Creating Screens

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You can create details windows and portal review screens using the Designer.

Details windows are used to create entities in vFire Core, such as Calls, Knowledge articles, Bulletin Board entries, Tasks, Requests and so on. Portal review screens are used to display the details of entities created in the main application on the vFire Self Service portal.

Before you start

You must have Designer selected in your General Access Security Role.

You should understand the concepts of screen sets.

Multiple screen sets must be enabled in the IPK or Workflow Management settings if you are using custom screen sets.

If you wish to use custom screens, custom screen sets must have been defined in IPK and Workflow administration.

To maintain an audit trail of changes made to screens, forms and message templates, Designer must be selected in the Auditing window.

  1. Select a screen type from the Screens list in the left pane to populate the browse table and activate the buttons at the bottom of the window.
  2. Select at the bottom of the window. The Screen Details window is displayed, with some of the details completed based on your Screen selection.
  3. Complete the details:
  4. Create A drop-down list of different entities you can create. Select Screen if necessary.
    Name A drop-down list of system defined names. Screen names for details windows follow the naming convention “[Entity] Details”, for example “Call Details”. The name you selected should be displayed. Select from the drop-down list if necessary.
    [Entity] Detailscreates a new service desk Details window for the selected entity
    [Entity] Submissioncreates a new Self Service portal submission form for the selected entity (this option is only available for the entity types Call and Request since calls and requests may be logged through the Self Service portal)
    [Entity] Reviewcreates a new portal review screen for viewing the details of the selected entity on the Self Service portal. Only one screen by this name is permitted per screen set
    Screen Set

    The screen set to which the new screen must be associated. You cannot select a screen set which already has an active screen for the name you chose.

    If you choose Call Details, no screen sets are available if no custom call screen sets have been defined. However, if you choose Call Submission, the Incident, Known Error, Major Incident, Problem, and Service Desk screen sets will all be available, as these do not have a default submission form associated with them; in this case you cannot select the default screen set, Call, as it already contains a default submission form.

    If you selected Knowledge as the entity, this list displays the visible Knowledge Base types. If you selected CMDB Item, it displays the CMDB Item sub-types.

    Copy From Select an existing screen on which to base your new one. The list displays the names of all existing active screens with the name you selected at Name. The naming convention for the screens in this list is “[screen set name] [screen name]"

  5. Select OK to create the new screen. You are returned to the main Find a Screen view of the Designer window. An entry for the new screen appears in the browse table.
  6. If you try to create a screen and an inactive (deleted) screen already exists with the same name, you will receive a warning message asking you if you want to permanently remove the deleted screen from the database and create the new screen. Select Yes to continue, or No to cancel the screen creation. You can restore deleted screens if you wish.

  7. You should test the new screen before live release to ensure there are no unexpected results.
  8. Give Analysts access to the new screen through their IPK or Workflow security role if necessary.

Creating a Portal Submission Screen

Portal submission screens can be used for logging requests and calls through the vFire Self Service portal. Users only need to be able to complete information which is relevant to them as an end-user.

Analysts with the required permissions can create and link a portal submission screen to a call template or workflow template. Access to call templates and workflow templates is given via the relevant tabs on the Self Service Portal role. Users and other Analysts can then use the template, complete the fields, and submit the call or request. This will generate a call or request in the main application.

The Designer enables organizations to add additional configured fields to a call template or workflow template.

Before you start

You must have Designer selected in your General Access Security Role.

You should understand the concepts of screen sets.

Remember to enable multiple screen sets in the IPK or Workflow Management settings.

If you wish to use custom screens, define custom screen sets in IPK and Workflow administration.

To maintain an audit trail of changes made to screens, forms and message templates, Designer must be selected in the Auditing window.

  1. Select a screen type from the Screens list in the left pane to populate the browse table and activate the buttons at the bottom of the window.
  2. Select at the bottom of the window. The Screen Details window is displayed, with some of the details completed based on your Screen selection.
  3. Complete the details:
  4. Create A drop-down list of different entities you can create. Select Screen if necessary.
    Name

    A drop-down list of system defined names. Screen names for details windows follow the naming convention “[Entity] Details”, for example “Call Details”. The name you selected should be displayed. Select from the drop-down list if necessary.

    [Entity] Details creates a new service desk Details window for the selected entity
    [Entity] Submission creates a new portal submission form for the selected entity (this option is only available for the entity types Call and Request since calls and requests may be logged through the Self Service portal)
    [Entity] Review creates a new portal review screen for viewing the details of the selected entity on the Self Service portal. Only one screen by this name is permitted per screen set
    Screen Set

    The screen set to which the new screen must be associated. You cannot select a screen set which already has an active screen for the name you chose.
    If you have selected Call as the entity, and choose Call Details, no screen sets are available if no custom call screen sets have been defined. However, if you choose Call Submission, the Incident, Known Error, Major Incident, Problem, and Service Desk screen sets will all be available, as these do not have an associated default submission form. You cannot select the default screen set, Call, as it already contains a default submission form.

    If you selected Knowledge as the entity, this list displays the visible Knowledge Base types, that is, the Knowledge entry types defined by the system administrator. If you selected CMDB Item as the entity, this list displays the CMDB Item sub-types defined by the system administrator.

    Copy From Select an existing screen on which to base your new one. The list displays the names of all existing active screens with the name you selected at Name. The naming convention for the screens in this list is “[screen set name] [screen name]"

  5. To view the screen details, select from the bottom of the window.
  6. To make the screen available, you must associate it with the relevant template.