back on to the application.

When users open the calendar, they see the following items, as shown in the following figure:

a. The Calendar displays all open change requests for the month for users who have not defined any user-specific calendar display settings.
b. The Legend displays the colors defined for the Class field.
c. The change request is color-coded based on the value of the Class field.

Example - Setting user preferences

Mary wants to open the calendar to view all changes for a week that have not yet been scheduled. She also wants to view any tasks related to the changes.

To set her preferences, Mary performs the following procedure:

1. On the Calendar, Mary selects Settings > Preferences.
2. On the Preferences dialog box, from Data source she selects Global > Change Request. She selects the Default option to make this her default selection.

3. She selects the following values:

   Field name	Selection
   Timespan in	Weeks
   Default view	Timeline
   Query	By Status > All Pre-Scheduled Changes

   
   
   She selects the Timeline view so that she can view all the changes and any tasks related to them in the same view. Because she has chosen the Timeline view, she does not change the settings for Business Events.

4. She clicks Save.
5. She logs out and logs back on to the application.
6. The next time Mary opens the Change Calendar, she sees the following information, as shown in the following figure:
   1. The calendar displays all prescheduled change requests for the week in the Timeline view.
   2. The Timeline view also displays related tasks for the change requests.
   3. The Legend that is displayed and the color code of the change requests is based on the Class field, as defined in the Administrator Preferences.
      
      

Example - Defining advanced qualifications for the Change Calendar queries

Using forms and defining advanced qualification criteria, you can create advanced search criteria for the calendar queries. This feature enables you to search for data according to your requirements.

Viewing data for change request with Site of Impact Areas as Americas

Allen wants to view Change records that impact sites in the Americas. He creates a custom query for Change Management that searches not only change request data but also data for Impacted Areas.

To create the query Allen performs the following procedure:

1. On the Change Calendar, from the Settings menu, Allen clicks Manage Queries.
2. On the Manage Queries dialog box, he clicks Create to create a new query.
3. In the Query Name, he enters Change Impact for Tier 1 and Site for Tier 2.
4. From Data source name, he selects Global > Change Request because he is creating the query for Change Management.
5. From Data source form, he selects Change And Impacted Areas because he wants to search for change record information and impacted area information.
6. For Qualification Builder, he clicks the (+) sign to build the qualification for his query.
7. On the Advanced Qualification Builder dialog box, from the Fields list he selects Impacted Site. The form field name is added to the Qualification box.
8. He clicks the = operator.
9. In the Qualification box, he adds "Americas". The constructed query is as follows:
   'Related Site' = "Americas"

10. He clicks Select to add the query to the qualification. 
    
    

11. On the Manage Queries dialog box, Allen clicks Save Query. The query is displayed under My Queries.
    
    

12. Allen clicks Close.
13. He then logs out of the system and logs back on.

14. He opens the Change Calendar. The saved query is displayed under Queries > My Queries > Change Impact > Site of the Filters & Queries pane. 
    
    

    When Allen runs the query by selecting it from the list, the calendar data displays only change requests for which the Site under Impacted Area is Americas.

Viewing data for a business critical CI called Email Services

1. From Predefined Queries, select By Service.
2. On the Search Change Requests by Related Configuration Item dialog box:
   1. Under Change Requests, select Critical from the Priority field.

   2. Under Service, select Email Services from the Name field. A service with this name must exist in the system.
      
      

3. To save this query, enter a name for this query in the Saved queries field and click Save Query.
4. Click OK to run this query.

Example - Defining colors for Risk Level

Allen, the Change Manager, wants the Calendar color code requests based on their risk level, so that high risk requests can be easily recognized. He performs the following steps to define colors for different risk levels.

1. On the Custom Configuration tab of the Application Administration Console, he selects Change Management > Advanced Options > Change Calendar.
2. From Data Source, he selects Global > Change Request.
3. On the Colors tab, he selects the Risk Level field.
   The table lists all valid values for the Risk Level field.
4. He selects each risk level value and then picks the following colors for it:
   • Risk Level 1 – Pick a shade of Green (#A5D796)
   • Risk Level 2 – Pick a shade of Blue (#3366CC)
   • Risk Level 3 – Pick a shade of Yellow (#E3B52A)
   • Risk Level 4 – Pick a shade of Orange (#DA7706)

   • Risk Level 5 – Pick a shade of Red (#B90D0D) 
     
     
     
     

5. He saves his changes.
   Allen must log out and log on for the changes to take effect.

When the calendar data is displayed, the record is displayed in the color defined for the risk level value of that record as shown in the following figure: