Phased rollout This documentation supports the 21.05 version of BMC Service Request Management. To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Defining the questions

You can create the following types of questions to use with an SRD:

  • Text questions: Displayed in the Request Entry console as a single or multiple row text field.
  • Radio button questions: Displayed in the Request Entry console as single selectable buttons.
  • Check box questions: Displayed in the Request Entry console as multiple selection check boxes. Users can select multiple check boxes as required.
  • Range questions: Displayed in the Request Entry console as a slider bar where users move the slider left or right to indicate their answer.
  • Date and time questions: Displayed in the Request Entry Console as a calendar field next to the response field for user selection.

Related topics

Creating-questions-to-use-with-SRDs

Adding-questions-to-an-SRD

Mapping-variables-to-questions

To define text questions

  1. Open the Questions & Mappings dialog box for an SRD. See Adding-questions-to-an-SRD.
  2. On the Questions tab, click Add Question.

  3. In the Question Text field, enter a question for users. You can enter up to 254 characters.
    If you want to enter the greater than (>) or less than (<) sign in the Question Text field, use encoded text (&gt for >, and &ltfor <); otherwise, browsers will interpret the greater than and less than signs as HTML markup, which is not supported. For more information about the restrictions in creating questions, see Creating-questions-to-use-with-SRDs.

    Important

    • You must enter at least one character. If you use only one character, it cannot be a space.
    • If you are passing the values from a text question from BMC Service Request Management to a fulfillment application (such as BMC Incident Management), make sure you set the proper field length values. Otherwise, you might see errors in the CAI events trying to create records in the fulfillment applications. This can occur when data from one of the fields in the service request is too long. For example, trying to pass 254 characters to a field that only accepts 100 characters.
  4. In the Question Format field, select Text.
  5. (Optional) In the Instructions field, enter instructions on responding to the question.
  6. In the Number of Text Rows field, specify how many lines are used in your question.
    If you enter 1, the Text field appears in the Request Entry form as a single-line input field. If you enter 2, the Text field is two rows in height, and so on.
  7. In the Limit Input Length To field, specify the number of characters that a user can enter.
    This field is important for fulfillment application mapping if the fields are limited in input length. By default, for a single-line question, users can enter as many as 128 characters.
  8. (Optional) In the Specify Regular Expressions field, enter a regular expression to validate the user's response.
    Regular expressions ensure that users enter information, such as email addresses, in the correct format. If the user enters a response that does not match the pattern specified by the regular expression, the system displays an error message. For examples of regular expressions, see Adding-questions-to-an-SRD.
  9. Click Save.

To define radio button questions

  1. Open the Questions & Mappings dialog box for an SRD. See Adding-questions-to-an-SRD.
  2. On the Questions tab, click Add Question.
  3. In the Question Text field, enter a question for users.
    If you want to enter the greater than (>) or less than (<) sign in the Question Text field, use encoded text (&gt for >, and &lt for <); otherwise, browsers will interpret the greater than and less than signs as HTML markup, which is not supported. For more information about the restrictions in creating questions, see Creating-questions-to-use-with-SRDs.
  4. In the Question Format field, select Radio Buttons.
  5. (Optional) In the Instructions field, enter instructions on responding to the question.
  6. In the Displayed Value field, enter the value that appears to users (for example, a department name, such as Accounting).

  7. In the Stored Value field, enter an internal value (for example, a department number, such as 80300).

    Tip

    When mapping question responses to SR fields or variables, if you specify User Displayed Response (the default), the Displayed Value is mapped.
    If you specify Internally Represented Response, the Stored Value is mapped.

  8. Click Add.
  9. Repeat step 6 through step 8 for each option you want to add.
  10. Click Save.

To define check box questions

  1. Open the Questions & Mappings dialog box for an SRD. See Adding questions to an SRD.
  2. On the Questions tab, click Add Question.
  3. In the Question Text field, enter a question for users.
    If you want to enter the greater than (>) or less than (<) sign in the Question Text field, use encoded text (&gt for >, and &lt for <); otherwise, browsers will interpret the greater than and less than signs as HTML markup, which is not supported. For more information about the restrictions in creating questions, see Creating-questions-to-use-with-SRDs.
  4. In the Question Format field, select Check Boxes.
  5. (Optional) In the Instructions field, enter instructions on responding to the question.
  6. In the Displayed Value field, enter the value that appears to users (for example, Accounting).
  7. In the Stored Value field, enter the value stored in the database.
  8. Click Add.
  9. Repeat step 6 through step 8 for each option you want to add.
  10. Click Save.

To define range questions

When specifying a range of values for a range question, specify a range that covers a maximum of 20 discrete values. To allow users to enter a wider range of values, use a text question type.

  1. Open the Questions & Mappings dialog box for an SRD. See Adding questions to an SRD.
  2. On the Questions tab, click Add Question.
  3. In the Question Text field, enter a question for users (for example, Quality of Food).
    If you want to enter the greater than (>) or less than (<) sign in the Question Text field, use encoded text (&gt for >, and &lt for <); otherwise, browsers will interpret the greater than and less than signs as HTML markup, which is not supported. For more information about the restrictions in creating questions, see Creating-questions-to-use-with-SRDs.
  4. In the Question Format field, select Range.
  5. (Optional) In the Instructions field, enter instructions on responding to the question.
  6. In the Minimum Label field, enter the value that appears to users (for example, Low).
  7. In the Minimum Value field, enter the smallest range value (for example, 1).
  8. In the Maximum Label field, enter the value that appears to users (for example, High).
  9. In the Maximum Value field, enter the largest displayed value (for example, 10).
  10. Click Save.

To define date and time questions

Best practice

  • Because date questions are not copied, we recommend you make the question mandatory to ensure that users enter a new date when submitting a request that has been copied by using the Request Again feature.
  • When you map date questions to variables, use the Internally Represented Response option. This ensures that the date field contains the value for when the request was created on the server.
  • The Internally Represented Response for Date/Time, Date, and Time questions is a numeric string rather than a readable date or time format. For more information, see Question format restrictions.

To use custom date formats in the Required Completion and Expected Completion fields, and in all date and time questions on the Provide Information form, users must select the Custom Date format for the Display Data/time Style (Web) field on the Web tab of the AR System User Preference form. For more information about setting preferences on the Web tab, seeWeb client preferences. For more information about setting user preferences, seeSetting user preferences.

  1. Open the Questions & Mappings dialog box for an SRD. 
  2. On the Questions tab, click Add Question.
  3. In the Question Text field, enter a question for users.
    If you want to enter the greater than (>) or less than (<) sign in the Question Text field, use encoded text (&gt for >, and &lt for <); otherwise, browsers will interpret the greater than and less than signs as HTML markup, which is not supported. 
  4. (Optional) In the Instructions field, enter instructions on responding to the question
  5. In the Question Format field, select Date/Time, Date, or Time.
  6. Click Save.

 

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