This documentation supports the 21.05 version of BMC Helix ITSM. To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Loading tasks by using task templates versus process templates

Task template validation process has certain limitations and differing uses of task and process templates. The difference lies in the way you use task templates to load tasks and the associations between their child objects, such as tasks and task groups, versus how you use process templates to load processes and the associations between their child objects, such as tasks and task groups.

Related topics

Best-practices-for-using-spreadsheets-in-data-management

Populating-the-dataload-spreadsheets

Limitations of task template validation

No validation is performed on the automatic fields on the TMS_LoadTaskTemplate tab of the Process Setup-Task.xlsx spreadsheet. However, the automatic command is validated. This behavior corresponds to the same behavior that exists on the TMS:Task Template form.

Differing uses of task and process templates

The system behaves differently when it uploads child tasks and task groups using templates defined in the ProcessSetup-Task.xlsx and Transactional-Task.xlsx spreadsheets. The upload works for each as follows:

  • ProcessSetup-Task.xlsx—When you upload data referencing a Task Group Template in the Task Group Template Identifier field on the TMS_LoadTaskGroupTemplate tab, any associated task groups and tasks are also uploaded automatically.
  • Transactional-Task.xlsx—When you upload tickets referencing a Task Group Template in the Template ID field on the TMS_LoadTaskGroup tab, associated tasks are not uploaded automatically. This is because tasks defined by the task group template can already be in progress in the system. To upload a task group template's tasks, you need to explicitly define the tasks on the TMS_LoadTask tab in the Transactional-Task.xlsx spreadsheet.

The following figure shows the Transactional-Task.xlsx spreadsheet with the Template ID field referencing a template and also the TMS_LoadTask tab which must be filled to make sure any associated tasks are also uploaded:

Task_template.gif




 

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