Specifying dependent services

As a service catalog administrator or an internal service supplier administrator, you can add dependencies to new or existing services in BMC Digital Workplace Catalog.

When end users request the dependent (child) services in BMC Digital Workplace, they are prompted to also request the parent services that are mapped to these child services in BMC Digital Workplace Catalog. A dependent (child) service request can be completed only after a corresponding parent service request is completed. 

The following illustration shows the possible option of setting up the dependencies between services:

1. You can map a dependent child service to a parent service.
2. You can map multiple dependent child services to a parent service.
3. You can map a dependent child service to multiple dependent parent services.

Example: Checking dependent services while requesting an Internet of things (IoT) device

The following diagram shows a dependency definition that requires a user to fulfill two service requests before completing the IoT device service request. In this example, the user creates an IoT logger service request, and provides details for an existing IoT storage service request. 

Impact of service dependencies on actions in BMC Digital Workplace

When you add service dependencies, the following actions are changed or restricted in BMC Digital Workplace, so that the dependency works as expected:

Restricted availability of select service actions for BMC Digital Workplace Catalog users

Some of the actions are not available on services that are added as dependents, so that the dependency works as expected. For example, if the catalog administrator adds an unrequestable service as a dependent, end users will not be able to request the service. Also, end users will not be able to perform these actions on services after they have been added as dependents.

 ^{* Remove the service from the dependency mapping from all other services to perform these actions.}

To add a service as a dependency

1. Go to  Services > Services, and open a service.
2. Next to Workflows, click Edit.

3. Next to Dependency Mapping, click Add Service.

4. From the Service Catalog list, select one or more services, and click Add.

5. To set up the mapping of the variables in both parent and child services, click Add mapping.

6. Map the output variables of the parent service to the input variables of the child service you want to make dependent.

   Note

   Output and input variables are taken from the service workflows. A workflow of a parent service must necessarily include the output variables to make a dependency valid; A workflow of a child service must necessarily include the input variables to make the dependency valid. The workflows of the dependent services trigger each other by using the workflow variables.

   
   The following illustration shows an example of the output variables from a service workflow:

   

   The following illustration shows an example of the input variables from a service workflow:

   

   Notes

   • The total number of potential variable mappings is restricted to the number of inputs available in the service that you are editing. 

   • Each output variable of the dependent service can be used multiple times for mapping to input variables of the current service (or other services that depend on it), but each input variable of any service can be mapped only once to any output variable.

   To create input and output variables, see Adding process input variables to a workflow.

7. Verify that all the required mappings between the dependent service and current service are complete.
8. Click Save and Close.