This documentation supports the 21.3 version of BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT.To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Overview of actions in Smart IT


This topic describes the types of supported actions, platforms, and common options to configure actions in Smart IT.

Important

If you have set the value of the Enable-Progressive-Views parameter in Centralized configuration as T, you cannot use provider actions in Smart IT. You must create active links in AR System. 

For information about how to create active links, see Creating active links

Types of actions

Depending on where the actions are run, actions are categorized into the following types:

Action type

Description

Provider action

Provider actions are run in Smart IT and in the BMC Helix ITSM server. The event is triggered in Smart IT, and the processing is done at the backend. Smart IT sends the events to the BMC Helix ITSM Server for the necessary processing in the BMC Helix ITSM workflow. For information about configuring provider actions, see Configuring-provider-actions-in-Smart-IT


Client-side URL/URI actions are run in the client's browser window. At run time, the value in the accelerator is taken from the ticket (for example, [desc] for the Incident description) and displayed in the URL.

Asset action

Asset actions are specific only to the Asset view and are run in Smart IT. Asset actions are useful when users perform a specific task repeatedly against assets, which results in updates to several data attributes and asset relationships. Based on the user inputs selected when configuring asset actions, the selected type and subtypes of assets are updated or a relation is created between an asset and another asset or person. For information about asset actions, see Configuring-asset-actions.

When you configure a Client-side URL/URI action for the Asset view, out-of-the-box and generic customized fields are displayed in the accelerator list. The type-specific customized fields are not displayed in the accelerator list because the Client-side URL/URI action is a generic action, and not specific to any asset type or asset class. 

If the URL consists of %20, then for security reasons, the system replaces it with '+'. For example,

http://<Mid tier server name>:<port number>/arsys/forms/<ITSM server name>/SHR%3ALandingConsole/Default%20Administrator%20View
is encoded and placed as:
http://<Mid tier server name>:<port number>/arsys/forms/<ITSM server name>/SHR:LandingConsole/Default+Administrator+View

URLs with '+' as first character in the form name are not supported in BMC Helix ITSM, and therefore, they are not loaded. However, forms that have '+' within the URL, are properly loaded. When adding URLs, you must validate the URL to avoid security flaws. It is recommended that you follow OWASP Enterprise Security API (ESAPI) standards to validate URLs.

Supported platforms and Smart IT views

Smart IT is supported on the Universal Client (UC), and Google Android and Apple iOS mobile platforms. The following table compares the options available for the UC and mobile platforms.

Smart IT options


UC

Mobile

Google Android

Apple iOS

Create, edit or delete actions

✅️

❌️

❌️

Run actions

✅️

✅️

✅️

Common options when configuring actions

When configuring actions, there are common options that you must specify as shown in the following graphic:

Screen Config 2008.png

Option

Description

Alphabetical order/custom order

By default, actions are displayed in alphabetical order in the More list. You can change the order by using the Custom Order option.

Action type

Depending on the action you want to configure, select an action type. Client-side URL is selected by default.

Supported platforms

You can run actions on both the desktop and mobile platforms.

URL/URI

If you select Client-side URL, enter a URL/URl and select the relevant accelerators. If you select Provider Action, enter an Action ID.

Note

Smart IT does not accept the following special characters in the Client-side URL: @, ^, ~, |, ! *

Open behavior

You can configure Smart IT to open the action in a new browser window or the same browser window. The New Browser Window option is selected by default.

Default label

You must provide a default label for the action. The label that you specify is displayed on the More list for the action you configured.

Localization label

When you configure actions, you can localize the Action labels in the languages supported by Smart IT. If the locale language configured in the service desk agent's OS or browser does not match with the localized label, the action is displayed in the default language.

For example, you configure an action and specify the label text with English as the default label and French as the localized label. If the locale language configured in the service desk agent's OS or browser is French, the action label is displayed in French. If the locale language configured in the service desk agent's OS or browser is not French, then the action label is displayed in the default English language.

Apply to asset types

Select the asset type and subtype from the Apply to Asset Types list.

Edit or delete an action

At any time, you can edit or delete actions from the UC platform.

  • To edit an action, click the Add/Remove Actions option for the specific Smart IT view, open the action that you want to edit, make the necessary changes, and save the action.
  • To delete an action, click the Delete option of the specific action, and confirm your deletion.

Note

you cannot delete a provider action template if it has an associated provider action.



 

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