Profile hierarchy / h_sys_profiles data available in Business Process?

[Luke]

Hello, 

I'm hoping there's a solution I've just been unable to find, any help appreciated!  

I'm setting up a new service with multiple Intelligent Captures, I have a form node for the user to select from the Categories (they are presented with the Profile hierarchy from the level defined in the service definition). 

 

In the Intelligent Capture I can use branch nodes and custom expressions to route as required, in this case to switch to different captures some of which are being recycled. 

Then I get to the Business Process, and I want to replicate the same decision/routing rules, but I can only get the selected level from the Category/Profile data, not the full hierarchy, and there will be some duplication at the lowest level which needs to be routed differently in the business process based on the full hierarchy the user selected. 

I've got a node to "Get Request Information" -> "Request Details" and can use &[global["flowcoderefs"]["RequestData"]["loggingCategory"]] to get the selected item from the Profile, I've added everything returned by "Request Details" to the timeline to check if I can get what I need and I'm hoping this isn't a dead end... 

This is the Profile: 

And this is all I can get in the Business Process using loggingCategory: 

I know we have the option to use multiple services / catalogue items, but I'm trying to get a single entry point for users and direct as required. 

I could also look at adding a default value to a field using a custom form on the various captures, then use Custom IC data in the Business Process to direct, but I'm concerned about users navigating forwards and backwards through the Intelligent Captures and therefore setting up default data in various captures - I haven't fully explored this yet, just hoping I can get all of the profile data in the business process somehow... 

If I could get the h_category_id field value from the request and then return data from h_sys_profiles that would give me what I need, but I don't think this is possible? 

Thanks in advance, 

Luke 

[Luke]

If anybody finds this post and is trying to do something similar with profile/category data in a Business Process, this is my solution for now... 

The intelligent capture branches as required then goes to a series of customized forms with the same Form ID, each with a single field with the same ID and a default value set to something unique for the route it's taking, this means a warning is displayed against each of the customized form nodes but can still save & publish. The forms are set to "Never Skip Form" = False and the use doesn't see the form. I can then get the default value from Business Process designer (using this variable: &[functions.pcf("RecordRouting","routing")] ) and route as required 

Customized forms and node properties: 

                  

Field settings: 

Warning (ignore): 

[James Ainsworth]

Hi @Luke,

Thanks for your post.  Sorry for taking so long to respond.

I know that you have mentioned that you have a workaround for now, but I thought I'd try to get a better understanding of your original post.  

On 10/12/2022 at 5:00 AM, Luke said:

And this is all I can get in the Business Process using loggingCategory: 

I thought that looking at the &[global["flowcoderefs"]["getReqInformation"]["loggingCategory"]] variable would be the best place to start.  I believe that what you are saying is that when you use this variable you are only seeing the end node in the category tree, and you need the entire ID.   I did a test using an Auto Task where I have a Get Request Information node followed by another node that simply updates the summary of the request with the contents of the &[global["flowcoderefs"]["getReqInformation"]["loggingCategory"]] variable.  

This is the result, and you can see that the entire category ID is displayed.

There are two things that can affect how the category is stored on a request.

On a Service record in the Service Portfolio there is a setting on each request type where you can set the Request Category Level.  This lets you select a starting level within the tree, rather than always starting at the root.  This makes it easier to navigate a large request category tree by hiding upper level branches that are not related to the request.

 

In conjunction with the option, there is an application setting that determines if the full category (entire branch) is stored against the request or if it just stores what is selected under the Request Category Level. 

 

My assumption is that your category New Equipment Request sits at the second level, and you have the level above this set on the Request Category Level on the Service form and the mentioned setting above has been turned on.  This would result in only New Equipment Request being stored against the request. 

Let me know what you think and if this might be the case.

 

 

[Luke]

Hi James, sorry my turn to delay! 

OK, so we don't have that application setting switched on, but the "Request Category Level" is selected on the service record in service portfolio, I'd only tested selecting at the next level down the tree (after the level selected for the service). 

I can see now that if I select one with 2 steps down the tree it stores everything beyond the level defined for the service  

So I can see these 2 levels saved in h_itsm_requests.h_category but not the parent node in the tree. 

 

I was also just wondering if this update notified today might provide something useful, is there any more info on this new functionality? 

"Bpm operation for retrieving category information about the logging and closure categories for the specified request"

Thanks, 

Luke

[James Ainsworth]

Hi Luke,

On 12/21/2022 at 2:16 AM, Luke said:

"Bpm operation for retrieving category information about the logging and closure categories for the specified request"

Some basic information about the new Hornbill Automation for Category Information can be found here.  However, I do find that by clicking on the help icon that is available on the Hornbill Automation is the best way to get information about the operation.  If you look under the Outputs, you will see the list of information about the categories that it provides.  Not sure if this would help with your scenario.  

[James Ainsworth]

On 12/21/2022 at 2:16 AM, Luke said:

So I can see these 2 levels saved in h_itsm_requests.h_category but not the parent node in the tree. 

If this is still an issue for you, I might suggest raising a support ticket with Hornbill as you have Platinum Success.  I'm unable to see your data to investigate.  If you feel the data is not being saved correctly, the Hornbill Support team will be able to have a closer look to see what is going on. 

[James Ainsworth]

Hi @Luke

We had a recent update to Service Manager that included more options for getting information about a category.  I just wanted to make sure that you were aware of this and to see if this helps with what you are trying to achieve.

[Luke]

Hi James, thanks for the info, I'll check it out next time I'm looking at this Business Process