This documentation supports the 20.02 version of BMC Service Request Management.

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

Configuring actions to auto-fill responses in a service request

You can configure actions in a service request definition (SRD) to auto-fill responses to questions when the Provide Information form opens in the Request Entry console, or when the user answers questions. Using auto-fill actions lessens the burden on users to enter correct information when creating a service request.

You auto-fill question responses by using data from standard BMC forms (such as fulfillment application forms), or from custom forms that you are using (for example, forms that contain employee IDs and cost center codes). You specify the form name and map one or more fields from that form to questions in the SRD. You create a qualification to identify the form record from which the data should be mapped. 

Types of auto-fill actions

There are two types of actions, based on the trigger that executes the action:

  • Open Form action — Executes when the user opens a new request, and before the user answers any questions. For example, a user opens a new request and the Provide Information form appears. An Open Form action can look up the user's login ID and automatically fill in a user's employee ID, location, and cost-center information.

    Open Form actions do not execute when a user clicks Request Again. Request Again functionality is designed to create a copy of the information submitted by the user in the original request. If allowed to execute in this case, Open Form actions might overwrite information that the user changed before submitting the request.
    Adding and mapping questions, variables, and service request fields

  • Answer Question action — Executes after the user responds to a question in the Provide Information form, and a qualification is met. For example, an Answer Question action can automatically fill in a user's shipping address from a form record, when the user chooses the Use address on file response from a menu question.

Restrictions for auto-fill actions

The following restrictions apply when you create auto-fill actions:

  • Creating dependencies between actions — When you create multiple actions for an SRD, the actions execute in parallel. You cannot create dependencies that depend upon a predictable execution sequence. For example, you cannot create a trigger qualification for one action that is based on field values that are auto-filled by another action.
  • Creating trigger qualifications — (Answer Question actions only) The supported question formats for trigger qualifications are Text, Radio Button, and Menu. 
    Because Open Form actions execute when the user first opens the Provide Information form, and before the user has answered questions, you cannot create trigger qualifications for Open Form actions. However, there is a known issue in the UI where the application allows you to create them.

  • Creating form qualifications — For Open Form actions, if no records match the form qualification, the mapped field values are nulled.

  • Auto-filling based on a question response — (Answer Question actions only) To auto-fill a question response based on the user's response to another question, you must create a form qualification that uses the Question data type. The supported question formats for the Question data type are Text, Radio Button, and Menu. See step 4b in Configuring auto-fill actions.
    Since Open Form actions execute when the user first opens the Provide Information form, and before the user has answered questions, you cannot use an Open Form action that auto-fills a question based on the user's response to another question. However, there is a known issue in the UI where the application allows you to create such actions.

  • Mapping data to questions — You can only map data to Text, Date, Time, and Date/Time questions. You cannot map Date, Time, and Date/Time field values to Text questions.
  • Mapping data to conditional questions — You cannot use an Open Form action to map data to conditional questions. You can use an Answer Question action to map data to conditional questions, but only when the trigger question and the mapped question are displayed.

Configuring auto-fill actions

  1. In the SRD, click Questions & Mappings to open the Question Management window.
  2. Click the Actions tab.

  3. Under Action Details in the Action Information pane, do the following steps:
    1. In the Title field, enter a title for the action.
    2. From the Trigger drop-down list, select Open Form or Answer Question.
    3. (Answer Question actions only) In the Trigger Qualification Builder, create a query that defines the condition or conditions to trigger the action. 
      You must define a trigger qualification for an Answer Question action. See Restrictions for auto-fill actions for additional information about creating trigger qualifications.

      The Type field is a display-only field that shows Autofill as the Action type.

  4. Under Autofill Details:
    1. From the Form Name drop-down list, select the appropriate form.
    2. In the Form Qualification Builder, create a query that selects the form record to use for the mapping:
      1. (Optional) Click ( to insert an opening parenthesis into the qualification.

      2. From the FIELDS list, select a field from the form.

      3. Select an operator, such as =, !=, >, <, >=, or <=.

      4. Select a data type, such as QuestionTextInteger, or Keywords

        Data typeDescription
        Question (Answer Question actions only)Specifies a question in the SRD as the data type. Select the question from the adjacent drop-down list. Use this data type to auto-fill the response to a question based on the user's response to another question. For example, you can create a qualification to match the response to a question (such as, What is your full name?) to data in a form (such as the value in the Full Name field on CTM:People). If there is a match, you can use the mapping you create in step 4c to pass the data from the ManagersName field in CTM:People to another question (such as, What is your manager's name?). 
        TextSpecifies Text as the data type. Enter a text value in the adjacent field.
        IntegerSpecifies Integer as the data type. Enter an integer value in the adjacent field.
        KeywordsSpecifies Keyword as the data type. Select the keyword from the adjacent drop-down list. You can specify only one keyword. For example, you can create a qualification to query the CTM:People form for the record where Remedy Login ID matches $USER$. $CUSTOMER$ is a keyword for the Requested For user's login ID.
      5. Specify a value for the appropriate data type.

      6. Click Add to insert the <field><operator><value> statement into the qualification.

      7. (Optional) Click ()AND, or OR to add parentheses and logical operators to the qualification.

      8. Repeat step 4b until the qualification is complete.

    3. In the Mappings panel, map data from fields in the selected form to questions in the SRD:

      1. Select the field from the Field drop-down list.

      2. Select the question from the Response drop-down list. See Restrictions for auto-fill actions for additional information about mapping data to questions.

      3. Click Add.

    4. (Optional) Repeat step 4c to create additional mappings.

  5. Click Apply to create the action.

  6. (Optional) Click the plus sign ((plus)) above the Actions list and repeat steps 3 through 5 to create more actions.
  7. Close the Question Management window.
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