Adding dynamic fields for storing additional case information

Advantages

Adding dynamic fields to a template provides the following advantages:

• You can use dynamic fields to store case data without any customizations to the case and task record definitions and views.
• You can track the changes to dynamic fields in an audit record.
• You can use dynamic fields in an automated task process for building conditional expressions, integrating with third-party applications, and updating the fields automatically.
• You can use dynamic fields in a taskflow for conditional branching of tasks and sharing information with a task assignee.
• You can designate a dynamic field as confidential so that users' sensitive and personal data is classified and treated as confidential.
  For information about how to designate dynamic fields as confidential, see Designating-case-data-as-confidential.
• While creating a case, you can add responses to the dynamic field based on the requester's inputs.
• While approving a case, on the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced approval console, a case approver can view the data in the dynamic fields that are marked for requester inputs.
• You can add temporary or private dynamic fields to case or task templates. You can configure to hide the fields in the case when that case or task template is used. However, a user who has the permission to view the process history, such as an administrator, can view the hidden dynamic fields in the Manage Process.

Ways to add a dynamic field to a template

You can add dynamic fields to a template by using any of the following actions:

To add a dynamic field to the dynamic field library

1. Log in to BMC Helix Business Workflows.
2. Click Settings .
3. Navigate to Application Configuration > Dynamic Field Library. 
4. On the Dynamic Field Library page, from the Line of Business list, select the line of business for which you want to add a dynamic field, and click Dynamic Field.
   If you have access to a single line of business, the line of business is selected by default.

5. On the Create Dynamic Field dialog box, complete the details as described in the following table:

   Field	Description
   Field Name	Enter a name for the dynamic field. The name must be unique for every field. Important: While creating a dynamic field or group, do not use dot (.) parenthesis (), [], {}, and quotes (“) (‘) in the field name. These special characters are not rendered correctly when used in notification templates or in processes. In the dynamic field library, you cannot add fields with duplicate names. You cannot create different dynamic fields with the same name and different data types.
   Field Description	Click Localize to enter a field description. On the Localize Value page, enter the values for Default Locale and other locales. The value added for the Default Locale option is displayed as the field description. When you create a case, the system automatically displays the value entered for the locale related to the region where you have logged in.
   Status	Select a status from the list. The list displays two options—Active or Inactive. If the dynamic field is set to the Inactive status, on the case or task template page, you cannot view the dynamic field when you click the Manage Dynamic Fields option.
   Information Source	Select the source from which you want to collect the response for the dynamic field associated with a case. You can choose one of the following sources from the list: Requester—A requester provides responses for the dynamic field while requesting a service.  If you select Requester as the information source, while creating a case, the Requester's Response dialog box is displayed, case agents can add responses to the dynamic field based on the requester's inputs. While approving a case, a case approver can view the dynamic fields on the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced approval console. Agent—A case agent provides responses as required while working on a case. Task Assignee—A Task assignee provides responses when executing a task associated with the case. System—Select this option when you want an automated task to populate the information.
   Required	Select Required to mark this field as required for the case. When you enable this option, a case agent can create a case without populating a field that is marked as required. However, if the case agent tries to change the status of that case to Resolved without populating the required field, an error occurs.
   Confidential	Select Confidential to mark the dynamic field as confidential.
   Field Value Type	Select the type of the dynamic field from the following list: Text Number Date Boolean List Attachment Date and time Time
   Display Type	This field is displayed only when you select Text value for the Field Value Type field. Select Text Area or None.
   Rich Text Field	When the selected Display Type is Text, you can make the text field RTF. Select Text Area, and then select Rich Text Field.
   Regular expression	Enable the option to define a regular expression with a specified format.
   Regex	This field is displayed when you enable the Regular expression option. Define the format that the text type dynamic field must have.
   Formatting hint	This field is displayed when you enable the Regular expression option. Specify the hint that must be displayed when an incorrect regex is specified for a dynamic field.
   List Type	Select Static or Dynamic. This field is displayed only when you select List Type for the Field Value Type field.
   List Options	Select a Named List or click + Named list to create a new list. This field is displayed only when you select Dynamic for the List Type field.
   Has default value	Select the option to specify a default value for the field value, and enter the Value.  Note: This option is not available for List and Attachment type field values.

6. Click Save.

7. (Optional) To edit an existing dynamic field, click the dynamic field and update the details such as Required, Status, and Information Source.

   You cannot edit the Field Name, Field Description, and Field Value Type details. You cannot edit a dynamic field that is designated as confidential.

To add a dynamic field to a case template or task template

1. Log in to BMC Helix Business Workflows.
2. Click Settings .
3. To add a dynamic field to a template, perform one of the following steps:
   • To add a dynamic field to a case template, select Case Management > Templates.
   • To add a dynamic field to a task template, select Task Management > Templates.
4. From the template details page, from the Line of Business list, select the line of business for which you want to add a dynamic field.
   If you have access to a single line of business, the line of business is selected by default.
5. On the template details page, click Manage Dynamic Fields. 
6. Click +Dynamic Field.

7. Specify the field details as described in the following table:

   Field	Action
   Field Name	Enter a name for the dynamic field. The name must be unique for every field. Important: While creating a dynamic field or group, do not use dot (.) parenthesis (), [], {}, and quotes (“) (‘) in the field name. These special characters are not rendered correctly when used in notification templates or in processes. In a template, you cannot add dynamic fields with duplicate names. You cannot create different dynamic fields with the same name and different data types.
   Field Description	Enter a description for the dynamic field.
   Information Source	Choose one of the following sources from the list to provide dynamic field data: Requester—A requester provides responses to the case agent and the case agent updates the dynamic field data while creating a case. If you select Requester as the information source, while creating a case, the Requester's Response dialog box is displayed, case agents can add responses to the dynamic field based on the requester's inputs. While approving a case, a case approver can view the dynamic fields on the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced approval console. Agent—A case agent updates the dynamic field data while working on a case. Task Assignee—A task assignee updates the dynamic field data while running a task associated with the case. System—Select this option when you want an automated task to populate the information. When a case is created the dynamic field data is displayed on the case details page. However, the source who has updated the dynamic field data is not displayed on the case details page. Note: The dynamic fields associated to a case are visible to everyone who has access to the case.
   Required	To make the response to the dynamic field mandatory while creating a case, select Required. When you enable this option, a case agent can create a case without populating a field that is marked as required. However, if the case agent tries to change the status of that case to Resolved without populating the required field, an error occurs.
   Confidential	To mark the dynamic field as confidential, select Confidential.
   Hidden	To hide the dynamic field from being displayed in the case, select Hidden.
   Read Only	To make the dynamic field read only, select Read Only.
   Task only	This option is available only in the task template. To make a dynamic field available only in tasks and not in the corresponding cases, select Task only. Note: The task-only field is not available in a case template for adding to the case template. If you add the same task-only field to multiple task templates, the field value persists across all tasks and even cases, even when the field is task-only.
   Field Value Type	Select the type of the dynamic field from the following list: Text Number Date Boolean List Attachment Date and time Time
   Text area	To make the Text type dynamic field as Text area, enable Text area. This field is displayed only when you select Text for the Field Value Type field.
   Rich text	When the selected Field Value Type is Text, and you've enabled Text area, you can make the text field RTF. Enable Rich text.
   Default value	Enable this option if you want to specify a default value for the field. This option is not available for the Attachment field value, and for the List field value when you enable the Dynamic option for the field.
   Regular expression	Enable this option to define a specific format for the field value. Enter the expression in the provided text box. Note: Ensure to add a regex property only to new fields. If you add a regex to an existing dynamic field, then the regex will validate the existing case and task records and may prevent the tickets from being saved. We recommend that you use the same regular expression for a field that is added to a task template and case template. If you assign different regular expressions for the same field, it might cause validation issues across the task templates and parent case template.
   Formatting hint	This option is available only when you enable the Regular expression option. Specify a help text to be displayed for entering the value for the Text type dynamic field when it contains a regular expression.
   Dynamic	Enable this option to make List field values dynamic when the selected Field Value Type is List.
   Named list	To create a dependent menu for the dynamic List type field, select the named list from which the values are available for selection. To create a new named list, click + Named list. On the Create Named List page, define the new named list, and click Save. Note: If the parent dynamic field is marked as Confidential, the dependent dynamic field must also be marked Confidential. If you update an existing dynamic list field with an additional expression, then the expression is enforced for existing cases.
   Additional Named List Filter	To build a filter to apply at runtime in addition to the filter, if any, specified in the named list definition, click Build Expression. On the Edit expression page, define the expressions for the filter. You can restrict the available options to select from, making sure that only those values that are related to the parent dynamic field are available for selection.
   List Options	Expand List Options, and specify the ID and Value. To add more options, click Add Option.
   Attach	When the selected Display Type is Attachment, you can attach a document to the template by clicking Attach.

8. (Optional) To add an existing dynamic field, in the Available Dynamic Fields section, search for the dynamic field, and drag the field to the fields section.
9. Click Save.

10. (Optional) To edit an existing dynamic field, click the dynamic field and update the details such as Required, Status, and Information Source.

    You cannot edit the Field Name, Field Description, and Field Value Type details. You cannot edit a dynamic field that is designated as confidential.

After you add dynamic fields to a template, consider the following points:

• If you modify a dynamic field's details in the dynamic field library, the changes made are not reflected in the existing template.
• When you create a case by using a case template, the case includes dynamic fields from the case template and dynamic fields from the associated task templates.
• If a dynamic field is associated with both the case template and the task template, the field is shared as a common field for the case.
  Any changes made to the value of the dynamic field either in the case or in the task are applicable to both the case and the task.
• If you add a dynamic field to a task template, the dynamic field is automatically available in the case template that leverages this task in the taskflow. However, if you add a dynamic field to a case template, the field is not available in the tasks of the case template.

To accept a dynamic field to a case template from BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced

While submitting a request by using BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced, a requester provides answers to the questionnaire available for that request. A corresponding case is created in BMC Helix Business Workflows for the request. After the case is created, the questions from the questionnaire are displayed on the case details page as dynamic fields and the answers are displayed as values. The dynamic fields are added to the case template used to create the case. 

To associate the dynamic fields to the case template, in the case template, you can accept the dynamic fields so that these fields are added to cases that are created by using the template. After you accept the dynamic fields, they are added to the dynamic field library. Any regular expression that is added to the fields in BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced is accepted in BMC Helix Business Workflows. However, after the case is created, any change made to the regular expression in BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced is not reflected in BMC Helix Business Workflows. You must manually update the regular expression in the dynamic field in BMC Helix Business Workflows.

If you do not accept such dynamic fields, you must consider the following points:

• The dynamic fields that you do not accept are displayed in the existing case. However, they are not displayed in any other cases that are created by using the case template.
• The dynamic fields are displayed as read-only fields in the existing case and case agents cannot edit these fields.
• The dynamic fields are not added to the dynamic field library.

To accept a dynamic field in a case template, perform the following steps:

1. Log in to BMC Helix Business Workflows.
2. Click Settings .

1. Select Case Management > Templates.
2. On the Case Templates page, from the Line of Business list, select the line of business for which you want to accept a dynamic field.
   If you have access to a single line of business, the line of business is selected by default.

1. Open the required case template. 
   Ensure that the case template is not in the Active status.

1. On the case template page, click Manage Dynamic Fields.
2. On the Manage Dynamic Fields dialog box, select the required dynamic field associated with BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced from the list.

3. Edit Field Name and Field Description.

   Important

   By default, the Information Source field is set to Requester and you cannot edit it.

4. To make the response to the dynamic field mandatory while creating a case, select Required.
   When you enable this option, a case agent can create a case without populating a field that is marked as required. However, if the case agent tries to change the status of that case to Resolved without populating the required field, an error occurs.

1. To mark the dynamic field as confidential, select Confidential.
2. To hide the dynamic field from being displayed in the case, select Hidden.

1. To make the dynamic field read only, select Read Only.
2. Select the Field Value Type, and complete the following steps:
   1. To make the Text field type an RTF field, select Text Area, and then select Rich Text.
   2. To define a specific format for the text field value, select Regular expression, and enter the expression in the provided text box.
   3. Define the Formatting hint for the regular expression.
   4. To make the List field type a dynamic field, select Dynamic.
   5. To create a dependent menu for the dynamic List type field, select the named list from which the values will be available for selection. To create a new named list, click + Named list. On the Create Named List page, define the new named list, and click Save.
      If the parent dynamic field is marked as Confidential, make sure to mark the dependent dynamic field as Confidential.

1. 1. To build a filter to apply at runtime in addition to the filter, if any, specified in the named list definition, in the Additional Named List Filter field, click Build Expression. On the Edit expression page, define the expressions for the filter, and click OK.
   2. Expand List Options, and specify the ID and Value. To add more options, click Add Option.
   3. When you select Field Value Type as Attachment, attach a document to the template by clicking Attach.

2. To specify a default value for the field, select Default value, and specify the Value. 

   Important

   This option is not available for Attachment and Dynamic List type field values.

3. Click Save.

After you accept a dynamic field, you cannot edit the Field Name, Field Description, Field Value Type details of the field. You cannot edit a dynamic field that is designated as confidential.

For document type of question created in BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog,

• Case business analysts can accept the question in the case template and view as a read-only attachment but cannot modify the value of the field in BMC Helix Business Workflows. The attachment might include read-only documents such as non-disclosure agreements, policies, and so on.
• Case agents can only view the document type of question as a attachment in case and to-do task details in BMC Helix Business Workflows but cannot modify the value.
• Localization for document type of question is supported in BMC Helix Digital Workplace. In BMC Helix Business Workflows, the attachment is stored in the default locale in case or to-do task template. During run-time, BMC Helix Digital Workplace presents the document as per the locale preference of the end-user performing the task.

For more information see, Adding questions to a questionnaire and Creating questionnaires for to-dos.