Setting up service requests through BMC Helix ITSM

To verify the integration with BMC Helix ITSM

During installation, BMC Helix Digital Workplace is integrated with BMC Helix ITSM. You can verify and configure the integration by performing the following steps:

1. Select Configuration on the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console.
2. On the Application Features page, click in the Helix ITSM pluggable provider row (it is selected by default), and scroll down to view the server provider information: 
   

3. Сomplete the following fields:

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  • obo.search.transformSearchTermCase — Configures the upper or lower case of the SRD search result. 
    
  • use.and.search.logic — Select this checkbox to search the services that have all search keywords in their metadata. If you clear this check box, the OBO rules configured in BMC Helix ITSM are used.
    
    
  • search.only.active.approvals — Select this checkbox to limit your search to approvals that are currently active.
  • search.approvals.created.since.months — Configures the search range for approvals in months.
  • obo.enabled.for.all — Select this check box to enable all users to request services for any other users. If you clear this check box, the OBO rules configured in BMC Helix ITSM are used.
  • skip.fulfillment — Select this check box to create service requests without subsequent creation of Incidents, Work Orders, and Change Requests in BMC Helix ITSM. If you unselect this checkbox, service request creation may take a long time. 
  • Midtier URL — The URL for setting up AIFs. 

  • obo.search.prefixWildcard — Configures the search prefix for the SRD search result.

    Important

    By default, both leading and trailing wildcards are supported during the search of the On Behalf Of users.

    If an organization has a custom setup where specific fields are manually indexed for Full Text Search (FTS) in the CTM:People or OBO:Ppl Search-SupportGrpAssoc_Outer_Join forms, leading wildcards are not supported during a search by those fields.

    For more information about wildcards, see How search with wildcards works.

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  • Open AIF in new window — Determines whether an AIF opens in a new window or tab or iframe.
  • search.by.answer.enabled — Select this check box to search by answers. 
  • useExternalIcon — Determines whether the icons for SRDs are taken from BMC Helix ITSM or default icons are used.
  • use.and.search.logic — Select this check box if you want to see the requests with particular queries.
  • max.search.weight — Configures the maximum weight of the SRD result. 
  • use.fts.weight — Defines the sequence of SRD results.

  • srd.search.force.wildcards — Set this flag to true, and BMC Helix Digital Workplace adds additional wildcards to search queries, which generates more search results. This property is set to false by default. When set to true, this parameter interferes with the full text search language-specific tokenization, stemming, and relevance logic. Use this parameter for the English locale only.

    Important

    Leading wildcards are not supported if the search is performed on fields that are indexed for Full Text Search (FTS). Only trailing wildcards are supported for these fields. 

    For more information about wildcards, see How search with wildcards works.

  • convertRichTextCommentToPlainText — Select this check box if you want to convert agent's rich text comments into a readable format in BMC Helix Digital Workplace.

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  • show.additional.crq.details — Adds the Summary and Notes fields to approval request details for change requests.
  • crq.approval.supports.rtf — Supports Rich Text Format for Notes and Comments fields in the Change approval requests.

4. Click Update Settings and then Reload Providers. 

For more information about the providers, see Integrating-with-other-applications-by-using-providers.

To set default service requests

1. From the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console (http://server:port/dwp/admin), click Service Requests.
2. Click Default Service Request.
3. Assign SRDs to three different defaults:

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  • Default Service Request—Used when creating asset actions and service actions. When you set the action's Type field to Default request, the SRD assigned as the Default Service Request is used. If a default request is set for an asset or service, the user sees the action button in the profile of the service or asset. The user can click the action button to create a request.
  • Default Request SRD—Used when appointments are set to create service requests and a user creates an appointment.
  • Default Incident SRD—Used when appointments are set to create incidents and a user creates an appointment.

SRDs specifically for use with BMC Helix Digital Workplace can contain any number of fields, and each field can be set with a default value. However, the Superbox simplifies request entry. From the Superbox, when BMC Helix Digital Workplace triggers an SRD, BMC Helix Digital Workplace can populate only one required field. For the Default Request SRD and the Default Incident SRD, only one of the fields in the SRD can be set as a required field.

To configure categories for requests

1. In the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console, select Service Requests > Configure > Category and Requests properties.
2. Based on your requirement to configure a category or a request, perform any of the following actions:
   1. To configure a category, perform the following steps:
      1.  From the SRD Categories list, select a category, or use the Search box to find specific categories or SRDs.
      2. To update the category icon, in the category properties section, click Change.
      3. From the Select Icon dialog box, select a new icon, and click OK.
      4. Click Save Category.
      5. (Optional) To discard the changes, click Reset and provide your confirmation in the dialog box displayed.
   2. To configure a request, perform the following steps:
      1. From the Available Requests list, select a request and then hide a single request or multiple requests in the end user console.
      2. To hide a request, in the request properties section, clear the Show request in client apps check box, and click Save Request.
      3. To hide multiple requests, press the Control key and select requests from the Available Requests list, select the Hide requests in client apps check box, and click Save Requests.
      4. (Optional) To discard the changes, click Reset and provide your confirmation in the dialog box displayed.

To set up the Quick Pick list

The Quick Pick list is the list of services available to BMC Helix Digital Workplace users. The list is displayed as items on the Catalog tab. Administrators can choose which services are shown by default based on most-requested services and other criteria.

• To automatically calculate Quick Pick list requests
• To manually select Quick Pick list requests

To automatically calculate Quick Pick list requests

You can allow the Quick Pick list to be automatically calculated based on the popularity of particular requests.

1. On the Service Requests tab of the Admin console, click Quick Pick List.
   
2. Select Use Popular Requests from BMC Service Request Management.
3. To designate how many of the automatically calculated requests are displayed in the end user console, adjust the number in the Show top x requests field. 
   These requests are filtered by Problem or Other, depending on the section they are in.
4. To view the calculated list, click Show List.
5. Click Save.

To manually select Quick Pick list requests

By browsing or searching available request types and adding them to the Quick Pick List pane, you can build the Quick Pick list with as many selections as needed and arrange the order in which the requests are displayed.

1. On the Service Requests tab of the Admin console, click Quick Pick List.
2. Select Use Selected Requests.
3. From the Categories with SRDs list, select the request category to display the requests in that category (or use the Search box to search for specific categories or SRDs).
   If a service request is dimmed, it is already in the Quick Pick list.  
4. Select one or more requests and click Add to Quick Pick List.
   The selected requests appear in the Quick Pick List box.
5. Repeat for additional requests to build the Quick Pick list.
6. As needed, rearrange the order of requests in the Quick Pick list by using the Move Up or Move Down buttons.
7. Click Save.

Configuring AIFs for BMC Helix Digital Workplace

Advanced Interface Forms (AIFs) and dynamic queries are supported. Consider these tips:

• AIFs are cross-launched from the BMC Helix Digital Workplace application to the Mid Tier server.
• AIFs are loaded directly from Mid Tier and submitted to BMC Helix ITSM. 
• AIFs can be launched only from BMC Helix Digital Workplace end user console in a desktop browser. AIFs cannot be launched from mobile devices for BMC Helix Digital Workplace.  
• Dynamic queries are loaded into BMC Helix Digital Workplace.

To configure AIFs for BMC Helix Digital Workplace

1. In the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console, click Configuration > Application Features.
2. Click in the SRM pluggable provider row (it is selected by default), and scroll down to view the server provider information. 
3. Set Midtier URL to arsys, without a trailing slash character ( / ).
4. Click Update Settings and then Reload Providers.

Where to go from here

Setting-up-sections-in-the-Catalog