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Service catalogs allow creating an ordered structure of internal and external services provided to consumers. Within the Service Catalog, you'll be able to deliver valuable benefits literally any time and from any device. Also, Service Catalog helps in standardizing corporate processes, in particular, request fulfillment. 

Tip

Role required: admin, catalog_admin.

To create and configure a Service Catalog displayable within the Self-Service Portal, you need to follow the procedure:

Specify a desirable URL for your catalog in the URL field of the Node record form. It should be the Path Name of the page defined as the main catalog page. To obtain the path name value, please complete the steps below:
  • Navigate to Portal Structure → Pages.
  • In the page list appeared, find a page you are going to use.
    • Obtain necessary information in the Path Name column of the list
    1. Create a Create a catalog structure:service catalog record.
    2. Create a <![CDATA[catalog category. You can create as many categories as you need.
    3. Create <![CDATA[task templates or <![CDATA[request templates, depending on your business needs.
    4. Configure catalog visibility by editing portal attributes:
      1. Create portal pages for Service Catalog and Catalog Request Form. These pages are necessary to display the request list and the request form, respectively. You can reuse the existing same-named pages (provided by the vendor) by making a copy of them.
      2. Create a portal node (or reuse the existing one).
      3. Create a node to be a catalog access point. 
    Note

    Notes for items 2b and 2c:

  • Create a node in the Portal Main Cards tree.
    1. .

    The scheme below displays the catalog hierarchy as is. The legend is as follows:

    • Green is the service catalog record.
    • Blue are service categories.
    • Yellow are request templates.


    EntityDescription
    CatalogA high-level entity uniting all other items such as categories and templates.
    Category

    Element group joined with some common attributes. You can create a hierarchical structure of categories.

    Tip

    Establish inter-categories links via the Parent field.


    Task templateA fieldset allowing to make a request of any type on its basis (for example, vacation request or invoice request).
    Request templateA particular case of task templates, implementing aservice request model and featuring an expanded fieldset.

    Anchor
    Service Catalog records
    Service Catalog records
    Service Catalog records

    The service catalog record is the highest-level entity aggregating all other items below (categories, subcategories, items).

    To create a service catalog record, please complete the steps below:

    1. Navigate to Catalogs Configuration → Service Catalogs.
    2. Click New and fill in the fields.
    3. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.

    Service catalog form description

    FieldMandatoryDescription
    NameNSpecify a catalog name.
    ImageNSpecify an image for portal catalog record decoration.
    DescriptionNSpecify some descriptive text for this service catalog.
    ActiveNSelect this checkbox to make the catalog active or inactive.

    Anchor
    Service categories
    Service categories
    Service categories

    Catalog category is an entity containing child items (subcategories and task templates) of a similar theme together, like a folder in a filesystem. For example, you can create the category "IT Assistance" and after that, you can create request templates "New Laptop Request", "Equipment replacement" in this category. So, this category will be a container for these request templates.

    To create a service category, please complete the steps below:

    1. Navigate to Catalogs Configuration → Service Categories.
    2. Click New and fill in the fields.
    3. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.

    Service category form description

    FieldMandatoryDescription
    NameYSpecify a category name.
    Service CatalogNSpecify a catalog to which this category relates. If a category is created out of any existing catalog related lists, this field populates automatically with the catalog name.
    Parent СategoryNSpecify a parent category for this category if you are creating a multilevel category structure. If a category is created out of any other category, this field populates automatically with the parent category name.
    ImageNSpecify an image for portal category record decoration.
    DescriptionNSpecify a category description.
    OrderN

    Enter the number allowing to define category order in a catalog.

    Catalog items sorting can be defined by the Category Condition field within the Portal Node record binding the catalog Service Catalog page and the portal Self-Service Portal page.

    To define items sorting, just specify it in the condition, like shown on the screenshot below:

    Active

    Select this checkbox to make categories active or inactive.

    Items displaying conditions can be defined by the Category Condition field within the Portal Node record binding the catalog page and the portal page.

    Anchor
    Task templates
    Task templates
    Task templates

    If you have some business tasks performed on a daily basis, then you can create a template for them and use it in your service catalog. For example, "New Laptop Request" or "Vacation Request" are relevant examples of such templates.

    To create a task template, please complete the steps below:

    1. Navigate to Catalogs Configuration → Task Template.
    2. Click New and fill in the fields.
    3. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.


    .Specify a parent table for a newly created table
    FieldMandatoryDescription
    NameYSpecify a task template name.
    TableY

    Specify a table to process by this template. The table permission should allow to create new records in it; also, it should contain all necessary fields implementing business logic for a template.

    For example, the Absences and Vacations table.

    Also, when the Create table checkbox is selected and a new table creates, this field becomes read-only and populated automatically.


    Warning

    To ensure correct operation, create a form view named SP for the table. Otherwise, when going to the Template Page in the Service Catalog, instead of the form, a message appears:

    Exception: Such SP view for request_table is not found


    Create table

    Select this checkbox if a new table for catalog items should be created in addition to existing ones.


    Note

    New table is physically created only when the template is ready to use (state = Published).

    This table is the child one for the table specified in the Parent table field. So the child table contains the similar field set and can extend the parent table if needed.

    The table title is equal to the task template name, so you can find this new table with these prerequisites in the tables list (System Definition → All Tables).


    StateY

    Task template state. Available options:

    • New
    • Waiting for approval
    • Published
    OrderN

    Enter a number allowing to define item order in a catalog.

    Items sorting can be defined by the Category Item Condition field within the Portal Node record binding the catalog page and the portal page.

    ActiveN

    Select this checkbox to make this template active or inactive.

    Items displaying conditions can be defined by the Category Item Condition field within the Portal Node record binding the catalog page and the portal page.

    ImageNSpecify an image for portal catalog record decoration.
    DescriptionNSpecify a template description.
    Parent tableY

    Specify a table to be parent for newly creating one.

    Note

    This field appears only when the Create table checkbox is selected.

    Service catalog    		YSpecify a service catalog record parent for this task template.
    Service categoryYSpecify a service category record parent for this task template
    These fields are displayed when the Create table checkbox is selected.
    Parent tableY.

    Anchor
    Request templates
    Request templates
    Request templates

    Request template is a particular case of the task template implementing a service request model and featuring an expanded fieldset.

    To implement request template used on the portal, you need to go through the steps given below:

    1. Create request description.
    2. Create request model.
    3. Create request category.
    4. Create request template.

    Anchor
    Creating request description
    Creating request description
    Create request description

    Technically, request description is a Knowledge Base article storing brief information about service delivered within the specified request.

    To create a request description, please complete the steps below:

    1. Navigate to Knowledge Base → All Articles.
    2. Click New and fill in the fields.
    3. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.
    FieldMandatoryDescriptionNumberY

    Knowledge Base article number. This field is populated automatically.

    NameYSpecify request description name.Content DBYSpecify article storage, delivered within the OOB application or created manually.KB CategoryNSpecify a category for this article.Content Item ClassYChoose the Request Description value in this field. For more information, please refer to the Create a Content Item Class article.Object CategoryY

    This field is responsible for the article displaying on Self-Service Portal and populated automatically. Available options:

    • External
    • Internal

    Articles with Object Category = External are displayed on the portal, unlike Internal ones. This attribute can be adjusted within the related content item class.

    ServiceNSpecify related service.StateN

    Specify article state. Available options:

    • Draft
    • Published
    • Retired

    Articles with the Published state are displayed on the portal, unlike all other states.

    Owned byNSpecify article owner from the User dictionary.BodyNSpecify the request description body. You can use rich-text formatting in this field.

    See Setting up knowledge base for more information.

    Create request model

    Request model, like a request description, is a Knowledge Base article. Request models define approved steps (such as approvals, including canceled approvals management) that will be performed for a service request of a particular type or category. The request model also contains rules for routing the request to the appropriate group.

    To create a request model, repeat <![CDATA[previous steps, but choose the Request Model value in the Content Item Class field.

    Create request category

    Request Categories help users organize request templates into groups.

    For more information about request categories, please refer to the Create a Request Category article.

    Create request template

    Request template is a key element of a Service Catalog, allowing raising requests of different types and destinations, helping users efficiently operating service requests. 

    To create a request template, please complete the steps below:

    1. Navigate to the Service Request Management → Request Templates.

    2. Click New and fill in the fields.

    3. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.

    FieldMandatoryDescription

    Name

    Y

    Template name.

    Table

    N

    Specify a table containing necessary columns for this template.

    Service

    Y

    Select a service from the list.

    Request Description

    Y

    Specify a request description by choosing a previously created Knowledge Base article.

    Request Model

    Y

    Define specific agreed tasks or steps to follow for fulfilling this service request or any service request related to this category.

    Request Category

    Y

    Specify a request category that classifies your service request.

    Order

    N

    Specify the order for this request template to display in the list.

    Active

    N

    Select this checkbox if you want to activate a template and make it available for selection.

    If this check box is not selected, then a template is inactive and cannot be used. Also, if a request template is not active, then the Service Catalog item of the Service Portal that allows creating relevant service requests is not displayed.

    Service Catalog elements visibility dependencies can be configured in the related Portal Node record binding a Portal record and a "Service Catalog" page.

    State

    N

    Displays the state of a request template. There are three possible values:

    • New – a template has just been created.

    • Waiting for approval – a template needs to be approved.

    • Published – a template is published and can be used.

      A request template approval can be done only by users assigned with the Service Owner, or Request Manager roles.

    Image

    N

    Specify an icon to display on the request template card.

    Description

    N

    Specify the brief description to display on the request template card. To see how this field works on task templates, please see the screenshot above.

    Service Catalog

    N

    Specify a Service Catalog where this template should be located. For service catalog configuration, please navigate to Catalogs Configuration → Service Catalogs and create one that fits your needs and tasks. Generally, service catalogs are records of the Service Catalogs (sc_catalogs) table.

    Service Category

    N

    Specify a Service Category clarifying a template purpose. For service category configuration, please navigate to Catalogs Configuration → Service Categories and create one that fits your needs and tasks. Generally, service categories are records of the Service Category (sc_category) table.


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