Configuring navigational categories

Organize your service request definitions (SRDs) by defining navigational categories in the Category Management form. This form is used as a repository to store the categorizations that differentiate the catalog offerings. Each SRD is displayed under a particular navigational category on the Browse page of the Request Entry console.

Consider the following points before you configure navigational categories:

• You must have the SRM Administrator permission to create navigational categories.
• You can create generic categories that globally apply to all organizations (for example, Hardware/Computers) or categories unique to specific companies.
• When you define categories for one company, the appropriate categories are visible only for that company.
• You can create three levels of categorizations for a specific company (for example, Installation > Desktop > Windows, or Change > Application > Password).
• You can create only one unique combination of categories for each company and each locale.

Sequence of defining categories

Define global categories first. The sequence of the global categories does not change after you define it. Next, move the company categories above or below a global category.

Follow this sequence of steps:

1. Define global navigational categories 
   To avoid confusion in a multi-tenancy environment, create your most general categories as global. When you have finished the overall general structure of your Category 1, 2, and 3 records, you can create more particular categories for your company. Also, if guest users must be able to access navigational categories, create those categories as global.
2. Define company navigational categories
3. Sort navigational categories

You must specify a top-level (Category 1) navigational category when creating an SRD. You can optionally specify sub-categories (Category 2 and Category 3).

You cannot create duplicate Category 1 records. However, you can create Category 2 and Category 3 records that have the same name. For example, you can create two Category 3 records called Password Reset because the two different contexts in the Request Entry console determine its particular use. As a result, users see Password Reset in two different locations in the Request Entry console.

Business Systems (Global Category 1)
	iTime (Category 2)
		Password Reset (Category 3)
Network (Calbro Category 1)
	NT Authentication (Category 2)
		Password Reset (Category 3)

Some SRD categories are pre-configured by default with their own images. You can relate a different image with these categories. When you configure custom navigational categories for your organization, you can assign customized images to them, based on your organization. For more information, see Configuring service request images.

Displaying the category values

After you define the navigational categories, their values are displayed in the following areas:

• Service Request Definition form
• Defined Locales form (click Other Locales on the Service Request Definition form)
• SRD Qualification for Entitlement form
• Approval Mappings

The Request Entry console does not display any navigational category that do not have any associated SRDs.

Defining global navigational categories

You can define up to three levels of global navigational categories. The categories you define are shown in the Navigational Categories section of the Service Request Definition form. You can select an image for Category 1 (first level) but not for Category 2 or 3.

If you want to configure multiple companies for  Service Request Management, you must enable Multi-Tenancy. For more information, see Configuring the Mid Tier for BMC Service Request Management.

All administrators have access to Global categories. If you have unrestricted access, you can see all companies on your AR System server in the Select Company list. Otherwise, you can see only Global and the company to which you have access.

To define global navigational categories

1. From the Application Administration console, select the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, go to Service Request Management > Navigational Categories > Category Management, and click Open.
3. To create a global Category 1 record, follow these steps:
   1. Click Add.
   2. Select New Category from the tree.
   3. Enter a Category Name.
   4. (Optional) Add a brief description of the category. Additionally, you can enter any value that can be read by a browser, such as an hyperlink to a web page. See Adding hyperlinks in an SRD.
   5. (Optional) To select an image, click Change Image. See Configuring service request images.
   6. Select the status of the navigation category (for example, Active).
      The status determines if the category is available on other forms (for example, the Request Entry console or the SRD Qualification for Entitlement).
   7. To add the category details to the tree, click Apply.
4. (Optional) To add additional Category 1 records, select Categories at the top of the tree, and click Add.
   Repeat step 3b through step 3g until you finish adding Category 1 records.
5. (Optional) To create a Category 2 record in the tree:
   1. Select the Category 1 record, and click Add.

   2. Enter a category name (for example, Printer) and a description.

6. (Optional) To create a Category 3 record in the tree:
   1. Select the Category 2 record, and click Add.
   2. Enter a category name (for example, Xerox Laser Printer) and a description.

Defining company navigational categories

You can create up to three levels of company navigational categories, which appear in the Request Entry console when a user clicks Browse Catalog.

You can create a combination of global and company navigational categories, and later interleave these categories together. For example, you can insert a company category between two global categories. You can add company Category 2 or Category 3 records under global categories, but you cannot add global categories under company categories.

Calbro Category 1
Global Category 1
	Global Category 2
		Calbro Category 3
		Global Category 3
		Calbro Category 3
	Global Category 2
	Calbro Category 2
Calbro Category 1
Global Category 1

To define company navigational categories

1. From the Application Administration console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Service Request Management > Navigational Categories > Category Management, and click Open.
   The Category form opens in New mode. The global categories you previously created (for example, Software, Hardware) are displayed in the category tree.
3. To create a company Category 1 record:
   1. From the Select Company field, select your company (for example, Calbro Services).
   2. From the tree, select Categories.
   3. Click Add.
   4. From the tree, select New Category.
   5. Enter a Category Name (for example, Calbro Services Computers).
      If you want to enter the greater than (>) or less than (<) sign in the Category Name field, use encoded text (&gt for >, and &lt for <); otherwise, browsers will interpret the greater than and less than signs as valid HTML markup if the category name is included in a URL.
   6. (Optional) Add a brief description of the category and change the image.
      To add a new image to the list of available images, see Configuring service request images. The image should be 48x48 pixels.
   7. Select the status of the navigational category.
   8. To add the category details to the tree, click Apply.
   Add all the required Category 1 records before you add the category 2 records.
4. To create a Category 2 record in the tree:
   1. Select the Category 1 record.
      The Category 1 records can be either global or company-specific.
   2. Click Add.
   3. Enter a category name (for example, PC) and a description.
5. To create a Category 3 record in the tree:
   1. Select the Category 2 record.
      The Category 2 records can be either global or company-specific.
   2. Click Add.
   3. Enter a category name (for example, Ubuntu) and a description.

Sorting navigational categories

You can set an administrator preference for how navigational categories are displayed in the Request Entry console—alphabetically or by sort order. If you choose to display navigational categories by sort order, you define the sort order in the Category Management form as explained in this topic. For information about displaying the categories alphabetically, see Configuring preferences and rules for the Request Entry console.

You can sort category items in each category level up or down in the category tree. For instance, in the following example, you can move Calbro Category 1 Email up above Global Category 1 Hardware or you can move it below Calbro Category 1 Computers, but you cannot move it to any Category 2 or Category 3 level in the tree.

Global Category 1 Software
	Calbro Category 2 Acrobat
	Global Category 2 Microsoft
		Calbro Category 3 Excel
		Global Category 3 Microsoft Word
Global Category 1 Hardware
Calbro Category 1 Email
Calbro Category 1 Computers
	Calbro Category 2 PC
	Calbro Category 2 Macintosh

You can sort Category 2 and Category 3 records in their category levels.

After you have selected a company, you cannot sort any Global categories. You must select Global as the company to enable sorting of Global categories.

To sort navigational categories

1. From the Application Administration console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Service Request Management > Navigational Categories > Category Management, and click Open.
3. Select a record in the Categories tree.

4. To move the categories up or down, click the arrows.
   You can sort global and company records in each category level.

   Tip

   Sort the Global categories first, and sort the company categories later.

5. (Optional)To test your navigation categories:
   1. From the Service Catalog Manager Console, click Create.
   2. From the Service Request Definition form, create one or more SRDs with your navigation categories (global or company), and deploy them.
   3. Log into the Request Entry console.
      If you correctly configured the navigational categories, your global and company categories appear properly.
6. Click one of the Browse Subcategories.
   The Category 2 and Category 3 values appear.

To delete categories

To delete a category, select the category to delete, and click Delete.