Mapping custom knowledge templates from BMC Helix ITSM:Knowledge Management with BMC Helix Knowledge Management

BMC Helix Innovation Studio supports BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround as one of the knowledge providers in your application. As an administrator, you can include custom knowledge templates and fields from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management in the BMC Helix Knowledge Management knowledge base. 

Before you begin

Make sure that you have created a data source connection and a data source mapping between BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management and BMC Helix Knowledge Management. 

Process for mapping custom knowledge templates with BMC Helix Knowledge Management

Complete the following tasks to map custom templates with BMC Helix Knowledge Management:

Task 1: To create an external record definition for a custom knowledge template

Create an external record definition for the custom knowledge template and its associated join form (to the RKM:KnowledgeArticleManager form). For example, if you have a custom knowledge template Custom:KCS:Template, you should have its associated join form Custom:KCS:Template_Manageable_Join. 

In the Base layer, create the external record definitions and add the following values:

Task 2: To map the fields from custom templates with BMC Helix Knowledge Management

You can create one-to-one or many-to-one field mappings between BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management and BMC Helix Knowledge Management. Review the field mapping examples. 

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Administration tab. 
2. Select Knowledge management > Knowledge sync configuration > Knowledge Article Templates and Attribute Mappings. 

3. On the Knowledge Article Templates page, click New and complete the following fields:

   Field	Description	Value	Example
   Knowledge Article Source	Specify the knowledge base source.	Remedy Knowledge Management
   Knowledge Article Type	Specify the form name of the custom template as seen in the Developer Studio.	For example, Custom KCS Template
   ComAround Content Type	The value is populated automatically.	article Do not change this value.
   ComAround Parent Node Id	The value is populated automatically.	Default value: 0Do not change the default value.

4. Click Save. 
   You have defined the source and content type for the field mapping. 
5. In the Attribute Mappings section, click New. 

6. From the ComAround Attribute list, select the BMC Helix Knowledge Management field to which you want to map the custom field. 

   ComAround fields, description, and example field mapping

   The following table lists the fields in BMC Helix Knowledge Management to which you can map the custom fields in a BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management knowledge template:

   BMC Helix Knowledge Management field	Description and example field mapping	Required
   title	Specifies the title of the knowledge article. For example, if you want to map the field to the knowledge article field, set the value to |ArticleTitle|.	Yes
   author	Specifies the author of the knowledge article. For example, if you want to map the field to the knowledge article author field, set the value to |ArticleAuthor|.	Yes
   authorEmail	Specifies the author's email address. For example, if you want to map the field to the BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management author's email address, set the value to |ArticleAuthorEmail| (derived from the CTM:People form).	Yes
   culture	Specifies the language in which the knowledge article is authored in. The value is based on the standard locale values such as en (English), en_US (US English), fr (French), and de (German).	Yes
   knowledgeState	Specifies the status of the knowledge article as defined in the Status Mapping record definition. For example, if you want to map the field to the Status Mapping record definition, set the value to |StatusSelectionField|	Yes
   createdDate	Specifies the date and time when the knowledge article was created. For example, if you want to map the field to the knowledge article create date field, set the value to |Create Date|	Yes
   updatedDate	Specifies the date and time when the knowledge article was last updated.For example, if you want to map it to the knowledge article last modified date field, set the value to |Modified Date|	Yes
   metadata	Specifies the keywords used for searching the knowledge article. For example, if you want to map the field to the knowledge article keywords field, set the value to |Article_Keywords|	Yes
   notes	Specifies the internal notes for a knowledge article. Information in this field is not displayed to the end user. Important: Map this field to |metadata| and |DocID| fields. Do not modify or delete the out-of-the-box data. In addition to metadata and DocID, you can map the field to other fields.	Yes
   issue	Specifies the issue in a knowledge article as defined by the Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) methodology.	No
   environment	Specifies the environment in a knowledge article as defined by the Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) methodology.	No
   cause	Specifies the cause in a knowledge article as defined by the Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) methodology.	No
   resolution	Specifies the resolution in a knowledge article as defined by the Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) methodology. Important: This field is mapped to |ArticleAttachments| (derived from attachments on the knowledge article manger form) in addition to any other field that you map it to.	Yes

   • If you want to map a single field, for example, the title field in BMC Helix Knowledge Management with the Article Title field in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management, select the following values:

     • ComAround Attribute—title
     • Knowledge Article Source Attribute—|ArticleTitle|

     The following image is an example of mapping a single field:

     
     
     

   • If you want to map multiple fields, for example, Workaround and Release_Date in BMC Helix Knowledge Managementwith the issue field in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management, specify the following values:

     • ComAround Attribute—issue
     • Knowledge Article Source Attribute—<p> The workaround for this issue is; </p> <p>|Workaround|</p><p>The fix for this issue will be available on |Release_Date|</p> 
       where <p></p> are HTML tags. 

     The following image is an example of mapping multiple fields:
     

7. Click Save. 

You have mapped the custom field in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management with BMC Helix Knowledge Management. Repeat the procedure for each custom field that you want to synchronize with BMC Helix Knowledge Management. 

Task 3: To add the custom template records to the Get RKM Articles process

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio. 
2. On the Workspace tab, click Knowledge Sync. 
3. Click the Processes tab and open Custom Extension Process. 
   This is a placeholder process, as shown in the following image: 
   

4. Create a variable to track and make sure that the maximum number of retrieved records is within the server limits. 

   Create the Start Index variable

   1. On the Properties tab, in the VARIABLES section, click Add/ Remove Variables.
   2. Click Add Variable and specify a name to the variable.
      For example, My Counter.
   3. In Variable Type, select Local Variable.
   4. From the Data Type list, select Integer.
   5. In Default Value, type 0.
   6. Click Save.
   7. Click Add Variable and specify a name to the variable.
      For example, My Custom RKM Template.
   8. In Variable Type, select Local Variable.
   9. From the Data Type list, select Record.
   10. From the Record Definition list, select the custom template join record that you created earlier.
       The following image shows the variable:
       
   11. Click Save.
5. Add the Get Records by Query element

   1. From the Palette, drag the Get Records By Query element to the canvas.

      Best practice

      We recommend that you provide unique names to each element to identify the purpose of the element. For example, you can specify Get My Custom Template Name By Query element to the Get Records By Query element.

   2. On the GENERAL tab, in the INPUT MAP section, from the Record Definition Name list, select the custom template join record definition that you created earlier.
   3. Click the Click to build an expression link and build your expression.
      The expression must include the Modified Date and at least one ArticleStatusEnglish.
      The following image is an example expression:
      
      
      In this query, Modified Date and ArticleStatusEnglish fields are the custom fields and the Job Last Run Date Time field is the predefined process variable.
   4. Click OK.
   5. In the Add/ Remove fields, type DocID and select All Matching Records.
   6. In Start Index, click Click to build an expression.
   7. Select the variable that you created earlier.
      For example, My Counter.
   8. Click OK.
6. From the Palette, drag the Exclusive Gateway element to the canvas.
7. Add a Sub Process

   1. From the Palette, drag the Sub Process element to the canvas.
   2. Connect one point of the Exclusive Gateway to the End event and the other point to the Sub Process.
   3. Click the arrow between the Exclusive Gateway and the Sub Process as shown in the following image:
      
      
      

   4. On the GENERAL tab, click Click to build an expression and set the following expression:

      

   5. Click OK.
8. Add activities to the sub process

   1. From the Palette, drag the Compute Value element to the canvas.

   2. On the GENERAL tab, in the INPUT MAP section, click Click to build an expression and set the following expression:
      

      My Counter + 1

      Where My Counter is the variable that you created earlier.

   3. In the OUTPUT MAP section, click Add.
   4. From the Name list, select My Counter and click Click to build an expression.

   5. From the Increment list, select Output, as shown in the following image:

      

   6. Click OK.
      You have configured the Compute Value element in the sub process.
   7. From the Palette, drag the Create List element to the canvas.
   8. On the GENERAL tab, in the INPUT MAP section, click Click to build an expression for Source List.
   9. Set the Source List to the Doc List variable as shown in the following image:
      
      
      
      
   10. Click Click to build an expression for Item to Add.
   11. In the Edit Expression window, expand the list for your custom template record variable that you created earlier.
   12. Select DocID and click OK.
   13. On the GENERAL tab, in the OUTPUT MAP section, click Add.
   14. From the Name list, select DocList, and click Click to build an expression.
   15. From the Create List list, select Output.
       You have configured the Create List element in the sub process.

   The following image shows the sub process after configuring its elements:

   
   

9. Add the looping function to the sub process

   1. On the canvas, select the sub process element.
   2. On the GENERAL tab, in the MULTI INSTANCE LOOP section, from the Loop Type list, select Parallel.
   3. Click Click to build an expression for the Loop Data Input.
   4. Set the expression to Get Records by Query > Output.
   5. From the Input Data Item, select the custom template variable you created earlier.
      For example, My Custom RKM Template.
      Do not specify the Completion Criteria so that all the records found by the Get Records by Query element are processed.
   6. Connect the Sub process to the Get Record By Query element.

   The following image shows the Custom Extension Process after configuring all the elements:

   

   You have configured the Custom Extension Process to get data from a single custom template. Repeat the process for all the custom templates that you want to synchronize with BMC Helix Knowledge Management. 

   The following image shows how to add the Get Records By Query element to get the second custom template: 

   
   

Where to go from here

Synchronizing-BMC-Helix-ITSM-Knowledge-Management-with-BMC-Helix-Knowledge-Management