Administration Guide

Configuring Create Actions

The Self Service Portal employs special Create Service Actions for creating Incidents (that appear to SSP users as “Tickets”) and Equipment Reservations. These Actions define how new objects are created and initialized. Initial values may come from a Template, or may be entered by the user through a Form. Just as interactive Create Actions, Service Create Actions may also involve creating or updating related objects, generating e-mail notifications to various participants of the business process, or running external commands.

You can configure several Create Service Actions for different types of Incidents you want to provide in the SSP. You can also configure multiple Create Service Actions for different types of Equipment Reservations.

INFO: For information on Service Actions, see Service Actions.

To add a Create Service Action for the SSP, follow these steps:

  1. From the Sidebar, navigate to Self Service Portal > Workflow.
  2. The right pane lists SSP object classes. Locate one (Incidents or Equipment Reservations) and double-click the Double-click to add a new Create Action row under Create Actions. The [Incident / Equipment Reservations] Create Action for Self Service Portal dialog box opens.
  3. On the General tab, specify the following properties of the Service Action:
    1. Type the Action name in the Name field.
    2. In the Caption field, enter the text that will represent the Create Action in the Self Service Portal. By default the Caption is initialized with the name you entered in the previous step.

      NOTE: The Caption text is initialized for the English (United States) language pack. If you plan to use different languages, you need to update the field Caption in localization dictionary. For details, see Localizing Forms and Actions in SSP Workflow.

      NOTE: The Self Service Portal shows commands for Create Actions as buttons at the bottom of the corresponding.

    3. Optional: Enter a description of this Action in the Description field.
    4. Keep the Enabled check box selected. Otherwise, this Action will not appear in the Self Service Portal.
  4. If you want to make the Action available only in certain situations, click the Condition tab and create the criteria. If the criteria evaluates to True, the Action will be available; if the criteria evaluates to False, the Action will be unavailable and hidden in the Self Service Portal.
    • To build criteria, click Edit and configure the list of conditions in the Criteria dialog box.

    INFO: For details, see Building Criteria.

  5. Normally you should use a Template to initialize an object when the object is created. To assign a template click the Template tab. Here you can choose one of reusable Templates, or create a new Template.
    • To choose an existing Template, select one from the Template list.
    • To create a custom Template, keep <Custom> in the Template field. Under Template Definition, specify how this Template assigns initial values to fields of newly created objects:
      1. Click New. A new row appears.
      2. Select an object field in the Field Name field and enter its initial value in the Value field.

      Repeat these steps to assign values to other fields you want the Template to initialize. If you want to remove a field from the Template, select it and click Delete.

      NOTE: For details on reusing custom Templates, see Creating Templates.

  6. On the Form tab, choose the form that will prompt SSP customers to specify the details of new objects. You can choose an existing Form from the list or create a custom Form in the scope of this Service Action.
    • To create a custom Form, keep the <Custom> in the Form field and follow the instructions on adding Forms. For details, see Adding Action Forms.

      NOTE: Create Actions for the SSP support standard Action Forms with all their functionality.

      INFO: For understanding Forms, see The Architecture of Forms.

      INFO:For instructions on adding Forms, see Adding Action Forms.

    • To choose an existing Form, select it in the Form list.

      NOTE: For details on reusing custom Forms, see Custom and Reusable Forms.

  7. If you want to perform additional operations on the newly created object or send notifications to participants of the business process, click the Programming tab and specify the operations to execute directly within the Action or select an existing, previously created Function.
    1. Under Operations, click New > [Operation] and specify the operation details.

      INFO: For details, see Adding Operations.

      Repeat this step to add other operations as needed.

      NOTE: Operations are executed in the order they appear in the list (except for e-mail notifications). To reorder the list, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons. Alloy Navigator always executes E-mail Notification operations last, after all other operations. This is to ensure that notifications reflect the most current state of the object. For details, see Inserting Placeholders.

    2. By default, all operations are executed unconditionally. If necessary, you can add conditional statements by clicking New > "IF" Group, New > "ELSE IF" Group, and New > "ELSE" Group.

      INFO: For details, see Building Conditional Statements.

  8. If you want to categorize the Create Action by assigning it to one or more Processes, click the Processes tab and follow the instructions on assigning Actions to Processes.

    INFO: For details, see Assigning Workflow Items to Processes.

  9. When done, click OK.

    NOTE: All Create Actions for the SSP that you configure here will also appear in the list of Service Actions under Business Logic Configuration > [Module] > [Object Class] > Workflow > Actions > Service Actions.