This documentation supports the 21.02 version of BMC Helix Innovation Studio.

To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Comparison between Developer Studio and BMC Helix Innovation Studio capabilities

Use this topic to know the comparison of terminologies in Developer Studio and and the details about the capabilities provided in BMC Helix Innovation Studio.

Capability comparison

Capability in Developer Studio

Capability in BMC Helix Innovation Studio

Regular Form

Record definition

For more information, see capabilities of record definitions.

Join Form

Record definition. Also note that Regular Record Definitions can use inheritance which is an alternative to Joins for some cases.

For more information, see capabilities of record definitions.

Vendor Form

No direct equivalent. However, custom Java code can easily be integrated with business logic to fetch data from the other data sources. Innovation Studio also supports Web API to fetch data from standard REST APIs. For more information, see Creating a REST API web service request definition.

SQL Form

No direct equivalent. Use of direct SQL is not supported.

Display Only Form

Innovation Studio decouples model definition from views. However, it provides a designer for a drag and drop complex view designs.

For more information, see capabilities of view definitions.

Form View

Record Editor Component within a View. For more information, see capabilities of view definitions.

Table Field

Grid Component within a View
Client Workflow (Active Links, Guides)
  • Built-in View Behaviors
    • Action Button Components (open view, refresh, set property, delete record, and more)
    • Built-in configurable behaviors (Select Group, Conditional Hide, Conditional Disable)
    • Record Editor value expressions to set initial values
  • Custom View Components
    • Can use expressions to bind behavior to other component's values

Server Workflow (Filters, Escalations, Guides)

Associations (mainly for archiving)

Association

For more information, see capabilities of associations.

Search Menu

Named list

For more information, see capabilities of lists.

Setting Form

Configuration

For more information, see capabilities of configurations.

Capabilities of record definitions

Following are the capabilities provided by record definitions in BMC Helix Innovation Studio:

  • Provides a cleaner implementation of records. The fields defined as part of the record definition are truly part of the record 
    as defined by the business process and not used to store workflow variables or other information.
  • Provides easy-to-use interface
  • Recommends using GUID for Record ID.
  • Inherit or extend a record definition with and without shared data.
  • Supports overlays.
  • Supports export of record data. You can export all or no data to the application bundle.

The following image shows the Records tab:

Inheriting record definitions

BMC Helix Innovation Studio lets you inherit or extend a record definition, and provides the following capabilities:

  • Lets you inherit record fields, rules, permissions, and associations with or without the shared data.
  • Shares a single database T table with the shared data.
  • Structures the record definitions as a class model.

The following image shows an example of inheriting a Vehicle record definition:

The following image shows the properties that you can set while inheriting a record definition:

The following image provides an example of the fields available in a base record definition, and the fields available in an inherited or extended record definition. Consider the following items:

  • The 'Vehicle' record definition is the base record definition, and 'Transport' and 'Automobile' record definitions are the inherited or extended record definitions.
  • For shared data, you must always use your own specified field IDs so that they do not clash with the base T table. In the example, the Vehicle T table. 
  • Although Automobile and Transport are inherited record definitions, the inherited record definitions can have their own set of unique fields. You can create views, rules, processes, and association definitions that reference these record definitions. 

Packaging data of record definitions

BMC Helix Innovation Studio lets you package data of record definitions by providing the following capabilities:

  • Lets you package data with an application bundle automatically. The supporting record definitions, such as the record definitions used in Named Lists, can automatically have all their data included with the Application bundle deployment process.
  • Lets you export all or no data to the application bundle.

The following image shows how you can export data of a record definition:

Applying security labels to record definitions

BMC Helix Innovation Studio lets you apply security labels to record definitions. The security labels make permissions much easier for all users to understand. Groups are automatically created and assigned to Field ID 1 for row-level security. This dynamic permission can then be applied to other objects.

The following image shows how you can apply a security label to a record definition:

Capabilities of view definitions

Following are the capabilities provided by view definitions:
  • Separates view definition from record definition. The view definition represents the view in Model–view–controller (MVC) model.
  • Provides easily-built user interfaces that can present data from multiple record definitions.
  • Supports creation of view components for any functions or user interface that is required by your business process.
  • Supports different modal types, such as centered dialog and fly out blades.
  • Overlays view to support tailoring.
  • Replaces the active link workflow with view components and their respective properties.

The following image shows the Views tab:

Components in view definitions 

Following are a few of the view components that you can use for building Digital Service application UIs: 

View componentFunction
Action ButtonAdd buttons with actions to your view definitions.
Record editorEdit record data where you pick and choose fields to be displayed
Record gridDisplay record fields in a tabular format on UI
ContainersControl visibility and styling. This is equivalent to panels but not a page holder.
Rich textAdd styled text to the view definition.
AssociationsDisplay associated data in a grid format based on your defined Association definitions

Extending view components

The application developer can create new or extend existing view components for any advanced UI requirements for your business process. The view component palette in View designer is designed to be extensible for this purpose.

Capabilities of rule definitions

Following are the capabilities of rule definitions:

  • Executes the rules by using a variety of triggers that run actions similar to AR workflow. 
    For example, you can execute the rules after Create, Update, Delete, Merge and Timer Event
  • Creates the rules for validating and for calling process definitions.
  • Extends the custom rule actions by creating your own pallet actions

For example, you want to use all the custom data functions available with Oracle DB today. Earlier, the Remedy developer had to create Select * from Dual type of SQL filter, which was very complex for an application business analyst. In BMC Helix Innovation Studio, the application developer can create a custom action allowing this function to provide to a business user.

The following image shows the Rules tab:

Capabilities of process definitions

Following are the capabilities of process definitions:

  • Provides graphical implementation, which makes it easy to build and maintain workflows
  • Defines process models by using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) 2.0 standards.
  • Provides clean delineation of business process workflow versus other workflows. In contrast, the AR Filter workflow used to perform process workflow and implement other non-process rules such as validations.
  • Defines and uses process variables within a process flow. You are not required to create display only fields on record definitions.
  • Lets you monitor the processes to track the system health.
  • Extends process actions by providing simple drag and drop interface for creating easy-to-follow business logic. You can also create extensible custom process actions for additional features to suit your business requirements.
  • Insert process variables for inputs and outputs of process actions that can be used by subsequent actions. No more clutter of the data model with display only fields.

The following image shows the Processes tab:

Capabilities of associations

Following are the capabilities of associations:

  • Provides direct and indirect linking of record definitions
  • Associates records easily using process actions.
  • Creates associations with descriptors, such as parent of, child of, consists of, part of, and so on.
  • Automatically create a foreign key on secondary record definition for direct associations.
  • Automatically capture indirect association data in system record definition.
  • If a parent record with the Cascade Delete flag set to True is deleted, the child records are automatically deleted. If a parent record with the Cascade Delete flag set to False is deleted, the child records are not deleted; however, the foreign key in child records is set to NULL. 
  • Use associations for archival purposes.

The following image shows the Associations tab:

Capabilities of named lists

Following are the capabilities of named lists:

  • Lets you easily design and extend the list.
  • Provides modern UI for items such as a multi-select menu.

The following image shows the Named Lists tab:

Capabilities of configurations

Following are the capabilities of configurations in BMC Helix Innovation Studio:

  • Defines a common registry of settings for an application that will be stored in a central key or value repository with a common user interface so that all settings look and function the same way. This definition of settings metadata will get bundled with the application so that it can be deployed with the application.
  • Lets the application developer obtain the settings metadata from AppLocalStorage for consuming the settings. The metadata can be used as a setting to drive Process workflow and custom client workflow as desired.

The following image shows the Configurations tab:

Related topic

Navigating BMC Helix Innovation Studio

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