This documentation supports the 21.3 version of BMC Helix Innovation Studio.

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


BMC

BMC Helix Innovation Studio 21.3

All versions

BMC Helix Innovation Studio (formerly known as BMC Helix Platform) is a part of the single-tenant BMC Helix Innovation Suite that consolidates the capabilities of  Action Request System Open link and BMC Helix Innovation Studio.

BMC Helix Innovation Studio helps you develop, build, deploy, and use applications on cloud (SaaS) and on-premises environments. It also helps you create and automate business processes without learning programming languages or complex development tools. 

Release notes and notices
updated 05 Dec

Learn what’s new or changed for BMC Helix Innovation Studio 21.3, including new features, urgent issues, documentation updates, and fixes or patches.

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Related topics

Known and corrected issues

Support information

Action Request System release notes Open link

BMC Helix ITSM release notes Open link

BMC Helix Virtual Agent release notes Open link

BMC Helix Business Workflows release notes Open link

The following updates have been added since the release of the space:

DateSummaryReference
September 5, 2023

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 10 and issues that remain open

Patch 10 for version 21.3 is available for on-premises customers and SaaS subscribers. The following updates are available in this patch:

  • Improve data retrieval performance by selecting a row level security algorithm
  • Support for Kubernetes 1.25 and OpenShift 4.12
  • Support for Ingress 1.7.0 and Helm 3.11
  • Additional products available for on-premises installation
21.3 patches
June 15, 2023

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 9 and issues that remain open

Patch 9 for version 21.3 is available for SaaS subscribers.

21.3 patches
January 23, 2023

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 8 and issues that remain open

Patch 8 for version 21.3 is available for SaaS subscribers.

21.3 patches
December 20, 2022

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 7 and issues that remain open

Patch 7 for version 21.3 is available for SaaS subscribers.

21.3 patches
December 1, 2022

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 6 and issues that remain open

Patch 6 for version 21.3 is available for on-premises customers. The following updates are available in this patch:

  • Support for Kubernetes and OpenShift
  • Updated support for Ingress controller
  • BMC Deployment Engine automation
  • Support for self-signed and CA signed certificates
  • Rebrand PWA screens
  • Synchronize articles in multiple languages from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management or BMC Helix Business Workflows Knowledge Management to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround
  • Separate migration options for synchronizing knowledge articles
21.3 patches
October 3, 2022

Updates to Patch 6 for version 21.3 are available for SaaS subscribers.

This update includes support for rebranding Progressive Web Application (PWA) screens according to your company's standards and requirements.

21.3 patches
September 2, 2022

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 6 and issues that remain open

Patch 6 for version 21.3 is available for SaaS subscribers. Updates available in 21.3 patch 6:

  • Use separate migration options to synchronize folders and content from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management or BMC Helix Business Workflows Knowledge Management to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround
  • Perform partial migration of content from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management or BMC Helix Business Workflows Knowledge Management to prevent articles updated in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround from being overridden
  • Have article flags and flagging attributes such as date and comment automatically synchronized from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management and BMC Helix Business Workflows Knowledge Management to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround
  • Have your localized knowledge articles in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management or BMC Helix Business Workflows Knowledge Management automatically synchronized to the corresponding translation languages in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround
  • Have your knowledge articles migrated significantly faster from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management or BMC Helix Business Workflows Knowledge Management to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround
21.3 patches
August 1, 2022

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 5 and issues that remain open

Patch 5 for version 21.3 is available for on-premises customers. Updates available in 21.3 patch 5:

  • Execute arbitrary commands by using the Run Process action

  • Support for Amazon EKS, GKE and OKE platforms
  • Rollback BMC Helix ITSM deployment
  • Enhancements to Fluent Bit deployment
  • Enhancements to Support Assistant tool
21.3 patches
May 23, 2022

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 5 and issues that remain open

Patch 5 for version 21.3 is available for SaaS subscribers. 

21.3 patches
March 23, 2022

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 4 and issues that remain open

Patch 4 for version 21.3 is available for both SaaS subscribers and on-premises customers. Updates available in 21.3 patch 4:

  • (On-premises only) The Support Assistant tool is available as a sidecar container with non-root user privileges.
  • (On-premises only) Support for four different deployment size templates.
  • Support for PostgreSQL 13.5 database with disk level encryption.
  • Documentation improvements for the following use cases:
    • Integrating third-party products with BMC Helix Innovation Suite by using REST APIs Open link
    • Using Email Engine to enable email driven business processes Open link
    • Using Approval Server to automate the approval-driven business processes Open link
    • Using BMC Helix Innovation Suite to enable business process automation Open link  
21.3 patches
February 8, 2022

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 3 and issues that remain open

Patch 3 for version 21.3 is available for SaaS subscribers. 

21.3 patches
January 20, 2022

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 2 and issues that remain open

Patch 2 for version 21.3 is available for SaaS subscribers. Updates available in 21.3 patch 2:

  • Seamless authentication of users from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround.
  • Improved parity between knowledge articles in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management and BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround by synchronizing knowledge article attributes.
  • BMC Service Request Management is available only for upgrade scenarios.
21.3 patches
January 5, 2022

Patch 2 for version 21.3 is available for on-premises customers. This patch offers a support for BMC Helix ITSM Insights and BMC Helix Dashboards deployment.

21.3 patches
November 19, 2021

Issues that were corrected by 21.3 patch 1 and issues that remain open

Updates available in 21.3 patch 1:

  • Use content packages to integrate with Blue Prism and UiPath to automate routine tasks
  • Use AutomationEdge callbacks to receive real-time event notifications
21.3 patches
October 4, 2021

BMC Helix Innovation Studio has been enhanced in the following areas:

  • Leverage BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by MuleSoft to easily integrate out-of-the-box and custom applications with other external applications. 

  • Track user activity in BMC Helix Innovation Studio applications

  • Use BMC Helix Dashboards as the default platform for dashboards and viewing reports
  • Support for unified platform user license management capability in BMC Helix Innovation Suite
  • Copy application definitions to your target application
  • Improve the security of BMC Helix Innovation Studio applications
  • Facilitate automation of tasks by using RPA tools

See also Deprecated features.

21.3 enhancements

Introduction to BMC Helix Innovation Studio

The video shows an older version of BMC Helix Innovation Studio. The previous product name was BMC Helix Platform. Although there might be minor changes in the UI, the overall functionality remains the same:


Tailoring applications and automating processes

 

Customize applications according to your business processes.

If you are an Application business analyst this is a good place to start.

Enabling services

 

Customize your applications by using Cognitive service, Approval library, and Connectors

Integrating

 

Integrate BMC Helix Innovation Studio with other BMC products or third-party applications to perform specific use cases in BMC Helix Innovation Studio.

Setting up and going live

 

Set up BMC Helix Innovation Studio environment and tailor the environment according to your organizational requirements.

Administering

 

Set up users, manage roles, set up foundation data, assign licenses, submit user reported issues, and create and deploy codeless applications with minimal programming knowledge or dependency on developers.

If you are an Administrator this is a good place to start.

Developing applications

 

Develop codeless applications with minimal programming.

Develop code-based applications by using the BMC Helix Innovation Studio SDK, and Maven archetypes to extend the BMC Helix Innovation Studio to create custom components, custom REST APIs, and so on.

If you are a Developer, this is a good place to start.

Troubleshooting

 

Resolve issues with your environment, find solutions to problems while developing or tailoring applications, look up error messages or logs.

Developer Community

Developer community

BMC Helix Community

Communities

Developer Portal

Developer Portal

Videos

Videos

Podcasts

Podcasts

Marketplace

Marketplace

PDFs, videos, and API documentation

This topic describes and links to PDFs, videos, and other documents that support this product release. If the ready-made PDFs of this space do not satisfy your requirements, you can export a custom PDF. 

or register to view the contents of this page.

 

Videos

The following list displays the topics that contain videos that supplement or replace the text-based documentation:


Frequently asked questions

This topic provides information that supplements the BMC Helix Innovation Studio documentation.

Frequently asked questions

This topic provides answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about BMC Helix Innovation Studio.

  • Design and develop your innovative ideas
  • Build tailorable definitions for your app so that it can be safely customized by your end users
  • String together the UI of your application
  • Define your data model and relationships
  • Configure and tailor existing apps using BMC Helix Innovation Studio
  • Create new workflows, processes or UI using designers
  • Design and develop new custom components

When you first request a Sandbox (on the Developer Portal Open link ), you are provisioned two accounts, developer account and administrator account. By default, the developer account is developer and administrator is admin (as shown in the image below). You can specify the account names and passwords.


You can changes the usernames for these accounts and specify the passwords for these accounts. The passwords you specify must meet the following criteria:

  • Passwords must consist of at least one uppercase character and at least one lower case character.
  • Passwords must consist of at least one numeric value.
  • Passwords must consist of at least one special character (any of the following special character ~!@#$%^&*_-).
  • The length of the passwords must be between 8 to 30 characters.


Yes, you still need to sign-up for the program to ensure you benefit from the exclusive Developer content and the Personal Sandbox that will be available only as part of the program.

No, that is not a pre-requisite to sign up for the program.

The personal sandbox you get is only a Development Environment. This does not have a Production Environment with a run-time available to deploy applications in the cloud at this time. 

You have unlimited access to the sandbox as long as you use it. The sandboxes will be reclaimed by BMC if there is a week's worth of inactivity. You will have to request a new sandbox once your sandbox has been reclaimed.

You can reset the developer password by using Sandbox details page.

  1. On the Sandbox details page Open link , navigate to Manage Your Sandbox > RESET PASSWORD, click RESET PASSWORD.
  2. Select Innovation Suite Developer, enter the new password, and reset the password.

The following image shows the Manage Your Sandbox section:

BMC Helix Innovation Studio supports the following languages:

  • German (de)
  • Japanese (ja)
  • Russian (ru)
  • Spanish (es)
  • French (fr)
  • Italian (it)
  • Korean (ko)
  • Brazilian Portuguese (pt-br)
  • Chinese (zh-cn)
  • Swedish (sv)
  • Dutch (nl)

The following table describes how users can select the required language from various browsers:

BrowserOperating SystemSteps to change the language
Google ChromeWindows, apple MacOSOpen Settings, search for language settings, and add the required language.
Mozilla FirefoxWindows, apple MacOSNavigate to Open Menu and click Options. Search for language settings and add the required language.
EdgeWindows

In Control Panel, in the Clock, Language, and Region option, add the required languages in the order of preference.

You must download the install pack of the added languages and then restart the computer.

BMC Helix Innovation Studio also provides localized error messages in the supported locales.

You can reset the Foundation Data user password by using BMC Helix Innovation Studio.

  1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio as a developer.
    For more information about the roles and their permissions in , see Roles and permissions.
  2. On the Administration tab, click Administration > Foundation Data > Manage People > All People.

  3. Select the user for whom you want to change the password, click Edit, and navigate to the Basic tab.
  4. On the Basic tab, click Access Details.
  5. In Password, enter the new password, and click Save.

If you encounter the error ERROR 624 User account locked, when you login to BMC Helix Innovation Studio, navigate to the Sandbox details page Open link , and click Unlock Account.


Example of how cognitive test metrics are calculated

You have created a data set to test whether BMC Helix Innovation Studio Cognitive Service can categorize appropriate service requests in Category A and Category B. The following table indicates the number of expected and predicted categories:


Expected Category AExpected Category BTotal Predictions of expected categories
Predicted Category A8412
Predicted Category B268
Total predictions for A and B101020

Based on the above results, the accuracy, precision, recall, and F-score for Category A and Category B are calculated as shown in the following table:

Test metricsCategory ACategory B
Accuracy8/10 = 0.86/10 = 0.6
Recall8/10 = 0.86/10 = 0.6
Precision8/12 = 0.676/8 = 0.75
F-score2* (0.80*0.67)/ (0.80 + 0.67)2* (0.60*0.75) / (0.60 + 0.75) = 0.66

The consolidated results for BMC Helix Innovation Studio Cognitive Service for Category A and Category B are calculated by using the weighted macro average as shown in the following table:

Test metricsFormulaResult
Accuracy10/20*0.80 + 10/20*0.600.70
Recall10/20*0.80 + 10/20*0.600.70
Precision10/20*0.67 + 10.20*0.750.71
F-score2*(0.70*0.71) / (0.70+0.71)0.70

Note

For multi-class categories, Accuracy and Recall that is computed for each category and the consolidated calculation for BMC Helix Innovation Studio Cognitive Service are the same.



If you encounter the error You are not authorized to access BMC Helix Innovation Studio when you log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio, use your developer account to log in. This error occurs when you try to log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio by using an administrator account.

If you encounter the following error even if you do not have any failed login attempts:

ERROR (624): User account locked out due to too many failed login attempts. Please contact your Administrator.; developer

In this case, you should create a new account in BMC Helix Innovation Studio and use the account for development. To create a new account, perform the following steps:

  1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio.
  2. Navigate to Administration > Configure My Server > People > Manage User Accounts.
  3. Create a user with Administrator permissions and a fixed license.
  • To access the transaction record of a rule, you can use record as the process input, and have rule call process and pass the transaction record. See Working with rules.
  • To get the database value of a record, you can use Get Record action, and access the database value using the activity results of the Get Record action. See Get Record action.
In rule qualification, you can use the function NEWVALUE() for TR field and the function OLDVALUE() for DB field. See Working with rules.

You do not need the display only field to store the activity results. In a process, you can get the activity results in the following ways:

  • You can use the expression ${activityResults.<activityGUID>.xxx> to access an activity output.
    All activity results are stored in the process context and can be accessed anywhere.
  • If an activity is not executed, you get an empty value.
  • If an activity returns a record (that is Get Record Service Task), only the record identity (record ID and record definition name) is persisted to the process context. Record field values are not persisted to the process context.
  • If you access field values of Get Record Service Task, you get the latest database value of the record. See Get Record.
  • You can use the activity Output Map to store activity result in a process variable.

When a process is started through an API (Record API triggers rule, which starts the process or Start Process API), process transaction starts at the REST APIs.

The process transaction joins the API transaction and the process runs till its completion or it is goes to a wait step. Wait steps are User Tasks or Receive tasks. When the process reaches a wait step, it persists all the transaction values and returns from the wait state. When the process resumes the execution from a wait step, the process transaction continues till it completes or reaches the next wait step. The records, signal inputs, process operations, process context, and the wait state information are all persisted in one transaction.

For more information on APIs, see PDFs, videos, and API documentation.

For more information on User Tasks and Receive tasks, see Activities.

Process instances are managed by the platform and third party process engine Activiti. The platform manages process context and Activiti engine manages process instance state information.

  • Process context consists of process variables and process activity results.
  • Process instance state information consists of process current activity, start time of a process, and end time of completed process activities.

For process context, there is a form to store active process instances, and a form to store completed process instances. The archive policy of completed process instances is that all completed process process instances are moved to an archive form after three months. Process instance state information follows the similar pattern.

The condition to resume a process instance from User Task is specified in the Completion Criteria property of User Task (process designer element).  Completion Criteria specifies the condition when the user task is considered as complete. The condition is an expression that evaluates fields of a task record.

  • The platform service EntryEventNotificationService is used to monitor registered record events. User Task uses EntryEventNotificationService to monitor the task completion. Records that need to be monitored are registered in the Entry Event Registration system form and the Notifier Listening field is set to true.


  • When a record event occurs, the EntryEventNotificationService evaluates the record instance condition and if the condition is true, the Pending Notification flag is set.
  • A background thread notifies event listeners of all pending notification records with the Notification Information provided by the record event register. When the listener is notified, the record event is cleaned up from the registration form and the Notifier Listening flag is reset. Event listeners are notified by a separate pool of threads where the pool size can be configured.

To make the platform operational in varied customer environments, the way you customize objects in core BMC applications has changed from 17-02 onwards. You can customize the objects developed in your own applications, but you cannot customize the objects developed in com.bmc.arsys. For example, objects in core BMC applications like Foundation, Approval, and Assignment cannot be customized. You cannot customize the record definitions by updating the permissions or adding security labels, adding or updating record fields, and so on. Therefore, you must delete the customizations and then perform the upgrade the BMC Helix Innovation Studio. If you attempt to customize any objects developed in core BMC applications, you encounter the following error message:

If you attempt to customize any objects developed in core BMC applications, you encounter the following error message:

In BMC Helix Innovation Studio, you may find the required fields of the Default Tenant (Administrator > Configure My Server > Manage Tenants) such as Domain Identifier and Virtual Host Name are empty. This is because the default tenant fields are imported during the platform creation and when you use tools such as data import there is an option to not trigger the required field check.

If you are working on a dedicated system, ensure that you have assigned the application license to yourself using the Foundation Person UI. For more information, see Setting up Foundation data.

To see a licensed application, you must have that application license assigned to you using the Foundation Person UI. For more information, see Setting up Foundation data.

Application upgrade FAQs

The logs for applications created using the BMC Helix Innovation Studio SDK 17.02 or earlier are stored in the arextension.log file located at the following location:

  • Windows<ARSystemInstallDir>\Arserver\Db
  • UNIX<ARSystemInstallDir>/Arserver/Db

By default, only error messages are logged. If you want to log all messages (debug, info, warning, and error), you must change the log level to debug in the logback_server.xml file. The following configuration enables debug log level:

<logger name="com.bmc.arsys.server.extension.impl.LogServiceImpl"
      level="debug" additivity="false">
      <appender-ref ref="AlwaysOnLog" />
      <appender-ref ref="ExtensionLog" />
</logger>

Note

When you make changes to the logback-server.xml file, you do not need to restart the Remedy AR System server. After making the changes to the logback_server.xml file, you must reload the file by using the Reload Log Conf File option in the Server Information form on the Log Files tab.

The logback logging framework provides this logging functionality.


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Comments

  1. David Quinn

    Someone needs to fix the API docs, specifically the REST API as you are not able to open those docs. The use of Strapdown.js has changed and you are no longer able to read those docs.

    Nov 28, 2022 11:50
    1. Prachi Kalyani

      Hello David,

      Apologies for the inconvenience.

      We are working on this issue and we will upload the updated REST API doc soon. 

      Dec 09, 2022 04:15
    1. Prachi Kalyani

      Hello David,

      The REST API docs are now updated. 

      Dec 15, 2022 12:28