Troubleshooting incident template related issues

When you enable company-driven template search, no incident templates are available in BMC Helix ITSM.

When you enable Support Group driven template search on the same system, depending on product version:

• Incident templates are available only in Recommended Template search in Smart Recorder.

These symptoms are seen when the HPD_TemplateCmpDist database view that supports the HPD:TemplateCompany_Dist View form is corrupted.

Check by either querying the view on database level, or opening the View form in Mid Tier by using an Administrator account and performing a search.

Knowledge article 000372687

For more information, see the Considerations for Smart IT MFS searching of incident templates section in this blog post.

For specific searches, Smart Recorder does not retrieve any recommended templates, but shows the following message:
No recommended templates found.

However, when a user uses the same search term in other areas, matching incident templates are shown.

With network logs enabled, the following error can be seen in the Console log:

For information about capturing network logs, see Capturing network details by using the browser functionality.

FTS re-index is required for incident template join form used in BMC Helix ITSMs Multi-Form Search.

• In case of company-driven templates search, re-index the HPD:TemplateCompany_Join_Inner form.
• In case of Support Group-driven template search, re-index the HPD:TemplateSPGAssocLookup form.

Knowledge article 000379830

For a user or a group of users, specific incident templates are either:

• Retrieved when they are not expected to be available
• Not retrieved when they are expected to be available

Check the blog in the Reference column that describes the steps BMC Helix ITSM takes to find matching incident templates. If it does not explain the issue, check if the Authored for Groups setup of the involved incident templates can explain the issue.

Note: If you are unable to find templates only in the recommended templates in Smart Recorder where the expected templates are not showing, see Task 3.

As an administrator, perform an advanced search in Mid Tier on the indicated form depending on system configuration:

• Support Group driven (where templateSearchByAuthoringGroup parameter is set to true):

Form: HPD:TemplateSPGAssocLookup
Advanced Search: 'Login ID' = "<agentLoginID>" AND 'Template Name' = "<templateName>" AND 'Template Status' = "Enabled"

If records are returned, the Support Company 2, Support Organization 2 and Support Group Name 2 fields are shown on the basis of the organization or organizations for which the user has access to the template. If no records are returned, the template does not appear in BMC Helix ITSM template searches for this user.

• 'Company' driven (where templateSearchByAuthoringGroup parameter is set to false ):

Form: HPD:TemplateCompany_Join_Inner
Advanced Search: 'Template Name*' = "<templateName>" AND 'Template Status*' = "Enabled"

The resulting records show the companies that are set up with access to this template. Use the information in Section 1 of this blog to understand which companies are considered in an incident template search and if this can explain why a template is displayed or not displayed for a specific agent in BMC Helix ITSM.

Possible next steps based on the observed results:

• Adjust the access via the Authored For Groups tab of the template, where required.

• Check for any customizations in the structure (join conditions) of the join forms referenced earlier.
  Note: Section 4 of this blog provides an overview of the join hierarchy for both these forms.

• Configuring Incident Management templates

• How incident template searches work in Smart IT

Incident template searches work in general, but certain searches do not return all the expected incident templates for searches performed in these areas:

• Incident Template field when creating an incident
• Browse All Templates option when creating an incident
• '!' accelerator in Smart Recorder

Check if the templates are excluded due to chunk sizes used in BMC Helix ITSM.

Depending on BMC Helix ITSM system configuration, perform the suggested SQL query against the AR System database to check if the affected template may fall outside the chunk sizes used by BMC Helix ITSM Server:

• Support Group driven (where the templateSearchByAuthoringGroup parameter is set to true):
  SELECT DISTINCT HPD_Template_ID, Template_Name FROM HPD_TemplateSPGAssocLookup WHERE Status_Template = 1 AND Login_ID = '<agentLoginID> ' AND Template_Name LIKE '% <searchTerm> %' ORDER BY Template_Name ASC

• Company-driven (where the templateSearchByAuthoringGroup parameter is set to false ): If required, Section 3 of this blog  includes information to find the companies to include in the search:
  SELECT Template_Id,Template_Name,Company FROM HPD_TemplateCompany_Join_Inner WHERE Status_Template = 1 AND Template_Name LIKE '%<searchTerm> %' AND Company IN ('- Global -',' <customerCompany> ',' <serviceProvider1> ',' <....> ',' <....> ') ORDER BY Template_Name

BMC Helix ITSM requests only the top 200 results for these queries, so any templates outside the top 200 are not displayed. BMC Helix ITSM server then removes any duplicates within the top 200 results and returns the top 100 matches to the client for searches performed while creating an incident, and the top 20 results for template searches initiated by using the '!'-accelerator.

Possible next steps in case a template falls outside these chunk sizes:

• Use a more specific search term or adjust the template name.
• If many duplicates are present in the top 200 results, consider reducing the number of organizations that are set up with access to the template and the number of support groups of which the agent is a member.

• For incident template searches by using the Incident Template and Browse All Templates option, upgrade to 20.08 or later where the chunk size is configurable. For more information, see knowledge article 000357317.

How incident template searches work in Smart IT

Searches do not show the relevant incident templates in Smart Recorder's recommended template searches .

Test Multi-Form Search (MFS) in Mid Tier to confirm if the template can be found. If it can be found, check if the FTS search score or ranking for the template can explain why it is not showing in BMC Helix ITSM.

In addition to searching for the entered search terms in the MFS Indexed fields, BMC Helix ITSM also uses extra search filters when performing MFS. These search filters cannot be set up via the MFS:MultiFormSearch form in Mid Tier. However, they can be added by using aMid Tier feature to pass data into a hidden field on the form (Hidden_FilterField, ID 3120) via parameters. Administrators can then set up the required Login ID and Company search filters in this hidden field.

Use the following steps to perform the search (In case of an AR Server Group, validate these searches against each AR Server that Smart IT can connect to):

1. Set up or expand the base qualification that matches the Centralized Configuration setting on your system. The following screenshot provides further explanation on the exact values to use, as well as an example.
   companyQual (when templateSearchByAuthoringGroup = false)
   

   ('Company' = "- Global -" OR 'Company' = "<customerCompany>" OR 'Company' = "<serviceProviderCompany1>" OR .......)

   supGroupQual (when templateSearchByAuthoringGroup = true)

   (companyQual AND (('schemaId' = "<HPDschemaId>" AND ('Login ID' = "<agentLoginID>")) OR ('schemaId' = "<WOIschemaId>")))

   

2. Using an AR System administrator account, open the MFS:MultiFormSearch form using the following URL. Replace <qualification> in the following example with either the companyQual or supGroupQual mentioned in step 1:
   http://<midtier>/arsys/forms/<arserver>/MFS:MultiFormSearch?F3120=<qualification>
3. Once the form has fully loaded, use the following steps to perform the search:
4. 
   
   1. Expand the Advanced Search section.
   2. Populate your search term or terms in the Any of these words field.
   3. (Skip this step in case of Support Group driven template search.) From Forms to search, select the Selected Forms option and add both these forms.
      
      1. HPD:TemplateCompany_Join_Inner
      2. WOI:TemplateCompany_Join_Inner
         Note: Click Add for each form, so they are both shown in the table below it.

   4. Perform the search and check the results table. The following screenshots provide example searches for both company-driven and Support Group-driven template searches:

      Company-driven search	Support Group driven search

      Note: If the search fail with this error: Unable to complete the full text search operation. (ARERR 657), reload the MFS:MultiFormSearch without appending the '?F3120=…' part to the URL and check if a search can be performed without errors. If the search is successful, re-check the syntax of the company or login ID qualification added to the URL.

BMC Helix ITSM retrieves the top 60 results (to eventually return the top 20 to the client). So, if a template falls outside the top 60 results in the table, BMC Helix ITSM does not receive it for the used search terms.

Possible next steps based on observed MFS results:

• If the template cannot be found with MFS, check if an FTS reindex of the join form resolves the issue.
• If the template falls outside the top 60 search results, it is not received by BMC Helix ITSM for the used search terms. In this case, you can try performing these steps:
  • Use different search terms and update Template Name, Summary or Note fields of the template to increase its FTS search score or rank.
  • Sometimes, many duplicate templates are displayed in the top 60 search results (which can happen for forms such as HPD:TemplateSPGAssocLookup form when access to the template is set up for many support groups of which the agent is a member.). If this is the case, check if it is possible to reduce the number of organizations that are set up with access to the duplicated template and reduce the number of support groups of which the agent is a member.
    Note: An issue DRSMX-73226 is open for a fix in a future release to address this issue where duplicate entries may cause other templates not to show.
  • If there are any templates in the top 60 search results that are not in enabled status, check if these templates can be removed from the system followed by an FTS re-index of the join form.
  • If templates displayed in the top 60 search results are no longer present on the system (or no longer configured for that company, organization, or support group), perform an FTS reindex of the involved join form to sync the index.

• If the template is within the top 60 MFS results but not displayed in BMC Helix ITSM, see section 3 of this blog. This article describes the steps BMC Helix ITSM server takes to come to a final list of up to 20 templates to return to the client based on the (up to) 60 MFS results. Again, the presence of not enabled templates (for earlier BMC Helix ITSM versions) and duplicate entries within the top search results can cause other templates to fall outside the final list of 20 templates.

Note: For BMC Helix ITSM 21.02 and later versions, Smart IT debug logging was enhanced to include the list of templates returned by the MFS. Check for this line in the Smart IT debug log:

SUPPORT_LOG: Result for searchString =<searchTerm> , ...

• Passing data to a field in a URL
• Performing searches on multiple forms
• Troubleshooting Full Text Search

• Knowledge article 000225149

• Blog How incident template searches work in Smart IT

• Enable debug logging on the BMC Helix ITSM Servers.
• Enable combined API/SQL logging on the AR Servers to which BMC Helix ITSM can connect.
• In the browser, open the Developer Tools (F12) to capture Console and Network logs.
• Perform the problem use case.
• Review the logs:
  

  • Any error observed in the F12 Network log for the REST call related to the template search? For information on format of the REST calls, see Section 2 of this blog.

  • Any error seen in the F12 Console log when performing the use case?
  • Determine the RID number in the Smart IT debug log that handled the REST call and check for any errors during its processing (lines with '| ERROR   |'). To find the start of the REST call, look for a line like this that references the involved REST call :

<date:time> | <threadId> | RID: 1234 | DEBUG   | c.b.b.m.f.h.ExistingSessionHandler | request received  requestURI : /smartit/rest/incident/templates

The last lines for that REST call should also include the resulting HTTP status code:

<date:time> | <threadId> | RID: 1234 | DEBUG   | c.b.b.myit.filter.ExpiresFilter | Request '/smartit/rest/incident/templates' with response status '200'

• If any errors are found, check if they match any of the listed common issues or check ourknowledge base.

• If no resolution is found, proceed with the next task to create a case with BMC for assistance.

• Capturing network details by using the browser functionality
• Enabling-and-analyzing-logs
• Managing logs for server groups

• Knowledge article 000225149

• Blog How incident template searches work in Smart IT

Collect the following details and logs when creating a case with BMC Support:

• Description with exact steps of the use case and which search area is affected. Screenshots of the issue faced are helpful.
• Is the issue consistently reproducible or intermittent?
• Are all users affected, or only certain users?
• Can the use case be tested in Mid Tier - any differences observed?
• Is the issue reproducible on all environments (DEV | QA | PROD)?
• Was this working correctly before? If so, any known recent changes made?
• Settings for the following BMC Helix ITSM parameters:
  • templateSearchByAuthoringGroup
  • useOperatingCompany
• If the issue relates to the Templates section, has the MFS search been tested via the MFS:MultiFormSearch form in Mid Tier?
• Logs capturing the use case:
  
  • Console and network logs of browser Developer Tools (F12)
  • Smart IT debug logs
  • API/SQL logs from AR Server or Servers to which BMC Helix ITSM connects

Log a case with BMCKnowledge article 000234920