Managing relationships between requests and other records

You can use the Relationships tab to create associations between releases and other application objects, for example, CI unavailability, configuration items, incidents, infrastructure changes, known errors, LDAP objects, problem investigations, other releases, and software library items. Relating application objects (such as CIs) to the release request lets you identify items that the release coordinator plans to address in the release.

The relations in a release request are informational only, and are not required to be part of any milestone of the release request. In addition, the application objects do not have to be Completed or Closed for this release to be Closed.

For more information about creating a relationship, see Defining relationships.

For more information, see Defining and managing relationships. The information about relationships in the context of change requests applies equally to release requests. Where exceptions exist, these are noted.

To search for request types and establish the relationship type

You can search for a request type (for example, Release or Infrastructure Change) and then establish a relationship (for example, Related to) to the release.

To search for releases and to relate them to the current release, use the following criteria: 

1. Open the change or release request from which to define the relationship, and then click the Relationships tab.
2. From the Request Type list at the bottom of the Relationships tab, select the type of application object to which to relate the current request.

3. In the search window for the request type, click the Use Advanced Search link and complete the search criteria tabs with the relevant query information (for example, the Deployment Type), and then click Search.
   The search form is displayed.

   Important

   The contents of the search form depend on the type of application object you chose in the Request Type list.

   The following figure displays an Advanced Search example on the Release Relationship Search form:

   

   
   

   Tip

   Enter as much information as possible in the search dialog box to reduce the overall number of records returned by the search. Matching results appear in a search results table.

4. From the search results table, select the request with which to create the relationship.
5. From the Relationship Type list at the bottom of the search dialog box, select the type of relationship to create (for example, Related to).
6. Click Relate, and then click OK to close the confirmation dialog box.
   The search window closes automatically. The related request is displayed in the Relationships table. To refresh the table, right-click in the table and select Refresh All in Table.

To define a relationship

Use the request types to define relationships. To view a list of request types to which you can relate releases and their available actions, along with their start and end dates, see Related request types for BMC Change Management and Release Management. The list varies depending on the other BMC Helix ITSM applications installed with Change Management.

1. Open the change or release request.

2. In the Quick Action area, click the arrow that is located next to Create Relationship to.
3. From the menu, select the type of record to which you want to relate the current record.

4. In the Search field of the dialog box that opens, type a search string.
   For example, if you are creating a relationship to an incident request about a printer that regularly goes offline, you might type printer offline. The search scans multiple fields in each record looking for a match, and returns a list of records that contain any of the words, printer, off, or line in one of the scanned fields.

   Important

   The keyword search is available only when BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management is installed with BMC Helix ITSM. If BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management is not installed, the Advanced Search is displayed. If the Advanced Search is displayed, in the search window for the request type, enter information about the search criteria tabs, and then click Search.

   The type of search dialog box that is displayed, depends on the type of record that you have selected from the menu. Try to enter as much information as possible in each type of search to reduce the overall number of records returned by the search. If, after using a more specific search string, the search returns too many records, consider using the advanced search. To do this, click Use Advanced Search, which opens a form in the search mode that is relevant to the type of relationship you are creating.

5. From the search results table, select the specific record to which you want to create the relationship.
6. From the Relationship Type list at the bottom of the search dialog box, select the type of relationship that you want to create.

   1. Click Relate to create the relationship.
      The specific list for Select a Relationship Type depends on the type of relationship you are creating. For example, if you are creating a relationship with another change request record, the list includes Related to. If you are creating a relationship with an incident request record, the list includes Related to, Caused, and Corrects. If you are creating a relationship with a known error, there are two relate buttons, Initiated by and Related to. When you create a related request from the Quick Actions area, the Relationships tab displays the Relationship Type as Created. However, when you perform a relationship search on Relationship tab, the Select a Relationship Type list in the search results does not include relationship type Created, because you are not creating a new request for the relationship, but relating the existing records.

7. Close the search dialog box.
   The related request types and relationship types are displayed in the Relationships table. Click Refresh from the right-click menu to refresh the table.

To view relationships

You can limit which relationships are displayed with the current change record. You can also limit the list of associated relationships by selecting Show Related <option>, for example, to see only Known Errors.

1. Open the change request, and then click the Relationships tab.
2. Select the entry from the Relationships table.

3. To view a specific request type, select it from the Show Related field.
   The list varies depending on the other applications you have installed with Change Management.

   Relationship	Description
   ALL	(If you have the corresponding application installed) Displays all the related assets, change requests, incidents, and CIs.
   CI Unavailability	This option is enabled only if BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management is installed. Displays the related CI unavailability tied to the change entry.
   Configuration Item	Displays the related CIs.
   Incident	(If Incident Management is installed) Displays the related incidents.
   Infrastructure Change	Displays the related change records.
   Known Error	(If Problem Management is installed) Displays the related known errors.
   LDAP Object	Displays the related LDAP objects.
   Problem Investigation	(If Problem Management is installed) Displays the related problems.
   Project	Displays related projects.
   Release	Displays the related release objects.
   Software Library Item	Displays the related software library items; that is, the location where the master copy of the software program and its version are stored.

   The related items are displayed in the table.

4. Click the  icon.
   You can now view the details of the related item.
   For example, if you select an incident relationship and click the  icon, the Incident Request form opens, displaying information about the Incident.
5. Double-click a relationship entry to open the associated form and modify the record, depending on your configuration.
   For relationships external to Change Management (such as an incident or a problem), you must have the required view permissions for the BMC Helix ITSM application to view the record details.

To copy relationships

When you define a relationship between the current change and another change, the other change request might also have one or more changes related to it. When you open the Relationships tab from the Copy Related Relationships form, you can see the related change's other relationships. If you determine that any of these other relationships need to be related to the current change, you can define the relationship from this form.

This feature helps you more thoroughly document the change relationships.

1. Open the change request, and then click the Relationships tab.
2. Select a change related to the current change.
3. From the Quick Actions list, select Get Related Relationships, and then click Execute. 
   The Copy Related Relationships form is displayed, containing a table of all other records related to the record you selected in Step 2.

4. From the table of related items, select the other items to relate to the current change.

   To view a detailed description of an item in the table, select it, and then click View. Use this option to help determine whether to relate the other item to the current change.

5. In the Relationship Type field, select the type of relationship to define, and then click Select.
   The contents of the Relationship Type list depend on the type of related item you are using to define the relationship.
   The newly created relationship appears in the Relationships table. For more information, see Performing additional functions with relationships.

To perform additional functions with relationships

You can perform the following additional functions with relationships.

To modify a relationship

1. On the Change form, click the Relationships tab and select the change with the relationship to modify.
2. From the Quick Actions menu, select Modify Relationship Type, and then click Execute.
3. Modify the required information.
4. Click Save.

To remove a relationship

1. On the Change form, click the Relationships tab and select the change with the relationship to remove.
2. Click Remove.

To copy relationships to a CI that is related to the change

1. On the Change form, click the Relationships tab and select the corresponding CI relationship entry from the Relationships table.
2. From the Quick Actions menu, select Get Related Relationships, and then click Execute.
3. On the Relationships for Configuration Item dialog box, select the item to relate to the current change.
4. Select a Relationship Type, and then click Select.

To relate a change request to an LDAP object

When you work with a change request, you might be required to define a related LDAP object. For example, to enable seamless authentication with the Policy Manager, you can relate a change request to an LDAP server where the permission rights are stored.

1. On the Change form, click the Relationships tab.
2. Under Create Relationships, select LDAP Objects from the Search list and click the search icon.
3. On the LDAP Search dialog, select a LDAP Object type and name, and then click Search.
4. From the search results, select the LDAP object to relate to the change request, and then click Relate.
   The change request and the related LDAP item are displayed on the Relationships tab.

To relate a change request to an storage location

When you work with a change request, you can define a related storage location. For example, you can view related storage locations, like different versions of Microsoft Office along with their license contracts. Storage locations are also used by the Policy Manager to determine the location of software to deploy.

1. On the Change form, click the Relationships tab.
2. Under Create Relationships, select Software Library Item from the Search list and click the search icon.
3. On the Software Library Item Search dialog, enter the search criteria, and then click Search.
4. From the search results, select the storage location to relate to the change request, and then click Relate.
   The change request and the related storage location are displayed on the Relationships tab.