BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.5.00 Form and Application Objects Guide

BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.5.
00
Form and Application Objects Guide
January 2009
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Read overviews about support services and programs that BMC Software offers. Find the most current information about BMC Software products. Search a database for problems similar to yours and possible solutions. Order or download product documentation. Report a problem or ask a question. Subscribe to receive email notices when new product versions are released. Find worldwide BMC Software support center locations and contact information, including email addresses, fax numbers, and telephone numbers.
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Have the following information available so that Customer Support can begin working on your issue immediately:
I
Product information Product name Product version (release number) License number and password (trial or permanent)
Operating system and environment information Machine type Operating system type, version, and service pack System hardware configuration Serial numbers Related software (database, application, and communication) including type, version, and service pack or maintenance level
I I I
Sequence of events leading to the problem Commands and options that you used Messages received (and the time and date that you received them) Product error messages Messages from the operating system, such as file system full Messages from related software
License key and password information

If you have a question about your license key or password, contact Customer Support through one of the following methods:
I
E-mail customer_support@bmc.com. (In the Subject line, enter SupID:<yourSupportContractID>, such as SupID:12345.) In the United States and Canada, call 800 537 1813. Outside the United States and Canada, contact your local support center for assistance. Submit a new issue at http://www.bmc.com/support_home.
Contents
Preface 15
Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 AR System documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Chapter 1 Defining access control 19 20 20 21 23 23 24 24 26 26 28 33 34 34 35 35 35 36 37 42 43 43 46 47 50 50 53 55 56 57
Understanding access control in AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Groups in AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Special groups in AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Groups you createRegular, computed, and dynamic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roles in AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Users in AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additive access control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Access to AR System objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Form, active link guide, and application permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Field permissions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Active link permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Access to requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Controlling access by using implicit groupsRow-level security . . . . . . . . . . . . Submitter and Assignee access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assignee Group access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dynamic group access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using the Request ID field with implicit groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using the Assignee Group and dynamic groupsExamples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Putting it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating and managing groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating and mapping roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assigning permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining default permissions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assigning permissions for individual or multiple AR System objects . . . . . . . . . Subadministrators in AR System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rights for subadministrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining subadministrator permissions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Contents
Chapter 2
Using version control
59
Understanding version control in AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Understanding object reservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Understanding the object modification log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Using object reservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Using the object modification log. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Chapter 3 Defining applications 67
Deployable applications in AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Objects in deployable applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Access control for deployable applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Other contents of deployable applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Access points for deployable applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Applications in user clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Other features of deployable applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Exporting and importing deployable applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Creating and defining deployable applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Creating a deployable application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Creating objects in an application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Adding objects to an application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Working with deployable application states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Working with deployable application access points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Application attributes and properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Presenting applications to users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Specifying General and Forms attributes for Application mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Specifying Help properties for Application mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Distributing the application to users as a shortcut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Deleting applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Local applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Chapter 4 Creating AR System forms 89
Types of forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Regular forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Join forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Display-only forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 View and Vendor forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Creating and managing forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Creating forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Opening forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Copying forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Renaming forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Deleting forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Display-only forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Creating display-only forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Using a display-only form as a control panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Using a display-only form as a dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Join forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Understanding join forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using join forms in workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Request ID field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating entries in join forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating join forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying join form properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting form properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining next ID block size, cache, and status history. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining search results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting up sort order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 5 Types of fields
100 101 107 108 108 109 111 112 114 115 117 118 121 122 122 123 124 125 129 129 129 130 131 131 133 134 134 135 135 135 136 136 137 138 138 139 139 143 145 146 146 147 148 149
Data fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Character fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diary fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Date and time fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Currency fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Integer fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Real fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Decimal fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selection fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attachment pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Workflow considerations for attachment pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . View fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using view fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Workflow considerations for view fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Data visualization fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Application list fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying a subset of a servers applications and entry points . . . . . . . . . . . . . Navigation fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Workflow considerations for navigation fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Button fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Panel fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Basic panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Panel holders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trim fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 6 Creating and managing fields
Determining what types of fields to use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating data fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding a file system browser to character fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding field effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using character fields to generate GUIDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Contents
Creating currency fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Creating a currency field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Creating currency exchange ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Creating selection fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Creating attachment pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Attachment field size considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Creating view fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Creating data visualization fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Creating application list fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Executing entry points in HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Creating navigation fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Creating button fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Adding images to buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Creating panel holder fields and panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Creating panel holders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Creating panels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Adding a panel to a panel holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Rearranging or removing panels in a panel holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Deleting a panel from all views in a form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Background Mode in panel holders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Setting color options for panels and panel headers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Adding an image to a panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Applying border colors and thickness to a panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Applying rounded corners to a panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Moving a panel to another panel or panel holder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Deleting a panel from a panel holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Shared fields in panel holders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Expanding and collapsing panels using workflow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Workflow considerations for panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Creating trim fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Creating global fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Regular global fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Window-scoped global fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Managing fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Modifying fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Copying fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Deleting fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Making data fields nonoperational . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Finding fields in a form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Working with fields in join forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Chapter 7 Working with tables 189
About table fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 List view tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Structure of list view table fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Editing row data in list views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Tree view tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of tree view table fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editing data in tree views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arranging nodes in tree views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting requests in list views and tree views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cell-based tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Templates for cell-based tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editing data in cell fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alert lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of alert list table fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editing row data in alert lists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Results lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editing row data in results lists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating table fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding a table field to a form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Customizing table labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting column properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting sort order and visible levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting row colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting the remaining table properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Workflow considerations for table fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Workflow in tree view tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Workflow in cell-based tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding buttons and URLs to tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating dynamic tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dynamically defining table field search criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enabling users to customize columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Refreshing table fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting refresh intervals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Locale-specific refresh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 8 Creating menus
192 192 193 193 198 199 201 201 202 202 202 203 204 204 205 211 213 215 217 219 219 220 220 220 224 226 226 229 229 229 231 232 233 235 237 238 242 244 247 248 248 251 251 252 252 254 254 254
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About character field menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating character menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating file menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Menu file format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating search menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating dynamic search menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating SQL menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sample SQL menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Database security issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating data dictionary menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Refreshing menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding (clear) to drop-down lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Removing (clear) from drop-down lists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Automatically completing menu entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Recording menu change history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating help text for menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Contents
Copying menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Deleting menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Chapter 9 Working with images 257
About images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Adding background images to fields and form views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Transparent images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 Chapter 10 Using templates 265
Resources for templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Template content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Parameters in templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Using templates with fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Binding a template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Evaluating a template with the TEMPLATE function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Using auto-complete functionality with the TEMPLATE function . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Chapter 11 Creating and managing form views 271
About form views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 How a form view is selected for the user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 How a form view is selected in BMC Remedy Developer Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Creating and managing form views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Creating form views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Changing which view is displayed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Modifying form views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Renaming form views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Resizing form views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Deleting form views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 Setting form view properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 Including and excluding fields from form views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Arranging fields in a form view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 Selecting multiple fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 Sizing fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 Aligning fields using the grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Positioning fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 Aligning fields using commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Spacing fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Stacking fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Rendering forms in right-to-left format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Setting the tab order of fields in a form view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Chapter 12 Defining entry points and home pages 301
Overview of home pages and entry points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 Using entry points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Types of entry points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
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Using a home page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Home page components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using home pages in a browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating form entry points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating entry point guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Workflow issues with active links and entry point guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Entry points in applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying or creating a home page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using style sheets with application list and navigation fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Viewing a subset of entry points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Home page navigation aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BMC Remedy Useradding a home page form action field to a form . . . . . . . Creating run process workflow that returns to the home page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Configuring home page preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Understanding how a home page appears in BMC Remedy User . . . . . . . . . . . Understanding how a home page appears in a browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Specifying a server and home page in the AR System User Preference form . . Specifying a home page on the server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Specifying a server for the mid tier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suppressing automatic opening of home pages in BMC Remedy User . . . . . . . Chapter 13 Defining packing lists
305 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 314 316 316 317 317 317 319 321 321 322 323 325
Using packing lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 Creating packing lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 Saving packing lists as XML import/export command files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 Appendix A Core fields 331
Core fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 Core field characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 Appendix B Reserved fields 337 338 339 340 343 344 346 347
Reserved field ranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reserved IDs used as placeholders in definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reserved fields in access control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localization reserved field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSO reserved fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Form action reserved fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix C Special forms
AR System installed forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 Appendix D Field properties 359
Contents
11
Appendix E
Archiving data
389
Understanding data archiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 Configuring data archiving for a form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 Deleting an archive form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 AR_ARCHIVER user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 How changes to the main form affect the archive form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 Characteristics of archive forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 All archive forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 Archive forms created by the AR System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396 Distributed Server Option (DSO) and archive forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396 Configuring data archiving for a server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396 Server events and logging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396 Appendix F Audit 399
Understanding auditing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 Audit styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 Form-style audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401 Log-style audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404 Configuring auditing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405 Configuring a form for auditing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405 Specifying fields to be audited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 Table fields in audit forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 Changing field properties on the main form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 Considerations for forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 View and vendor forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Join forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Changing field properties on the main form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410 Distributed Server Option and audit forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 Assignee Group and other dynamic group fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 Using flag fields to view changes to an individual field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 Audit processing and filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 Appendix G Importing and exporting object definitions, views, and applications 413
AR System definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 The AR System definition (*.def) file type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 The AR System XML (*.xml) file type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 Exporting and importing definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 Exporting object definitions, views, and applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 Importing object definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425 Exporting and importing deployable applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 Exporting and importing data with deployable applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 Including form data when exporting definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428 Locking objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429 Modifying locked objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430 Levels of object locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430 Locking objects when exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433 Importing locked objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
12
Appendix H
Localizing AR System applications
437 438 438 439 439 439 440 440 441 441 443 443 444 445 445 445 445 446 446 446 447 448 449 449 454 454 454 455 456 457 457 458 458 460 461 462 462 462 465
Distinguishing between data and display languages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Data language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Display language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing AR System forms and applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of the localized environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing form views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tasks for localizing AR System forms and applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advanced tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting languages during AR System installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a localized view of a form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Locale field language entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Field label name for localized view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Searching for a view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing the user interface of a form view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing view components through Export/Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing view components manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing message components of a form view. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing messages automatically. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing messages manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing character menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing file menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing search menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing currency codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Localizing the mid tier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Login and logout pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Settings and procedures for the localized environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AR System Administration Console settings and procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BMC Remedy User preferences settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Accessing a localized view of a form in a browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . When to use ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Customizing Date/Time formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index
Contents
13
14
Preface
This manual contains reference information and procedures for creating, modifying, and maintaining BMC Remedy Action Request System (AR System) components, including applications, forms, form views, fields, menus, images, and packing list. See the Workflow Objects Guide for information and procedures about workflow.
IMPORTANT
The compatibility information listed in the product documentation is subject to change. See the compatibility matrix at http://www.bmc.com/support_home for the latest, most complete information about what is officially supported. Carefully read the system requirements for your particular operating system, especially the necessary patch requirements.
Audience
This guide is written for developers and administrators who create, customize, and maintains applications based on AR System.
NOTE
You should be familiar with BMC Remedy User and BMC Remedy Alert before you begin. See the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio for basic information about AR System application development and the development environment.
AR System documents
The following table lists documentation available for AR System products. Unless otherwise noted, online documentation in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format is available on AR System product installation DVDs, on the Customer Support website (http://www.bmc.com/support_home), or both.
Preface
15
BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.5.00
You can access product help through each products Help menu or by clicking Help links.
Title Concepts Guide
1
Description
Audience
Overview of AR System architecture and features; includes Everyone information about add-on products that extend AR System functionality and a comprehensive glossary for the entire AR System documentation set. Instructions for installing AR System. Information about the development of AR System applications, including an introduction to using BMC Remedy Developer Studio. Administrators Developers2
Installation Guide Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio
Form and Application Objects Information about AR System applications and their user Guide interface components, including forms, fields, views, menus, and images. Workflow Objects Guide
Developers
Information about the AR System workflow objects (active Developers links, filters, and escalations) and how to use them to create processes that enforce business rules. Information about configuring AR System servers and clients, localizing, importing and exporting data, and archiving data. Administrators
Configuration Guide
BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide Information about configuring the mid tier, setting up applications for the mid tier, and using applications in browsers. Integration Guide
Administrators
Administrators/ Instructions for integrating AR System with external systems by using web services, plug-ins, and other products, Developers/ Programmers3 including LDAP, OLE, and ARDBC. Information about monitoring and maintaining AR System Administrators/ and AR System applications to optimize performance and Developers/ solve problems. Programmers Database administration topics and rules related to how AR System interacts with specific databases; includes an overview of the data dictionary tables. Information about implementing a distributed AR System server environment with BMC Remedy Distributed Server Option (DSO). Administrators/ Developers/ Programmers Administrators
Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide Database Reference
BMC Remedy Distributed Server Option Guide BMC Remedy Flashboards Guide C API Reference C API Quick Reference Java API
Instructions for creating, modifying, and administering Administrators/ flashboards to display and monitor AR System information. Developers Information about AR System data structures, C API function calls, and OLE support. Quick reference to C API function calls.

Programmers Programmers
Information about Sun Java classes, methods, and Programmers variables that integrate with AR System. For the location of the JAR file containing this online documentation, see the information about the Java API in the Integration Guide.
16
AR System documents
Title Java Plug-in API
Description
Audience
Information about Java classes, methods, and variables used Programmers to write plug-ins for AR System. For the location of the JAR file containing this online documentation, see the information about plug-ins in the Integration Guide. Instructions for configuring and using BMC Remedy Email Administrators Engine. Descriptions of AR System error messages. Administrators/ Developers/ Programmers Everyone Administrators
BMC Remedy Email Engine Guide Error Messages Guide
Master Index BMC Remedy Approval Server Guide Release Notes Release Notes with Open Issues BMC Remedy User Help BMC Remedy Developer Studio Help BMC Remedy Data Import Help BMC Remedy Alert Help BMC Remedy Mid Tier Configuration Tool Help BMC Remedy Browser Help
1
Combined index of all books. Instructions for using BMC Remedy Approval Server to automate approval and signature processes in your organization. Information about new features, compatibility, and international issues.
Everyone
Information about new features, compatibility, international Everyone issues, installation planning, and open issues. Instructions for using BMC Remedy User. Instructions for using BMC Remedy Developer Studio to develop AR System forms, workflow objects, and applications. Instructions for using BMC Remedy Data Import. Instructions for using BMC Remedy Alert. Instructions for configuring BMC Remedy Mid Tier. Instructions for using AR System forms in browsers. Everyone Developers
Administrators Everyone Administrators Everyone
The full title of each guide includes BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.5.00 (for example, BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.5.00 Concepts Guide). 2 Application developers who use BMC Remedy Developer Studio. 3 C and Java programmers who write plug-ins and clients for AR System.
Preface
17
18
Chapter
Defining access control
This section describes how to define access control within AR System and how users can have different permissions to access an AR System application, parts of an application, or objects. It also covers limited administrative access to server objects for subadministrators. The following topics are provided: Understanding access control in AR System (page 20) Groups in AR System (page 20) Roles in AR System (page 23) Users in AR System (page 24) Additive access control (page 24) Access to AR System objects (page 26) Access to requests (page 34) Putting it all together (page 42) Creating and managing groups (page 43) Creating and mapping roles (page 47) Assigning permissions (page 50) Subadministrators in AR System (page 55)
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Understanding access control in AR System

Access control is the AR System mechanism that controls which users can open an application, form, or guide in BMC Remedy User or a browser, can perform an action, and can create, view, modify, and delete a request. In defining access control, you must:
1 Identify and create the groups and roles (for deployable applications) that reflect
key functions in your company and the type of information each function must access.
2 Create users on your AR System server and assign their respective groups to them.
Group membership ultimately determines which objects a user can access and which operations individual a user can perform. AR System has various levels of security: ServerControls access to an AR System server. A user must be defined on a server or connect to it as a guest user if the server permits them. Application, form, and workflowControls access to AR System objects. A user must belong to a group that has permission to access an application, form, active link, or active link guide to see it and use it. Request (or row)Controls access to individual requests in a form. A user can have permission to view or change only requests the user created or those created by a member of a group to which they belong. Field (or column)Controls whether a user can view or can change a field in a form. A user can have permission to view or change a request but cannot see or change individual fields unless the user also belongs to a group with the required fieldlevel permission.
Groups in AR System
Access control groups are collections of AR System users. A user gains access to an object, a field, or a request if a group the user is in has access, or a role that is mapped to such a group has access. Notifications also can use groups. For example, you can designate an entire group to be notified in a filter action. AR System includes a Public group and six other special groups that are essential for access control within the system. You can define additional groups based on a common profile and assign access accordingly. For example, you might create a Sales group and allow members to view the status of a request but not to change it. A group can also be a general category, such as Browsers. For information about adding groups, see Creating and managing groups on page 43.
20
Groups in AR System
AR System provides two types of groups: Explicit groupsGroups to which you must manually assign users in the User form. When a user becomes a member of a group, the user is given access to all objects and fields to which the group is granted access. Explicit groups that you create are defined for a particular server. If you move the objects to a new server with its own defined explicit groups, you might need to resolve permission conflicts. Consider using a deployable application, which uses role permissions that can be mapped to different groups on different servers. For more information, see Roles in AR System on page 23. For information about assigning users to groups, see the Configuration Guide. Implicit groupsGroups that depend on specific user circumstances and situations. Users belong to these groups based on specific conditions, such as the contents of special fields within each request. You do not directly assign users to implicit groups. Any dynamic groups that you create are also implicit groups. For more information, see Dynamic group access on page 35.
Special groups in AR System

AR System reserves the following group IDs for special group definitions. The following table describes the access privileges for each of these groups.
Table 1-1: Special groups in AR System (Sheet 1 of 2) Group Public ID 0 Type * Description
Implicit Provides general access. Access granted to this group is granted to all users. Every user who logs in to AR System is automatically a member of the Public group. This includes registered users (that is, listed in the User form) and guest users. For information about allowing guest users, see the Configuration Guide.
Administrator
Explicit Defines users who have full and unlimited access to AR System. Administratorsmembers of this
groupcan view any object or field in BMC Remedy User or a browser and can create a request in any form. Administrators can view, create, modify, and delete any server object in BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
A user must have a fixed license or this group assignment is ignored. Customize 2 Explicit Grants users the ability to customize their form view layout in BMC Remedy User. Use this group with caution.
See Groups in AR System on page 20 for more information about explicit and implicit types.
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Table 1-1: Special groups in AR System (Sheet 2 of 2) Group Submitter ID 3 Type * Description
Implicit Provides field access to the user whose login name is in the Submitter field (field ID 2) for a particular request. The user who creates a request is usually automatically belongs to the Submitter group for that requests. For more information, see Submitter and Assignee access on page 35. See the Configuration Guide to enable a special server Submitter mode that allows the user who submitted a request to modify it without having a write license.
Assignee
Implicit Provides field access to the user whose name is in the Assignee field (field ID 4) for a particular request. The user whose name is in the Assignee field automatically belongs to the Assignee group. For more information, see Submitter and Assignee access on page 35.
Sub Administrator 5
Explicit Provides administrative access to selected server objects. Subadministratorsmembers of this groupcan be granted administrative access to objects that have the Subadministrator Permissions property. With administrative access, a subadministrator has the same access as an administrator for that object. See Subadministrators in AR System on page 55. A user must have a fixed license or this group assignment is ignored.
Assignee Group
Implicit Provides field access to the user who is a member of one of the groups listed in the Assignee Group field (field ID 112) for a request. A user automatically belongs to the Assignee Group group for requests in which the Assignee Group field exists and contains the name or ID of a group to which the user belongs, the name or ID of a role that maps to a group to which the user belongs, or the users name. For more information, see Assignee Group access on page 35 and Form, active link guide, and application permissions on page 26.
Note: Do not confuse this group with the Assignee
group, which gives permission to the individual user named in the Assignee field. See Groups in AR System on page 20 for more information about explicit and implicit types.
*
In addition to the groups listed in the previous table, groups with IDs in the range of 60000 to 60999 are reserved for dynamic groups.
22
Roles in AR System
Groups you createRegular, computed, and dynamic

You can create the following groups in the Group form. Regular groupsExplicit groups that you create and to which you assign a specific list of users. For information about assigning users to groups, see the Configuration Guide. Computed groupsExplicit groups that you create and to which users are assigned based on the memberships of explicit groups included in an expression. For example, you can create a computed group definition such as (A AND B) OR C AND NOT D. This computed group includes the list of users who are members of both groups A and B, or members of group C, but not members of group D. Computed groups make groups easier to manage. You can manage your users in a limited number of regular groups, and use computed groups based on these regular groups for more complex access control without the need to make changes in multiple groups. Dynamic groupsGroups similar to the reserved Assignee Group group in that they use the contents of special fields to determine group membership. For more information, see Dynamic group access on page 35. For information about creating groups, see Creating and managing groups on page 43.
Roles in AR System
Roles are permissions similar to groups, except that they belong to a particular application, instead of a particular server. Roles are used exclusively in deployable applications. Roles are defined for each deployable application and then mapped to explicit groups on the server. You can map a deployable applications roles to different groups on different servers, depending on how the groups are defined on each server. This allows you to develop and test the application on one server and deploy it to a number of other servers without having to redefine permissions on each server. You can also map roles to different groups for each development state, such as Test or Production. You can then switch between states using BMC Remedy Developer Studio or workflow. For more information, see Creating and mapping roles on page 47. Since roles are mapped to groups, the groups you define on the server and the users that belong to them are the foundation of access control. For more information about creating and using deployable applications, see Chapter 3, Defining applications.
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Users in AR System
A user is any person to whom you give permission to access AR System. Users can be members of multiple groups or no group at all. Users in AR System range from an administrator (who maintains the entire system) to employees (who submit requests or view data). AR System includes one predefined user (Demo). You can use the User form in BMC Remedy User or a browser to rename this user, and you can create additional users in AR System. For information about defining users for AR System, see the Configuration Guide.
Additive access control

Access control in AR System is additive. This means that each user in AR System begins with no permissions. Administrators then add permissions as needed. The server verifies the permissions of an object to determine if access to the object is granted. If access is granted at any step along the decision tree, as shown in Figure 1-2 on page 27, the user has permission to access the object. As you add permissions to various AR System objects, users have access to the object if they are members of any group with access or any role that maps to a group with access.
24
Additive access control
In Figure 1-1, Lydia Lan is a member of two groups: Engineering and Engineering Managers.
Figure 1-1: Additive permissions
Engineering Group
Engineering Managers Group
No Access
Access
Form1
Form1
In this example, the Engineering group does not have access to Form1, but the Engineering Managers group does. Thus, although Lydia does not have access to Form1 through the Engineering group, she does have access through the Engineering Managers group. You must assign permissions to every application, form, field, active link, active link guide, packing list, and web service that requires access control. Start by designing the access control for your application or forms. Define default permissions before you create objects and fields to save time and prevent errors. You can also use batch Edit dialog box and the Assign Group Permissions dialog box to change permissions for multiple object in one operation. For more information, see Assigning permissions on page 50.
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Access to AR System objects

You define permissions for applications, forms, fields, active links, active link guides, packing lists, and web services. Filters, filter guides, and escalations do not have permissions because these objects operate on the server. Menus also do not have (or need) permissions because they are attached to fields that have permissions.
Form, active link guide, and application permissions

Permissions determine which access control groups can access forms, active link guides, or applications in the user client. If a user does not have access to the object, it does not appear in the home page or in the Object List dialog box in BMC Remedy User. When creating a form, active link guide, or application, you must decide the permission for each group or role: VisibleMembers of the group or role can select and view the object in the BMC Remedy User. HiddenMembers of the group or role can access the object through workflow or in a browser by naming it in the URL, but cannot select the form in the home page or in the Object List dialog box in BMC Remedy User. NoneMembers of the group or role have no access to the object. Giving a user access to a form does not automatically give that user access to the fields in that form or active links and active link guides that use that form. You can control access to each field or object individually. When you log in as a member of the Administrator group, all objects are displayed in your client by default, whether they have Hidden or Visible access. BMC Remedy User includes a setting you can use to display only those items for which you have Visible access. This setting is also available to subadministrators, although subadministrators can manipulate only the visibility of those forms for which they have access as a group. For more information, see the procedure To change the visibility of hidden forms within BMC Remedy User for administrators on page 27.
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Figure 1-2 lists the questions that you can ask to determine the access that users have to forms in AR System. You can use this flowchart for guides and applications as well.
Figure 1-2: Accessing forms, guides, and applications
Are you an administrator?
Yes
Full administrator access to all forms in the system
No
Are you a subadministrator?
Yes
Are you in a group with subadministrator permissions to form?

No
Yes
Full Administrator access to form
No
Are you in a group with permissions to form?

No
Yes
Is form hidden or visible?
Visible
Can see form in the Open dialog box in BMC Remedy User
Hidden
Cannot see form in the Object List dialog box in BMC Remedy User
Does Public group have permissions to form?

No
Yes
Can see form in BMC Remedy User
No access to form
Administrators can see hidden forms in BMC Remedy User with the appropriate option set.
To change the visibility of hidden forms within BMC Remedy User for administrators
1 Log in to BMC Remedy User as an administrator or subadministrator. 2 Choose Tools > Options. 3 Click the Advanced tab.
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Figure 1-3: Options dialog boxAdvanced tab
4 Select or clear the Display Hidden Forms check box. This check box is available
only for administrators and subadministrators. If the check box is: Selected (the default)All forms are displayed in BMC Remedy User, even those with Hidden access. ClearedOnly those forms for which the Administrator or Subadministrator group has Visible access are displayed in BMC Remedy User.
5 Click OK.
For more information, see Form, active link guide, and application permissions on page 26.
NOTE
Administrators can always view hidden form in a browser. Subadministrators can never view hidden forms in a browser.
Field permissions
Field permissions determine the types of access groups or roles have for individual fields in a form: ViewUsers can read the contents of the field. ChangeUsers can read and write the contents of the field. If neither permission is selected, members of the group or role cannot view or change the field.
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Groups and roles are defined with maximum privileges of View or Change, as explained in To define default permissions for a server or an application on page 52 and in the example on page 32. Groups or roles with maximum View permission can never be assigned Change permission for a field; groups or roles with maximum Change permission can be assigned Change, View, or no permission for a field. Users must belong to a group or role with permission to view a forms Request ID field (core field 1), or they cannot access any information from that request. After you give a group or role access to the Request ID field, or to any field in the form, the user does not automatically have access to the form or to workflow attached to the field. You must grant permissions to each object individually.
NOTE
In a Set Fields operation, because active links execute with the permissions of the user, field values set through an active link are updated only if the user has permission to change the field. Values retrieved must be accessible by the user. For more information, see the Workflow Objects Guide. Figure 1-4 on page 30 lists the questions that you can ask to determine the access that users have to fields in AR System. Some of the questions are covered in the Configuration Guide.
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Figure 1-4: Accessing fields
Yes
Full administrator access to all fields in all forms
No
Yes

No
Yes
Full administrator access to all fields in form
No
Are you in a group with change permissions to field?

No
Yes
Do you have a write license?
Yes
Can change data in field
No
Allow any user to submit?
Yes
Can change data in field during submit
Do you have a restricted read license?

No
Yes
View access only to data in field
No
No
Are you in a group with view permissions to field?

No
Yes
Can view data in field
Are you submitter and is Submitter mode set to locked?
Yes
Does Submitter group have Change permission?
No
Yes
Without permissions, no access at all to field
View access only to data in field
Can change data in field
Advanced data fields

Advanced data fields require you to set permission on various levels. The advanced data field types are table fields, panel fields, and attachment pools. For example, a panel field consists of three levels, each requiring consistent permission settings: the panel holder, the panel, and the fields on the panel (so the user can see the complete panel set). See Chapter 5, Types of fields, for more information about the following advanced fields.
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Table field permissions properties

Table field permissions are set in the same way as button field permissions, with the exception that you must set permissions at four levels. You must grant or deny a user access to the: Table field. Columns in the table. Form from which rows are drawn. Fields from which each column draws its data. The following examples explain the permission hierarchy: If a user does not have permission to view any columns, the field or list appears blank in the user client. If a user does not have permission to access a field in the supporting form that contains column data, the user sees a blank cell. If the user has no permission to access any of the cells in a row, the row is not displayed.
Panel field permissions properties

Panel field permissions are set at three levels. You must grant or deny a user access to: The panel holder The individual panels Each field in each individual panel To see an individual field, which is the lowest level of the hierarchy, the user must have permission to the upper levels of the hierarchythat is, to the panel holder and the individual panels.
Attachment pool permissions properties

For attachment pool field and attachment field permissions, you must grant or deny a user access to both. To see an individual attachment field, the user must have permission to the attachment pool field. If a user does not have permission to view any attachment fields, the attachment pool appears blank in the user client.
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Special submit setting

A special submit setting allows users to submit a new request without Change permission for data and attachment fields that require a value. To use this feature, set the Allow Any User to Submit property to Yes for each applicable field. If the Allow Any User to Submit property is set to No and the field requires a value, a user must have a Write license and belong to a group with Change permission for the field to submit a request. For more information about using this feature, see Defining default permissions on page 50 and Assigning permissions for individual or multiple AR System objects on page 53.
Field permissions example

Figure 1-5 illustrates how both permissions and field definitions work together to determine the access to a field. The example lists three groups: Browser, CS Staff, and Sales Staff. These groups have different maximum privileges of View or Change, as explained in To define default permissions for a server or an application on page 52.
Figure 1-5: Specifying field access control
Browser Group (Maximum View access) Members: Rick Silvia CS Staff Group (Maximum Change access) Members: John Doug Sales Staff Group (Maximum Change access) Members: Alice Ben Lydia
At the field level, each group has been granted specific access to the Short Description data field: CS Staff groupChange Sales Staff groupView Browser groupView (Because the Browser group has a maximum access of View, Change access at the field level is not possible.)
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John is a member of the CS Staff group and the Browser group. Although membership in the Browser group alone does not allow him to change the field, he can change it because of his group permission in the CS Staff group. When a user belongs to more than one group with different permissions to a field, the user has the highest level of permission granted by a group to which the user belongs. Alice is a member of the Sales Staff group, which has maximum permission of Change. However, at the field level, members of the Sales Staff group can only view the contents of this field. Rick also can only view the contents of the Short Description field because he is a member of the Browser group. Because the Browser group has maximum privileges of View, you can never give him Change permission for the Short Description field through the Browser group as it is currently defined.
Active link permissions

When you create an active link, you must define which groups or roles have access to it. A group or role needs permission to execute an active link. After you give a group or role access to an active link, the user does not automatically have access to the field to which the active link is attached or to the form that contains the field. Figure 1-6 lists the questions that you can ask to determine the access that users have to active links in AR System.
Figure 1-6: Accessing active links
Yes
Can execute all active links
No
Yes

No
Yes
Can execute all active links connected to forms you administer
No
Are you in a group with permissions to active link?

No
Yes
Can execute active link
Cannot execute active link
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Access to requests
Defining access to requests is important when you want to keep certain groups of users from knowing that certain requests exist. For example, if you use AR System as the outsource help desk for several companies, you can assign access to requests so that only the company that submitted the request can see it. You determine which groups or roles have access to a request through the Request ID field (field ID 1). If a group or role does not have access to that field, the group or role has no access to the request, even if it has access to other fields in that form. You can grant access to members of explicit groups or roles. For example, you can give managers access to all requests. You can also grant access to members of implicit groups. For example, submitters can see their own requests but not those submitted by other users. For more information, see Controlling access by using implicit groupsRow-level security on page 34. Figure 1-7 lists the questions that you can ask to determine the access that users have to requests in AR System.
Figure 1-7: Accessing requests
Yes
Full administrator access to all requests
No
Yes

No
Yes
Full administrator access to all entries created from form
No
Are you in a group with permissions to Request ID field?

No
Yes
Can view request
Cannot view request
Controlling access by using implicit groupsRow-level security

You can limit access to requests on a per-group or per-user basis. (This is often described as row-level access.) Membership in some groups (and their corresponding permissions) is implied when specific values are entered into certain AR System fields.
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Access to requests
The following table shows the differences and similarities among these implicit groups and their associated fields.
Table 1-2: Implicit groups and their associated fields Implicit group Submitter Assignee Assignee Group Dynamic groups Group ID 3 4 7 Associated default Field ID field name Submitter Assigned To None 2 4 112 Core field? Yes Yes No Associated field contents User name User name User, group, or role names User, group, or role names
6000060999 None
6000060999 No
Submitter and Assignee access

The Submitter and Assignee groups allow access to requests or fields on a per-user basis. To have access as a member of the Submitter group, the contents of Field ID 2 must be the users login name. field ID 2 is usually set on submission by using the $USER$ keyword to define this fields contents. To have access as a member of the Assignee group, the contents of Field ID 4 must equal the users login name. field ID 4 is often set manually or by workflow to a users name when the status of the request changes.
Assignee Group access

The Assignee Group group allows access to requests or fields on a per-user or pergroup basis. To provide Assignee Group access, you must add the Assignee Group field (field ID 112) to your form and then specify which users, groups, or roles should have access to the request in this field. Although you can set the Assignee Group field manually, it is typically set by workflow. For more information, see Using the Assignee Group and dynamic groupsExamples on page 37.
Dynamic group access

Dynamic groups are similar to the Assignee Group (field ID 112), except that they are defined by the developer and include field and group IDs in the range of 60000 to 60999. For example, when you create a group with group ID 60000, its user list includes the individual user name or the members of any group or role that appears in field ID 60000. For more information, see Using the Assignee Group and dynamic groupsExamples on page 37.
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Using the Request ID field with implicit groups

Using implicit groups to control access to requests is a powerful method of access control within AR System. The Request ID field plays a key role in access control because a user cannot see a request unless the user belongs to a group with permission for its Request ID field.
Defining access to requests at the user level

You can link access control to a users login name: If you want submitters or assignees to have access to their requests on a singleuser basis, grant the Submitter and Assignee groups permission to the Request ID field. If you want other users to have access, grant the Assignee Group or dynamic groups access to the Request ID field. Make sure that you also add field ID 112 (the Assignee Group field) or the correct dynamic group fields to the form. If you are entering a users login name to assign access, remember these tips: In the Submitter or Assignee fields, enter the users login name without quotation marks. In the Assignee Group or dynamic group fields, enter the users login name in single quotation marks. Double any single quotation marks that are part of the login name (for example, Dan OConnor).
Defining access to requests at the group level

Unlike Submitter and Assignee access, Assignee Group and dynamic group access can extend access control on a conditional basis by using explicit group and role membership. To permit multiple user, group, and role names in the Assignee Group field and dynamic fields, select Enable Multiple Assign Groups on the Configuration tab of AR System Administration: Server Information form. To enter users Dan OConnor and Mary Manager, group ID 12000, role ID -9000, and role Managers, use the following syntax:
Dan OConnor;Mary Manager;12000;-9000;Managers
NOTE
If a group and role have the same name, the role name is assumed. For example, if a dynamic field contains Managers;Sales, AR System assumes the Managers and Sales roles, if they exist; otherwise, AR System assumes the Manager and Sales groups. For more information about all settings in the AR System Administration: Server Information form, see the Configuration Guide.
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Access to requests
Assignee Group and dynamic group permissions to the Request ID field, combined with the contents of the Assignee Group field or dynamic group fields, determines who can see the request. If a group or role to which the user belongs is in the Assignee Group or dynamic group field for a request, that user is given whatever access privileges you defined for the Assignee Group or dynamic group, as shown in Figure 1-8.
Figure 1-8: Controlling access to requests by using row-level security
AR System checks permissions for Request ID field
Yes
Your name in Field ID 2?

No
Yes
Submitter group has access?

No
Can access request
Yes
Your name in Field ID 4?

No
Yes
Assignee group has access?

No
Unless a member of another group with access to Request ID field or dynamic groups if applicable or dynamic group fields (ID 60000-60999) if applicable
Yes
Your name, group, or role in Field ID 112?

No
Yes
Assignee Group group has access?

No
No access to request
Using the Assignee Group and dynamic groupsExamples

Use Assignee Group access, dynamic group access, or both to set up permissions so that users have conditional access to requests. Imagine that you are working for Acme Outsource Help Desks, Inc. Three computer companies hire you to manage all of their help desk responsibilities. For security reasons, each computer company must not know about the existence of the other two. Therefore, you must create one form all three companies can use, but allows each company to see only the requests they create. Explicit groups for each company have already been created, and each user belongs to one of these company groups.
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To use the Assignee Group to control access to requests

1 Create the groups (or roles) and users to which you want to assign access.
In this example, the four groups are: Acme Help Desk Staff (who will have access to all requests) Beta Computers Gamma Computers Delta Computers Beta Computers, Gamma Computers, and Delta Computers users must belong only to their company group. Acme employees can be members of more than one group.
2 Create a form, and give the appropriate groups Visible permission for it.
For example, giving the Public group Visible permission for the form enables all of the users to see it.
3 Add Assignee Group access to the form.
The Assignee Group capabilities of AR System are activated when you add a character field to the form with field ID 112 and a database input length of 255.
4 Restrict access to the necessary requests.
Because only groups or roles with permission for the Request ID field can access a request, restricting access to the Request ID field is the key to restricting access to a request. In this example, the Acme Help Desk Staff and the Assignee Group groups have the appropriate permissions for the Request ID field, as shown in Figure 1-9.
Figure 1-9: Field permissions for the Request ID field
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Access to requests
With Assignee Group access, a user from Beta Computers can submit requests, and anyone from Beta Computers can query them. However, no one from Gamma Computers or Delta Computers can query Beta Computers requests.
NOTE
You might want to give permissions to a single group to begin with and submit a sample request to determine if any group other than the designated group can access it.
5 Add workflow that inserts at least one explicit group, role, or user name into field
ID 112 according to the business rules at your site. If Enable Multiple Assign Groups is selected on the Configuration tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form, you now can enter more than one explicit group, role, or user name into field ID 112. For sample syntax, see Defining access to requests at the group level on page 36. For more information about all settings in the AR System Administration: Server Information form, see the Configuration Guide. Because field ID 112 is designed for administrators and your help desk staff, deny access for most groups to this field. You can define a filter to set the contents of this field and use an active link Change Field action to allow your help desk staff to see and change the field as needed. If you must change the group or role in the field, field ID 112 includes system-defined menus of all groups on the server and roles in the application (if the form is owned by a deployable application). Administrators can override these menus in BMC Remedy Developer Studio as needed. In the example, Acme allows access to its service call database from the web but limits users to view only requests submitted by members of their company. An access control group was created for each different company name, and a filter that copies the company name into field ID 112 (labeled Assignee Group in Figure 110) executes when users submit requests.
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Figure 1-10: Using Assignee Group access in workflow
When the filter executes, the Assignee Group for this request is Beta Computers. You also could have created individual filters, one that enables Beta Computers to see their requests, another that enables Gamma Computers to see their requests, and so on. Use appropriate filter qualifications to make sure that only users from the Beta Computers group can execute the filter, set field ID 112 to Beta Computers, and so on. For more information about creating and using filters, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
6 Change the permissions of other fields in the form to grant access as needed.
Include the Assignee Group where appropriate. As a result of carefully defining access control in your system, when members of Acme Outsource Help Desks search all open help desk requests, they see a results list that includes requests submitted by Beta, Gamma, and Delta Computers. In contrast, if users from Delta Computers perform the same search, they see only the requests where Delta Computers is the Assignee Group (that is, the requests submitted by anyone at Delta Computers).
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Access to requests
To use a dynamic group to control access to requests

Step 1 Create the groups (or roles) and users to which you want to assign access. Step 2 Create a dynamic group in the Group form. Step 3 For example, create a group called Dynamic Access with a group ID of 60001. Step 4 Create a form, and give the appropriate groups Visible permission for it. Step 5 Add dynamic group access to the form.
To activate the dynamic group, add a character field to the form with field ID 60001, the same ID number as the dynamic group ID.
Step 6 Restrict access to requests by specifying dynamic group access to the Request ID
field.
Step 7 Add workflow that inserts at least one explicit group name or ID, role name or ID,
or user name into field ID 60001 according to the business rules at your site. If Enable Multiple Assign Groups is selected on the Configuration tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form, you can enter more than one explicit group, role, or user name into field ID 60001. For sample syntax, see Defining access to requests at the group level on page 36. For more information about all settings in the AR System Administration: Server Information form, see the Configuration Guide. Like field ID 112, dynamic group fields can be modified manually. They include system-defined menus of all groups on the server and roles in the application (if the form is owned by a deployable application). Administrators can modify these menus as needed.
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Putting it all together

Figure 1-11 presents an overview of access control, and lists the questions that you can use to determine the access that users have to AR System.
Figure 1-11: Access control overview
Server Access
Does login name match user definition?

Yes
No
Are guests allowed to log in?
No
No access to server
Yes
Does password match?
No
No access to server
Yes
Form Access
Do you have access to the form?
No
No access to form
Yes
Request Access
Is the request viewable?
No
No access to request
Yes
Field Access
Is the field viewable?
No
No access to field
Yes
Form, request, and field accessible
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Creating and managing groups

Use the Group form (shown in Figure 1-12) in BMC Remedy User or a browser to create and manage the access control groups to which you grant or deny access to AR System objects.
NOTE
You must log on as an Administrator to work with the Group form.
Creating groups
This section provides the steps to create AR System access control groups. Although there is no limit to the number of groups that you can create, for maintenance purposes you might want to limit the number to avoid confusion. After you have created the necessary groups, use the steps described in the Configuration Guide to assign individual users to the appropriate groups.
Figure 1-12: Group formNew mode
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The following table lists the key fields in the Group form.
Table 1-3: Key fields in the Group form (Sheet 1 of 2) Field Group Name Description Name of the access control group. Use this name in the Group list field in the User form and in the Permission and No Permission lists when you are defining AR System object permissions. Every group name should be different. Use caution when creating group names that include spaces, because group names in the Group list field on the User form are separated by spaces. For example, if you have a group named CUSTOMER SUPPORT, you should not create a group named CUSTOMER or a group named SUPPORT. Group ID Integer ID that is the recognized identity of the group. The ranges are: 01000For AR System groups and current AR System applications 100013004 and 1300714999For regular and computed groups 1300513006For CMDB groups 1499959999For future AR System applications 6000060999For dynamic groups If you use the same ID with multiple group names, you must keep the Group type the same for each because you are creating aliases for the same group. To make sure that you do not create duplicate Group IDs, use BMC Remedy Developer Studio to build a unique index on the Group ID field in the Group form. (For more information, see To define indexes for a form on page 119.) The Group ID defines the priority of a group when a user obtains a floating license. See the coverage of license pools in the Configuration Guide for more information. Group Type Maximum permission type intended for the group. Your choices are None (no access), View (view field contents), and Change (modify field contents). Specify None to disable all access for the group without deleting the group itself. The group remains as a placeholder (and can be restored in the future), but all permissions for the group are lost. Create a group with the type None if you want to define a group that is used only for notifications. For more information about field permissions, see Field permissions on page 28. Long Group Name Additional information about a group. The text should be descriptive of the group because it appears by default in the Results pane in BMC Remedy User when listing groups.
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Table 1-3: Key fields in the Group form (Sheet 2 of 2) Field Group Category Description The group category, such as Regular, Dynamic, or Computed, which is described in Groups you createRegular, computed, and dynamic on page 23. To define a dynamic group, use a group ID in the range of 60000 to 60999. On the form containing requests to which you want to define row-level access, add a field with a field ID that is the same as the dynamic group ID. You can populate a dynamic group field with a group name, role name, or the name of an individual user. Dynamic Groups are used only to control access to requests (row-level access). To define a computed group, select Computed Group as the group category and enter a qualification string in the Computed Group Definition field. Computed Group Definition Qualification string that defines a computed group. Construct the string from any valid combination of explicit group IDs, explicit group names (in double quotation marks), user names (in single quotation marks), and operators such as AND, OR, and AND NOT. Optionally, use the AND, OR, NOT, Append Group, Append User, and parentheses buttons to build the qualification string. For example: 12000 OR 12001 includes all users in group ID 12000 or group ID 12001. A OR B includes all users in group A or group B. A AND B includes only those users in group A and group B. (A OR B) AND NOT C includes all users in groups A or B, except for those users who are in group C. A OR Mary Manager includes all users in group A, and the user Mary Manager. Floating Licenses Number of floating licenses reserved for the group. See the coverage of license pools in the Configuration Guide for more information. If this field is missing from the Group form, you can add it using BMC Remedy Developer Studio. Use field ID 115. See Creating data fields on page 146. Floating FTS License Number of floating full text search licenses reserved for the group. This field appears only on the Group form if your server has AR Full Text Floating licenses. See the Installation Guide and the Configuration Guide for information about installing and using the full text search feature. See also the license pool information in the Configuration Guide. If this field is missing from the Group form, you can add it in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. Use field ID 116. See Reserved fields in access control on page 688. Unique Identifier A unique identifier for the group. A unique identifier is useful if you have two groups with the same name for different applications. You can use the unique identifier to differentiate the two.
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NOTE
If attributes that you want to specify in the group definition are not represented in the Group form, you can use BMC Remedy Developer Studio to add the appropriate fields. However, be careful that you do not modify or delete any of the original fields or field IDs.
To create groups
1 In BMC Remedy User or a browser, open the Group form of the appropriate server
in New mode.
2 Enter information in the appropriate fields, as described in the previous table. 3 Save your changes.
For a regular group, assign users to it by using the User form in BMC Remedy User or a browser. After you save a group, the server automatically recaches, and the new group appears in the Group menu in the User form after a short delay. For more information about adding users, see the Configuration Guide. To enable a dynamic group, add a field to the form with a field ID that is the same as the group ID. For more information, see Group Category on page 45.
Managing groups
You can modify, delete, or search for groups in the Group form.
To search for groups

in Search mode.
2 Enter values in fields, or use the Advanced Search Bar to specify search criteria.
For computed groups, enter one group ID or one user name (in single quotation marks) in the Computed Group Definition field. If you use the Advance Search Bar, use the LIKE operator to indicate that you are searching for a portion of a string (see the Workflow Objects Guide). The search returns all computed groups that include the specified user or group in the definition. You cannot search the Computed Group Definition field for group names, or for strings that include operators such as AND, OR, and NOT. This is because AR System converts group names to group IDs and encodes operators before storing them in the database. However, the search results do show the strings as they were originally entered, with group names and operators.
3 Choose Actions > Search to retrieve the list of currently defined groups that match
your search criteria. For more information about performing searches, see BMC Remedy User Help.
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Creating and mapping roles
NOTE
Informix databases do not support searches on the Computed Group Definition field.
To modify groups
in Search mode.
2 Perform a search to retrieve a list of currently defined groups. 3 Select the appropriate group from the list. 4 Modify information in the appropriate fields. 5 Save your changes.
To delete groups
in Search mode.
2 Perform a search to retrieve a list of currently defined groups. 3 Select the appropriate group from the list. 4 Choose Actions > Delete.
A confirmation box appears to verify that you want to delete the group entry.
5 Click OK.
NOTE
Permissions for a user are determined by the list of groups in the Group list field of the users entry in the User form. If you later delete a group or change its Group ID, the users originally assigned to the group are still attached to the old ID. If there is no group with the old ID, these users are no longer attached to any group.

Use the Roles form (shown in Figure 1-13 on page 48) in BMC Remedy User or in a browser to create roles to which you grant or deny access to objects in deployable applications. In deployable applications, you assign permissions using implicit groups (including dynamic groups) and roles. You then map roles to explicit groups on the server. For more information about deployable applications, see Chapter 3, Defining applications. This section provides the steps to create roles and map them to explicit groups. Although there is no limit to the number of roles that you can create, for maintenance purposes you might want to limit the number.
NOTE
You must log on as an Administrator to work with the Roles form.
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You can map roles to regular or computed groups for the Test and Production application development states. You can also create custom states and map roles for those states, as explained in Creating custom states on page 78. To enable a particular mapping, change the applications state, as described in Working with deployable application states on page 76.
Figure 1-13: Roles formNew mode
The following table lists the key fields in the Roles form.
Table 1-4: Key fields in the Roles form (Sheet 1 of 2) Field Application Name Description Name of the deployable application for which the role is defined. You can define the same role for multiple applications, but you must create a separate Roles form entry for each. Name by which the role is known. Within each application, every role name should be unique. You can reuse the same role name-role ID pairs across a suite of applications. Integer ID that is the recognized identity of the role. The ID must be a negative number, such as -10001. Role IDs must be unique for each application name. You can reuse the same role name-role ID pairs across a suite of applications.
Role Name
Role ID
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Table 1-4: Key fields in the Roles form (Sheet 2 of 2) Field Test Description Enter or select one group name for the regular or computed group to which you want to map this role for the Test application state. To enable this mapping, set the applications State property to Test. For more information, see Working with deployable application states on page 76. Production Enter or select one group name for the regular or computed group to which you want to map this role for the Production application state. To enable this mapping, set the applications State property to Production. For more information, see Working with deployable application states on page 76.
To create and map roles

1 In BMC Remedy User or a browser, open the Roles form in New mode for the
server that contains the deployable application for which you are creating roles.
2 Enter information in the Application Name, Role Name, and Role ID fields, as
described in the previous table. If you save the role now, you can begin assigning permissions for this role to objects within the application. A role is listed only for object in the deployable application to which the role belongs.
3 Enter a regular or computed group ID in each Mapped Group field to define access
permissions for each application state.

4 Save your changes.
NOTE
Newly created roles appear in Permissions dialogs after the server recaches (about 5 seconds, depending on your system).
To modify roles and role mappings

1 In BMC Remedy User or a browser, open the Roles form in Search mode for the
2 Search the form to retrieve a list of currently defined roles for a particular
application.
3 Select the appropriate roles and modify information in the appropriate fields. 4 Save your changes.
To delete roles
1 In BMC Remedy User or a browser, open the Roles form in Search mode for the
2 Search the form to retrieve a list of currently defined roles for a particular
application.
Chapter 1 Defining access control 49
3 Select the appropriate role. 4 Choose Actions > Delete.
A confirmation box appears to verify that you want to delete the role entry.
5 Click OK.
Assigning permissions
You assign permissions to applications, forms, fields, active links, active link guides, flashboards, flashboard alarms, flashboard variables, packing lists, and web services. BMC Remedy Developer Studio includes four ways to assign or modify specific object permissions: Default permissionsThe permissions that you set for a new object. Once you set a default permission, every time you create a new object, the groups or roles to which you gave default permission can access it without any change to its permissions. Defining default permissions is optional, but can be useful if you have many groups or roles. If you do not set default form permissions, only administrators (and subadministrators with access to the form that contains the active link or field) can access the object until you assign specific permissions to it. The steps for this option are described in Defining default permissions on page 50. Permissions for individual objectsYou can specify which groups or roles can access an object when you create or modify the object. Use this when you need to control user access at the object level. The steps for this option are described in To assign permissions for other objects on page 53. Batch permissionsYou can specify permissions for multiple objects of the same type at the same time. For more information, see the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio. Group and role permissionsYou can give a group or role access to every applicable object in a server or deployable application instead of opening each object and modifying the permissions individually. This method can be useful if you have added a new group or role after the objects were created. The steps for this option are described in To assign permissions for a group to multiple objects on page 55.
Defining default permissions

Use the Default Permissions page of the Preferences dialog box to assign initial permissions to new objects. Use the Default Permissions dialog box to assign initial permissions to objects created in an application. Figure 1-14 shows the Default Permissions preferences for forms on a server. It shows groups that will be granted visible permissions or hidden permissions to new forms and the drop-down menu you use to set the permission for the group.
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Figure 1-14: Server default permissions
Figure 1-14 shows the Default Permissions dialog box for active link guides in an application. It shows a role that will be granted visible permission to new active link guides created in the application.
Figure 1-15: Application default permissions
When you create objects or fields, the default permissions for that object type or for fields are automatically applied to the object or field and displayed in the Permissions property. If you have an existing object or field and want to reset modified permissions back to the defined default permissions, open the Permissions dialog box and click Apply Defaults.
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For additional information about permissions, see the following sections: Form, active link guide, and application permissions on page 26 Field permissions on page 28 Active link permissions on page 33 Assigning permissions for individual or multiple AR System objects on page 53
To define default permissions for a server or an application

1 Open the required dialog box:
For a server:
a Choose Window > Preferences. b In the Preferences dialog box, expand BMC Remedy Developer Studio and
select Default Permissions.

c Select the appropriate server from the Server drop-down list.
For an application:
a Open the application in the application editor b Choose Application > Default Permissions. 2 In the Default Permissions preferences page or dialog box, select the appropriate
object type or select Fields from the list.

3 To remove default permissions, select groups and roles and click Remove or click
Remove All.
4 To add default permissions, click Add.
For a server, all appropriate groups are listed. For an application, the roles for that application and appropriate implicit groups are listed.
5 In the Add Groups dialog box, select the groups or roles to add and click OK. 6 In the Default Permissions page or dialog box, set the access level in the
Permissions column.
Table 1-5: Access levels Object type Access level Access for users in the group or group mapped to the role View and access the object in the user client. Access to the object only through workflow.
Active link guide Visible Application Hidden Form Web service Field Active link Packing list View Change (none)
View the field. View and change the field. View and access the object in the user client.
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7 For fields only, select or clear the Allow Any User to Submit check box.
Use this mode to determine security for the field when a request is submitted. If the check box is: SelectedAny user can assign a value to the field, regardless of whether the submitter belongs to a group with Change permission to the field. Cleared (the default)Only users who belong to one or more groups with Change permission to the field (or users who belong to groups mapped to roles with Change permission to the field) can enter data into the field.
8 Click OK to save your changes and close the Preferences dialog box.
The default permissions are defined for the server you selected and the current administrator login. Each administrator can have different default permissions for objects created on each server.
Assigning permissions for individual or multiple AR System objects

When you create an object in AR System, default permissions are assigned. You can change these permissions for individual objects or multiple objects, as described in the following procedures.
To assign permissions for a form

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the form for modification. 2 Select Form > Form Properties. 3 In the Form Properties dialog box, select the Permissions page. 4 In the Permissions page, use the arrow buttons to move the appropriate groups
and roles into the Permissions list.

5 For each group or role in the Permissions list, click the drop-down menu in the
Permissions column to set the access level to Visible or Hidden.

6 Click OK to close the Form Properties dialog box. 7 Choose File > Save to save the permission changes.
To assign permissions for other objects

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the object for modification. 2 In the Properties tab, click the Permissions property and click the ellipsis button. 3 In the Permissions dialog box, use the arrow buttons to move the appropriate
groups and roles into the Permissions list. All groups defined on the server (or roles defined for the application that contains the object) are displayed. To allow all users to see a form, active link guide, or application, add the Public group to the Permission list.
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4 For object that have different access levels, for each group or role in the
Permissions list, click the drop-down menu in the Permissions column to set the access level.
5 To set the object permissions to their defaults, click Apply Defaults.
For more information, see Defining default permissions on page 50.

6 Click OK to close the Permissions dialog box. 7 Choose File > Save to save the permission changes.
To assign permissions for one or more fields

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the form for modification. 2 Select the fields. 3 In the Properties tab, click the Permissions property and click the ellipsis button. 4 In the Permissions dialog box, use the arrow buttons to move the appropriate
groups and roles into the Permissions list. All groups defined on the server (or roles defined for the application that contains the object) are displayed. The Submitter, Assignee, and Assignee Group groups are implicit based on field contents. For more information about implicit groups, see Controlling access by using implicit groupsRow-level security on page 34. To allow all users to view or change a field, add the Public group to the Permission list.
5 For object that have different access levels, for each group or role in the
Permissions list, click the drop-down menu in the Permissions column to set the access level.
6 To set the object permissions to their defaults, click Apply Defaults.
For more information, see Defining default permissions on page 50.

7 Click OK to close the Permissions dialog box. 8 Set the Allow Any User to Submit property.
Use this mode to determine access control (security settings) for the field when a request is submitted. If the check box is: YesAny user can assign a value to the field, regardless of whether the submitter belongs to a group with Change permission to the field. No (the default)Only users who belong to a group with Change permission to the field can enter data into the field.
9 Choose File > Save to save the permission changes.
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Subadministrators in AR System
To assign permissions for a group to multiple objects

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the Groups tab as described in the
Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.

2 Right-click the appropriate group, and select Assign Permissions. 3 In the Assign Group Permissions dialog box, select Fields or the appropriate object
type. If you select Fields, click the ellipsis button and select a form. Only forms that are not in deployable application are available.
4 To remove permissions to objects or fields in the list, click Remove All or select
objects and click Remove.

5 To assign permissions to other objects or fields, click Add. 6 In the Selector dialog box, select the objects or fields in the list, and click OK to
assign permission for the group to those objects.

7 For object that have different access levels, in the Assign Group Permissions dialog
box, for each object in the list, click the drop-down menu in the Permissions column to set the access level.
8 To assign permission for this group to other object types, return to step 3. 9 Click OK to save the permission changes.
NOTE
To assign common permissions to a collection of objects, see the discussion of changing attributes of two or more objects in the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
Administratorsmembers of the Administrators groupcan use BMC Remedy Developer Studio to view every AR System server object and can modify any object that is not reserved by another user. (See Chapter 2, Using version control.) You can use Subadministrator Permissions to grant administrator access to a subset of existing forms, local applications, and workflow to subadministratorsmembers of the Sub Administrator group. A subadministrator with administrator access to a server object can use BMC Remedy Developer Studio to view and modify it the same as an administrator. A subadministrator can also create objects. Figure 1-16 is an example of using Subadministrator Permission to enable users to maintain some object on an AR System server.
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Figure 1-16: Users administering forms
Administrator
Engineering Support Services application
Sales application
Bug Tracking form
Enhancements form
Sales Lead form
Contact Info form
Subadministrator for Engineering
Subadministrator for Sales
Rights for subadministrators

Subadministrators can perform the following functions: Log on to BMC Remedy Developer Studio. When you log in to BMC Remedy Developer Studio as a Subadministrator, the server icon in AR System Navigator has a yellow badge with a letter S instead of a green badge with a letter A. Create local applications, forms, and packing lists.
NOTE
When you create an object as a subadministrator, make sure to set the Subadministrator Permissions so you can access the object. Modify local applications, forms, and packing lists to which they have administrator access. Create and modify filters, active links, and escalations associated with forms to which they have administrator access. Create and modify active link guides, filter guides, images, and menus.
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Subadministrators cannot perform the following functions: Modify local applications, forms, and packing lists to which they have no administrator access. View or modify forms to which they do not have subadministrator access in local application or packing lists to which they do have administrator access. If a user has subadministrator access to a local application or a packing list, but not to a form in the local application or packing list, the form is not listed in the object list or editor. Create or access deployable applications. View or modify roles, distributed mappings, or distributed pools. Change server information settings. Release licenses of users currently accessing AR System.
To make a user a subadministrator:

1 Include the Sub Administrator group in the Group list in the User form entry for
every user who is to be a subadministrator. A member of the Sub Administrator group must have a fixed license.
2 Give a group, of which the user is a member, administrative access to the
appropriate local applications, forms, and guides. For more information, see Defining subadministrator permissions on page 57. To give all members of the Subadministrator group administrator access to an object, give the Public group Subadministrator permission. To divide administrator access between groups, as Figure 1-16 on page 56 shows, create a group for each collection of objects, for example, Engineering Subadministrators and Sales Subadministrators.
NOTE
To give subadministrators access to an AR System server that has object reservation enforced, you must grant them access to a form. See Chapter 2, Using version control.
Defining subadministrator permissions

The following procedures explain how to define additional administrator permissions, such as granting subadministrator permissions to users, defining subadministrator permissions for forms and applications, and changing the visibility of forms for administrators. After you have granted a group subadministrator permissions for an application, the members of that group can modify the applications appearance, group permissions, help text, and change history. Subadministrators can also change which forms are included in an application object, although they cannot alter the forms themselves unless they have administrator access to them. For more information, see Subadministrators in AR System on page 55.
Chapter 1 Defining access control 57
To grant subadministrator capabilities to a user

1 In BMC Remedy User or the mid tier, open the User form of the appropriate server
in Search mode.
2 Perform a search to find the user you want to give administrator access to. 3 Make the following changes:
From the Group list menu, select Sub Administrator. The list must include the Sub Administrator group to give the user the potential to be a subadministrator. From the License Type option list, select Fixed. You must assign subadministrators a Fixed Write license.
4 Save your changes. 5 Give subadministrator permission for the form to a group or role to which the
subadministrator belongs, as described in the following procedure.
To assign subadministrator permissions to forms, local applications, and packing lists

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the appropriate form, local application,
or packing list for modification.

2 Access the Subadministrator Permissions:
For a form, choose Form > Form Properties, and in the Form Properties dialog box, select the Subadministrator Permissions page. For a local application or a packing list, in the Properties tab, click the Subadministrator Permissions property and then the ellipses button.
3 In the Subadministrator Permissions page or dialog box, use the arrow buttons to
move the appropriate groups into the Permissions list. When assigning permissions for an application, you must assign the same permission as are assigned for the individual forms in the application.
4 Click OK to close the dialog box and save the changes.
The members of the group or role have the same privileges and permissions that an administrator has for that object.
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Chapter
Using version control
This section describes how to use version control to prevent BMC Remedy Developer Studio users from overwriting others work and to log changes to server objects. The following topics are provided: Understanding version control in AR System (page 60) Using object reservation (page 62) Using the object modification log (page 64)
Chapter 2 Using version control
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Understanding version control in AR System

Version control provides two independent functions: Object reservationUsers can reserve server objects. AR System prevents other users from modifying reserved objects. Object modification logWhen users change objects, AR System automatically logs the change and exports the objects when the changes are saved. Users can import the objects to restore them to their saved state. Version control applies to the following AR System objects: Active links Active link guides Applications Escalations Filters Filter guides Forms Images Menus Packing lists Web services
Understanding object reservation

AR System object reservation supports team development of applications by permitting one developer to prevent others from modifying objects. You can: Reserve an object for your exclusive use. See who has reserved objects. Release a reserved object so others can modify it. Object reservation permits the following actions: You can open an object in Read mode and view it if it is reserved by someone else. You can save a copy of an object with a different name if it is reserved by someone else. (However, you can never save a copy of a deployable application, because a form cannot belong to more than one deployable application.) You can add an object to a guide, packing list, local application, or user list, or export it regardless of whether it is reserved.
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Understanding version control in AR System
Object reservation prevents the following actions: You cannot import, modify, or delete an object that is reserved by someone else. You cannot delete a form if a workflow object that is reserved by someone else is related to it. You cannot delete a form that is joined to a form reserved by someone else (though any number of joins). You cannot add a form that is reserved by someone else to a deployable application. You cannot add a form to a deployable application that is reserved by someone else. If BMC Remedy Developer Studio prevents you from taking an action because an objects is reserved by someone else, you can open the Reserved Objects working list as described in To list all reserved objects on page 63 and filter or sort the list to find the object and the user who has reserved it.
TIP
Use individual AR System users with object modification. Do not share users. If the same user is connected to the same server in two different BMC Remedy Developer Studio session, object reservation does not prevent simultaneous modification of objects.
IMPORTANT
Object reservation must be enforced on the AR System server before you can use it. The setting is on the Version Control tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form. See the Configuration Guide for details.
NOTE
The AR System server stores object reservations in the AR System Version Control: Object Reservation form. See Appendix C, Special forms.
Understanding the object modification log

With the object modification log enabled, the AR System server automatically logs every change to an object and, optionally, exports the object. Changes are logged for the following object types: Active links Active link guides Applications Escalations Filters Filter guides Forms
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Images Menus Packing lists You can use the log to find a previous version of an object and restore it. Using the log entries, you can: Recover from errors such as deleted objects or bad changes to objects. Undo changes to objects when they do not work. The log entries are in the AR System Version Control: Object Modification Log form.
IMPORTANT
Object modification logging must be enabled on the AR System server before you can use it. The setting is on the Version Control tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form. See the Configuration Guide for details.
Using object reservation

When you work with others on an application, you need to prevent them from overwriting changes you make to objects. Use object reservation to prevent others from changing an object. For example, you can reserve the objects you need to change before you start a development task. When you have completed and tested your changes, you release the objects so others can work on them.
IMPORTANT
Object reservation must be enforced on the AR System server before you can use it. The setting is on the Version Control tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form. See the Configuration Guide for details.
To reserve objects in a list

1 Open an object list that includes the objects to reserve. 2 Select the objects. 3 Right-click and choose Reserve from the object list pop-up menu.
The objects are reserved. Your user name appears in the Reserved By column of the object list.
To reserve an object as you work

1 Open an object you have not reserved.
BMC Remedy Developer Studio opens it in Read mode, as shown in the status bar.
2 Change the object.
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Using object reservation
3 If no one has reserved the object, click Yes in the confirmation dialog box to reserve
the object. The object is now reserved and open in Write mode.
4 When you have completed work on the object, release it.
NOTE
If you click No in the confirmation dialog box, or if the object is reserved by someone else, you continue in Read mode. Any changes you make to an object in Read mode are not saved. To save changes, you must choose File > Save As and save a copy of the object.
To reserve a form and all related objects

1 Create a View-by-Form list containing the form and all as described in the

2 Open the list and switch the list to single-list layout. 3 Select the first object in the list, and press Shift+End to select all the object in the list. 4 Right-click the objects and choose Reserve from the pop-up menu.
To find reserved objects in a list

Click the Reserved By column header to sort the list. All reserved objects appear at the top of the list. Use the filtering options to display object where Reserved By does not equal "". Only reserved objects appear in the list.
NOTE
The object lists in object selector dialog boxes also contain a Reserved By column by default.
To list all reserved objects

In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > User Lists and open Reserved Objects. This special list includes all objects reserved by any user. If you are logged on as a subadministrator, only the objects reserved by you are listed.
To release objects
1 Open an object list that includes the objects to release. 2 Select the objects. 3 Right-click the objects and choose Release from the object list pop-up menu.
The object reservations are removed. The Reserved By column of the object list is cleared. Other users can change or reserve the objects.
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Using the object modification log

At times, you need to know who changed an object, what they did, and when they did it. Also, after a change to an object, you might need to restore a previous version. Whatever the reason, you can use the object modification log to record changes and, optionally, export objects when they are changed.
IMPORTANT
Object modification logging must be enabled on the AR System server before you can use it. The setting is on the Version Control tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form. See the Configuration Guide for details. With the object modification log enabled, the AR System server adds an entry to the AR System Version Control: Object Modification Log form every time anyone creates, modifies, or deletes an object in BMC Remedy Developer Studio or by importing. The server adds the entry when it makes the change. The entry includes: Object NameName of the new, changed, or deleted object. Obj Old NamePrevious name of the object, if the change is renaming the object. Object TypeType of the changed object: form, active link, escalation, filter, menu, image, or container (application, guide, or packing list). OperationCreate, Delete, or Modify. UserUser who made the change. Modified DateTimestamp of the change. CommentsThe text from the New Description property of the object. DefAttachment field containing a .def file saved by the server with the object after the change. InstanceAn integer, starting at one, that give the version saved of the object. API GroupAn identifier that is the same for all log entries that result from one API call to the AR System server. API TargetA flag that is Yes if the object named is referenced by the API call and No if the object named is related to a referenced object. LabelReserved for future development. Task IDReserved for future development.
NOTE
A single change in BMC Remedy Developer Studio can produce many changes on the AR System server and many log entries.
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Using the object modification log
To find and restore a saved object definition

1 Log in using a browser or BMC Remedy User as an administrator. 2 Open the AR System Version Control: Object Modification Log form for search. 3 Specify search values for the Object Name and other relevant field. 4 Perform the search. 5 Find the log entry in the search results. 6 Save the .def file from the entry to your computer and import it.
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Chapter
Defining applications
This section describes application objects and explains how to work with them. The following topics are provided: Deployable applications in AR System (page 68) Creating and defining deployable applications (page 72) Application attributes and properties (page 79) Presenting applications to users (page 81) Deleting applications (page 86) Local applications (page 87) For information about determining your application needs and working with BMC Remedy Developer Studio, see the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio. For specific information about creating and managing web applications, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
Chapter 3 Defining applications
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Deployable applications in AR System

A deployable application is a server object that contains references to forms and related objects. Use a deployable application to group a collection of forms for users to use to accomplish a single task. For example, you might create an employee setup application that contains forms and workflow required to set up a new employees telephone, computer, and work space and deploy it on a production server while you continue to add functionality. Because the exported archive of a deployable application is independent of the AR System server is developed on, it is easy to package a deployable application and install it on another server, for example, to move it from a development server to a production server or to servers in different locations. You can make a deployable application appear to users as a self-contained Windows or web-based application. When users opens the application in BMC Remedy User or the web browser, they see no references to AR System. A local application is a server object like a deployable application without the features that support easily copying it to another server. See Local applications on page 87.
Objects in deployable applications

A form cannot be in more than one deployable application. When a form is in an application, all related objects are also considered to be in the application. The related objects include: Active links, active link guides, escalations, filters, and filter guides for which the form is an associated form. Images, flashboards, and menus referenced by fields in the form. Flashboard variables referenced by flashboards in the application. Flashboard alarms that reference flashboard variables in the application. A packing list can also be in an application. The objects in the packing list are not necessarily in the application. As described in Chapter 13, Defining packing lists, packing list only list server objects. The AR System server stores packing lists but does not use them at application runtime. You cannot add any other server objects to an application. If you open in an editor a form, active link, filter, escalation, active link guide, filter guide or packing list that is in an application, the server and application names are listed as shown in Figure 3-1 on page 69.
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Figure 3-1: Application listed in an editor
Access control for deployable applications

As described in more detail in Chapter 1, Defining access control,, access to deployable applications and forms, fields, active links, and active link guides in deployable applications is defined by roles and implicit groups. Because you map each role to a group and the AR System server uses those role mappings to determine access, the groups on different servers do not need to be the same. The server also uses the application state to select the group for a role. By mapping different groups to a role for different states, you can run an application in Test state without giving access to it to the users who use it in Production state. So when you change the state of the application, you can affect the permissions for all objects in the application without modifying the objects themselves. For more information, see Working with deployable application states on page 76. A user who does not have access to an application has limited access to the applications entry points. For more information about entry points, see Creating form entry points on page 307. The access you grant to an application object is not inherited by the objects in the application. Likewise, denying access to the application does not deny access to the objects within the application. You must grant or deny access for each form, field, and active link, and active link guide in the application. If a form is in a deployable application, that application is said to control the form. The application also controls the fields in the form and active links and active link guides that have the form as their primary form. When a user attempts to reference a form, field, active link, or active link guide, the AR System server uses the application state and the role mappings of its controlling application to determine access. If a form or active link is an entry point, it appears under its controlling application in the home page. See Chapter 12, Defining entry points and home pages. Use care using shared active links and active link guides in applications. If an active link or active link guide has role-based access control and is used outside its controlling application (through an associated form that is not its primary form), access to it is still through the role mappings and state of the controlling application. If the roles of the controlling application are not coordinated with the other uses of the active link or active link guide, the workflow might not be accessible as expected.
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When you create a form, field, active link, active link guide, or packing list in a deployable application, you can grant permissions only to roles and implicit groups. When you add a form to a deployable application, all explicit groups are removed from its permissions and from the permissions of its fields and all active links and active link guides that have the form as an associated form. If the application has default permissions, those are added. You can grant permissions to roles and implicit groups, as described in Assigning permissions on page 50, to these objects and fields as needed. When you remove a form from a deployable application, all roles are removed from its permissions and from the permissions of its fields and all active links and active link guides associated with it.
NOTE
Flashboards and flashboard variables function as global objects that can be in an application, but are not controlled by the application. You must grant permissions to these objects using groups, not the roles you use for the application and the fields and objects it controls.
Other contents of deployable applications

So you can install a deployable application on a different AR System server, it must include other required data and files: DataAn application can use requests to represents business rules or other required data. You specify the forms that contain the data. You can also define qualifications that select the data to include. RolesAll roles that are used to define access control for forms, fields, active links, and active link guides in the application are considered to be in the application. Support filesAn application can also use external files, for example, files referenced by file menus or other data files. Image filesYou can specify image files that the AR System server uses as the application icon and About box. Help filesYou can create an external help file and link it to the application.
Access points for deployable applications

As you design and implement your applications, you might find that one application needs to access a form or workflow from another. You can define access points to indicate which forms and active link guides in your application are designed to be accessed by workflow that is not in the application.
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Access points are not enforced. Workflow running in an AR System server can access any forms or active link guides, subject only to access control. But access points are indicated in object lists in BMC Remedy Developer Studio so developers can see where to access functionality in an application. For more information, see Working with deployable application access points on page 78.
Applications in user clients

Users open an application in one of the following ways: Click its link or a link to one of its entry points on a home page in a browser or in BMC Remedy User. Open an AR System shortcut (.ARTask) file to open the application in BMC Remedy User. Click a web link or go to a URL. Select the application, an entry point, a form, or an active link guide from the AR System Object List in a browser or the Object List dialog box of BMC Remedy User. To configure how an application opens and how a user can open it and use it: Define the application label, description, primary form, and primary form view. Define forms and guides in the application as entry points. Entry points are listed in home pages under the controlling application. Configure whether the user can access forms and guides that are not in the application and whether the form window opens maximized in BMC Remedy User.
Other features of deployable applications

You can also license deployable applications and monitor their performance.
Licensing deployable applications

You can require users to obtain a license from you before they can use a deployable application. You might use application licensing together with object locking, which prevents objects from being modified in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. For more information about application licensing and object locking, see the Integration Guide.
Collecting performance information about deployable applications

You can collect performance information such as how many times an application is accessed in a given period of time. You can collect similar statistics on individual forms. For more information, see the Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide.
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Exporting and importing deployable applications

There is specific functionality to export applications. All objects and data necessary for the application to correctly install and execute on the target server are automatically written into a single definition file on export. The resulting .def file serves as a location-independent archive of the application because it contains everything needed to install the application on an AR System server without any dependencies on the environment in which it was developed. Workflow associated with the application, but not controlled by the application, must be exported and imported separately. See Other contents of deployable applications on page 70 for more information about what is included in the deployable application export archive. On import, all objects and data are installed on the destination server in one step. For more information about exporting and importing data, see the Configuration Guide. For information about exporting and importing applications, see Appendix G, Importing and exporting object definitions, views, and applications.
Creating and defining deployable applications

BMC Remedy Developer Studio makes it easy to work with applications. Each application appears as a node in the AR System Navigator Applications branch. From the node, you can create new objects in the application, open an application list that displays the forms and related objects included in the application, or open the application editor to add or remove forms and set properties. For more information about working in the AR System Navigator and application lists, see the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio. When you plan a deployable application, be sure to design the access control roles required by the application early in your work. With a clear idea of application roles, you can assign permissions to forms, fields, active links, and active link guides as you define them. The following steps are one good approach to creating, defining, and deploying an application:
Step 1 Determine the forms required for the application user interface. Step 2 Determine the roles required to control access to the application and its
functionality.
Step 3 Create the roles, test groups, and test users so you can test the forms and workflow
in the application as you define it. Create role mappings.

Step 4 Configure default permissions for forms and other objects. Step 5 Create the deployable application object and sets its permissions.
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Step 6 Create the objects in the deployable application:
Create the forms required for the application user interface. Create supporting forms, workflow, menus, images, and other supporting objects as required by the functionality of the forms you create. Define the permissions for the objects as you define the objects. Define data forms and criteria for data export and create the requests in these forms required by the functionality. Create external support files and add them to the application. Test the functionality as you create it using the test users. You can also create packing lists to represent functional parts of the application or collections of objects with common permissions.
Step 7 Define entry points to appear in application lists. Step 8 Define access points that external workflow can use to access functionality of the
application.
Step 9 Define help text for the application or create external help files and add them to the
application.
Step 10 Select forms for application statistics, if applicable. Step 11 Export the application, import it to a different AR System development or test
server, define the required groups, users, and role mappings, and test the application
Step 12 When testing is complete, import the application to the production server, define
the required groups, add the group to the Group List for the users, and define the role mappings and application state.
Creating a deployable application

Use the following procedure to create an application object.
To create an application
1 In the AR System Navigator, expand the server branch where you want to create
the application.
2 Right-click Applications and choose New Application. 3 In the New Application dialog box, select Deployable Application, and click
Finish.
4 In the Properties tab, define the Permissions for the application.
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5 Choose File > Save. 6 In the Save Application As dialog box, enter the application names and click OK.
The name must be unique among applications, active link guides, filter guides, packing lists, and web services on an AR System server. Names can be a maximum of 80 characters, including spaces. Names can include double-byte characters, but avoid a digit as the first character. The new application appears as node in the Applications branch of the server tree in the AR System Navigator.
NOTE
Subadministrators cannot create or view deployable application objects in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. They can view and modify objects in the application if they have administrative access to them
Creating objects in an application

To create an object in an application, right-click the applicaitonName node in the AR System Navigator and choose the object type from the New Object pop-up menu. See the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio for details. When you create an object in an application, BMC Remedy Developer Studio behaves as follows: FormThe application controls the form. Workflow objectThe list of forms to associate with the workflow object is filtered to include only forms in the application. Web serviceThe list of forms to serve as the base form for the web service is filtered to include only forms in the application. Flashboard variableThe list of forms to serve as the data source for the flashboard variable is filtered to include only forms in the application. Packing listThe packing list is in the application. An object you create using another BMC Remedy Developer Studio menu can still be in an application if it is associated with a form in the application. For example, if you create a menu and attach it to a field in a form in an application, the menu is in the application.
Adding objects to an application

You do not need to create objects in an application. The only objects you can add to an application are forms and packing lists. All other objects are included in an application based on their association with the forms in the application.
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When you add a form to an application, all of the objects associated with that form, such as workflow and menus, are also added to the application. Likewise, when you remove a form, all of the objects related to it are removed from the application. Removing a form does not delete the form on the server. For information about deleting objects, see the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
WARNING
When you add an existing form to a deployable application, AR System removes all explicit group permissions from the form and its associated objects. You must manually apply role permissions to every object, including the form and its fields, and to any active links and active link guides for which the form is the primary form. You can add forms or packing lists to an application in the following ways: By adding to the application using the Forms panel or the Packing Lists panel of the application tab in the editor area, as explained in the following procedures. By dragging a form or a packing list from an object list and dropping it on the applicationName node in the AR System Navigator.
To add forms in an application from the Forms panel

1 Open the application for modification as described in the Introduction to Application
Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.

2 In the application tab, expand the Forms panel. 3 Click Add. 4 In the Forms Selector dialog box, select the forms to add to the application, and
click OK. Only forms that are not in any application are shown. To filter the list of forms, type a pattern in the Name field. To move to a form in the list, type the first characters of the name in the Locate field. To set the view presented in the application, select it from the View drop-down list below the forms list. The forms you selected and all related objects are added to the application.
5 Chose File > Save to save the changes to the application.
To add packing lists to an application from the Packing Lists panel


2 In the application tab, expand the Packing Lists panel. 3 Click Add.
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4 In the Packing List Selector dialog box, select the packing lists to add to the
application, and click OK. To filter the list of packing lists, type a pattern in the Name field. To move to a form in the list, type the first characters of the name in the Locate field. The packing lists you selected are added to the application. The forms and packing lists in the packing lists are not added.
5 Chose File > Save to save the changes to the application.
To divide an application
You might need to divide the functionality in an application into two applications.
1 Create a new application and set its basic properties. Do not add or create any
forms.
2 Close the application tab and open the Applications branch of the AR System
Navigator so you can see the applicationName node.

3 Open the application object list for the existing application. 4 Drag the forms to move to the new application from the application list to the node
in the AR System Navigator. The forms and all associated objects are moved from the existing application to the new application. When you decide to replace a local application with a deployable one, you can also use this procedure to move objects from the local application to a new deployable application.
NOTE
You cannot create copies of deployable applications using the Save As command because different deployable applications cannot contain the same forms.
Working with deployable application states

In deployable applications, role permissions resolve to different groups depending on the state of the application. State refers to the development state of the application, such as Maintenance, Test, or Production. You can change an applications state in the application tab in the editor area, in BMC Remedy User, or through workflow, as described in the following sections. You can also create custom states for use by all deployable applications on the server.
Specifying roles for deployable application states

When you create or import a deployable application, the state is set to Maintenance. Only administrators and subadministrators have access to this state. For other states, such as Test and Production, access control depends on role-group mappings defined in the Roles form.
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To specify deployable application states

1 Define role-group mappings for each state in the Roles form: a In BMC Remedy User, open the Roles form and search for all roles defined for
the application. If the search returns no roles, define roles for the application.
b For each role, make sure that the role is mapped to an explicit group for each
state.
c Save the roles.
For more information about roles, see Roles in AR System on page 23.
2 Specify the state for the application, as follows: a Open the application for modification as described in the Introduction to
Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.

b In the application tab, expand the General panel. c Choose a state from the State list. d Choose File > Save.
The role-group mappings for the specified application state become effective after the server recaches.
Using the user client or workflow to change deployable application states

The state defined in application properties is stored in an entry for that application in the AR System Application State form. You can edit the entries in this form in the user client or create workflow that acts on this form to change the applications state. When creating the workflow, remember the following tips: A state value of NULL is the same as the Maintenance (administrators only) state. State names are case-sensitive. Entries are removed from the AR System Application State form when applications are deleted.
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Creating custom states

You can create custom application states by adding fields to the Roles form. Use field IDs in the range of 2003 to 2199.
To create custom states

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the Roles form. 2 Under the Production field, add a character field. 3 In the Properties tab, in the ID field, enter a unique field ID in the range from 2003
to 2199.
4 Save the form.
AR System automatically adds a menu to the field for selecting groups. The new state is available for deployable applications on the current server after the server recaches.
5 To make custom states available on another server, export the Roles form and
import it on the target server. For more information about exporting and importing forms, see Appendix G, Importing and exporting object definitions, views, and applications.
Working with deployable application access points

You can identify specific forms and guides in a deployable application as access points, or points of integration, for use with other deployable applications. When creating table fields, join forms, and certain workflow actions (such as Set Fields or Call Guide actions), developers can choose to filter the list of forms or guides to include only those within the current application or sort the list to find only those that have been identified as access points in applications. The access points you create for an application are recommended points of integration only; developers can still choose to work with any objects on the server. Use the following procedures to define access points for your application, and to take advantage of access points in other applications during development.
To define access points in a deployable application


2 In the application tab in the editor area, open the Access Points panel. 3 Click Add. 4 In the Object Selector, select the forms, active link guides, and filter guides to add
as access points to the application, and click OK.

5 Choose File > Save.
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Application attributes and properties
To use access points during development

When you need to reference functionality from a deployable application, open an object list or view a list of objects in a selector dialog box and use the Access Point column of the list to choose an object that is defined as an access point.
Application attributes and properties

Except for the change history and permissions in the Properties tab, all application attributes are set in the application editor. Use the following procedure to define the attributes and properties of an application.
To define application attributes and properties

1 Open an application for modification as described in the Introduction to Application

2 Expand one or panels and modify attributes as desired.
The following sections describe the contents of each panel.

3 Modify permissions and other properties in the Properties tab. 4 Choose File > Save.
General panel
The primary properties in the General panel determine the application label and development state. The following sections describe these properties in detail. The following additional properties on this tab are for configuring applications for direct access in BMC Remedy User: Description Show Only Forms in Application Run with Form Windows Maximized Custom Title Bar Icon Custom About Box For more information about these properties, see Specifying General and Forms attributes for Application mode on page 82.
Label
For deployable applications, if a Label is specified, it is used in place of the application object name to identify the application corresponding to entry points in the home page. For more information about entry points and home pages, see Chapter 12, Defining entry points and home pages.
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The Label also has a specific meaning when an applications is accessed directly in Windows clients. For more information, see Presenting applications to users on page 81.
State
This property defines the application state (Maintenance, Production, Test, or custom) and appears for deployable applications only. Depending on the state you choose, different access permissions are applied to the application. For more information, see Working with deployable application states on page 76.
Forms panel
The Forms panel determines the forms included in the application, as explained in Adding objects to an application on page 74. The following Forms properties apply only to applications that users do not access through entry points on a home page: Primary Form Primary View For more information about these properties, see Presenting applications to users on page 81.
Packing Lists panel

For deployable applications only, this panel defines the packing lists to include in the application.
Support Files panel

The Support Files Panel is for web applications only. This panel defines the names and locations of resources used in web views that are included in the application object. For more information, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
Access Points panel

For deployable applications only, this panel defines which forms, active link guides, and filter guides are integrated with other deployable applications. For more information, see Working with deployable application access points on page 78.
Data panel
For deployable applications only, this panel defines the forms whose data is included in an application export. It also defines the qualifications (if any) that select sets of records, and import options such as the handling of duplicate request IDs. For more information, see the Configuration Guide.
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Presenting applications to users
Statistics panel
For deployable applications only, this panel defines the forms that participate in statistics tracking for the application. For more information, see the Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide.
Help Text panel

The Help Text panel supplies help text about the application for administrators. It typically includes a description of the application, what it does, and how it is used. For general information about creating help text in AR System, see the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio. The Help properties also apply to applications configured for direct access in BMC Remedy User. For more information, see Specifying Help properties for Application mode on page 84.
Properties tab
Use the Permissions property in the Properties tab to determine which access control groups can display the application in the user client. For more information, see Access control for deployable applications on page 69. Use the Subadministrator Permissions property to define subadministrator permissions for access control groups. For more information, see Subadministrators in AR System on page 55. AR System automatically records the owner of an application, the developer who last modified the application, and the date of the modification. To display or add to this information, click the Change History property in the Properties tab. For general information about building and using change history, see the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.

The typical or default method to present an application to users is to define entry points that appear in a home page, as explained in Chapter 12, Defining entry points and home pages. This section describes additional ways to present applications to users. For web applications, you can provide links to forms using special URLs, such as encoded URLs, URLs that bypass the login page, or URLs that pass search parameters when a search form is opened. Include the URLs on a web page or form. For more information, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide. You can configure Windows applications so that users open the applications within BMC Remedy User in Application mode. This technique works for both local and deployable applications, as explained in this section.
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In BMC Remedy User, users access an application in the Object List dialog box, locating the application by name or by a custom label that you provide. A description of the application (if defined) appears below the task list when the user selects the application, as shown in Figure 3-2.
Figure 3-2: Object List dialog box
Users can also open the application from an ARTask shortcut that you provide, as described in Distributing the application to users as a shortcut on page 85.
Specifying General and Forms attributes for Application mode

Use the following procedures to specify General and Forms attributes for use in Application mode. For more information about Application mode, see Presenting applications to users on page 81.
To specify General properties for an application

1 Open the application for modification, as described in the Introduction to

2 In the application tab, expand the General panel. 3 In the Label field, specify the label that you want to appear in the Object List dialog
box in BMC Remedy User, and in the title bar in Application mode. If you do not specify a label, the Name property is used to identify the application. Labels can be as long as 255 bytes, including spaces.
4 In the Description field, specify the description that you want to appear below the
task list in the Object List dialog box in BMC Remedy User. You can enter a maximum of 2000 bytes.
5 To specify a custom icon: a Select the Custom Title Bar Icon check box. b Click the Browse button and select the appropriate image file.
You can add an image in .bmp, .dib, .jpg, or .jpeg format that is as large as 16 pixels wide by 16 pixels high. An image larger than these dimensions is cropped. The image file size limit is 512 KB. Keep the file size as small as possible to avoid performance problems.
c To save the image to another area on the network, click Save To Disk. 6 To display an image in the About box: a Select the Custom About Box check box. b Click the Browse button to locate the appropriate image.
You can add an image in .bmp, .dib, .jpg, or .jpeg format that is as large as 16 pixels wide by 16 pixels high. An image larger than these dimensions is cropped. The image file size limit is 512 KB. Keep the file size as small as possible to avoid performance problems.
c To save the image to another area on the network, click Save To Disk. 7 Choose File > Save.
To specify the behavior of forms in Application mode


2 In the application tab, expand the Forms panel. 3 From the Primary Form list, select the form to appear in BMC Remedy User when
the application first opens. If you do not specify a primary form, no form appears when users open the application in BMC Remedy User.
4 From the Primary View list, select the view of the form to appear when the
application opens. The views available in the list are defined by the view label. If no view is selected, the default view or the user preference view is used.
5 Expand the General panel. 6 Select or clear the Show Only Forms in Application check box. If this check box is:
Selected, users can access only those forms and guides within the application. Cleared, users can access any forms, guides, or applications to which they have access regardless of whether they are related to the application.
7 Select or clear the Run With Form Windows Maximized check box. If this check
box is: Selected, the form window is maximized when it opens. Cleared, the form window opens with the size that the developer defines.
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Specifying Help properties for Application mode

You can create field-level help for users of your application, as explained in the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio. For applications that run in Application mode, you can also provide help in the following ways: Using help text that opens from the Help menu in a system-generated dialog box. Use this method if the application does not require extensive help text. Using external help files that open from the Help menu in a supporting program such as a web browser or Adobe Reader. Use this method if the application is complex and requires detailed instructions. You can provide up to five external help files.
Specifying help text in a dialog box

Use the following procedure to specify help text that users can access by choosing Help > Help on applicationLabel or pressing F1 in BMC Remedy User.
Figure 3-3: Help text example
To specify help text in a dialog box


2 In the application tab, expand the Help Text panel. 3 From the Type drop-down list, select Help Text. 4 In the field, supply the help text that you want to appear. 5 Choose File > Save.
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Specifying external help files

You can specify up to five different external help files for an application. Help formats that you can use include .htm, .html, .doc, .pdf, .txt, .hlp, or .chm files. Your users must be able to access the help file locally on their computers. For example, if your help file is a web page, users must have browsers installed. When users choose Help > Contents and Index (for a single help file) or Help > Help on applicationLabel (for multiple help files) in Application mode in BMC Remedy User, the help appears in the format that you specify. For example, if you created an HTML help system for your application, the users default browser opens, displaying the HTML help file.
To specify external help files


2 In the application tab, expand the Help Text panel. 3 From the Type drop-down list, select External Help Files. 4 Click Add. 5 In the Add External Help File dialog box: a In the Label field, enter a label for the help file. b Click the browse button next to the Help File field and select a file. c Click OK.
The Label and Help File name are added to the field changes to identify the help file that you have selected.
6 To test a help file, select the it in the list and click Test. 7 To export a help file from an application, select it in the list and click Save to Disk. 8 Choose File > Save.
Distributing the application to users as a shortcut

You can send an application as an ARTask shortcut to your users, who can use the shortcut to start the application in BMC Remedy User. You can create the shortcut in BMC Remedy User.
NOTE
Creating a shortcut using the following procedure requires a MAPI-compliant email client.
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To create an application shortcut in BMC Remedy User

1 In BMC Remedy User, open the Object List dialog box. 2 Right-click the application for which you want to create a shortcut. 3 Choose Create Shortcut to open the Save a Shortcut dialog box. 4 Specify a location, and click Save.
Deleting applications
When you delete an application, it is removed from the database and from the list of applications in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. The forms, workflow, and data included in the application are not deleted. You must remove them separately. If you provided an application as a shortcut, tell your user community to delete the application shortcut from their desktops. If users try to start an application after it has been deleted from the server, they receive an error message. For more information, see Presenting applications to users on page 81.
To delete the forms, data, menus, and workflow in an application

1 Open the application list as described in the Introduction to Application Development
with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.

2 Change the list layout to a single list as described in the Introduction to Application

3 Select all the objects in the list. 4 Choose Edit > Delete. 5 In the Confirm Deletion dialog box, click OK.
NOTE
To delete the roles used in an application, see To delete roles on page 49.
To delete an application
1 In the AR System Navigator, expand serverName > Applications. 2 Right-click the application node and choose Delete. 3 In the Confirm Deletion dialog box, click OK to delete the object or Cancel to
preserve the object. The application is removed from the database and no longer appears in the list of applications on the Server window. The objects in the application are not deleted.
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Local applications
Local applications
Local applications are intended for use on a single server or a small number of servers. They use permissions based on groups, which means that each local application is designed for one specific server environment. This makes it difficult to migrate local applications to different servers where permissions might need to be redefined for many objects, including forms, fields, and workflow.
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Chapter
Creating AR System forms
Use forms to capture and display information. A form typically includes related components such as employee and department information. A form contains fields in which the information is entered and displayed. The collection of fields represents a record of information in AR System. While the entries comprise the rows of a database table, the fields comprise the columns. This section discusses the types of forms available, and the tasks used to create them. The following topics are provided: Types of forms (page 90) Creating and managing forms (page 92) Display-only forms (page 96) Join forms (page 100) Setting form properties (page 112)
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Types of forms
An administrator can create forms that serve as part of a unique workflow solution. Form types include regular, join, display-only, view, and vendor forms. These forms can be customized using form views, as explained in Chapter 11, Creating and managing form views.
Regular forms
Regular forms are generally the main forms of your applications. Within the AR System database, AR System builds and manages tables to store the data displayed on your forms. When you create a regular form, you see the eight core fields (see Figure 4-1). All regular forms contain these fields. For information about core fields, see Core fields on page 332.
Figure 4-1: Create Form window and core fields
Join forms
You can create a join form to combine information from multiple AR System forms. This composite form includes fields derived from other existing forms. Use join forms to avoid data redundancy (information is stored in only one form) and maintain data integrity (information updated through the join form is updated in all other places).
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Types of forms
For example, you can combine the information from the Help Request and the Employee ID forms (as shown in Figure 4-2) into a join form that displays information from both forms without duplicating employee information in every help request. You can combine a join form with other forms, or you can join a form to itself.
Figure 4-2: How joins work in AR System
New Join form
Help Request form
Employee ID form
For information about creating and using join forms, see Join forms on page 100.
Display-only forms
Display-only forms are not represented in the database, so they do not have any requests and they do not contain the core fields. You can use display-only forms in various ways: Control panels (as shown in Figure 4-3 on page 97)These provide an efficient way to organize and present users with specific tasks or objectives. Dialog boxesThese enable you to reuse specific groups of fields in a variety of ways. For example, you can create an employee information dialog box that contains generic fields (such as name and address) that multiple forms and applications can use. Entry points to other forms that contain dataYou can add an OK or a Continue button to a display-only form to cause an active link to transfer data from the display-only form to the primary form and then submit a request.
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View and Vendor forms

View and vendor forms allow users to access external data sources outside of AR System. These forms can be used to: Execute workflow on creation and modification of data when the changes are performed using the view or vendor form. Execute escalations on external data. Access external data to populate search style character menus or table fields. View forms allow AR System to point to and access data in an existing database table created outside AR System. The table can be located on the same server or in any other database server accessible from the current AR System database server. Vendor forms allow AR System to access arbitrary external data sources through the use of an ARDBC plug-in. ARDBC plug-ins enable AR System to interface with external data sources such as LDAP directory services, legacy systems, spreadsheets, text files, or database tables. A vendor form provides for easy integration with external data, without replicating the data. For information about creating and using view and vendor forms, see the Integration Guide.
Creating and managing forms

Forms are created and defined using the following steps. To make sure that all form components are properly defined, follow the steps in the order listed.
Step 1 Create a form (see Creating and managing forms on page 92). Step 2 Set form properties (see Setting form properties on page 112). Step 3 Plan the layout of a form (see Arranging fields in a form view on page 290). Step 4 Create fields on a form (see Types of fields on page 121). Step 5 Set field properties (see Field properties on page 359). Step 6 Create form views (see Creating form views on page 278).
Creating forms
When planning a form, sketch the layout before you begin creating fields so that you have an idea of the best field location and order. When deciding where to place fields that have menus, text editors, or diary editors associated with them, allow space for the icons that will appear next to the fields. Consider using panels or trim (lines, boxes, or text) to group and label related fields. You can also add color to buttons and text labels. For information about form layout, see Arranging fields in a form view on page 290 and the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
Form names must be unique on each AR System server. Names can contain up to 80 characters (including spaces), but avoid beginning a name with a number. Names can include double-byte characters. When you create forms: Users who are logged in to AR System using a browser or BMC Remedy User will not be able see the new form until you save the form and they log in to their client again. For forms opened in BMC Remedy User, the size of the window from which you save the form is the initial size. (This rule does not apply to forms opened in a browser.)
To create forms
1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 Right-click Forms, and choose New formType.
Depending on the type of form you selected, the following action occurs: For regular forms, an Untitled Regular Form appears with the Core fields as displayed in Figure 4-1 on page 90. For join forms, the New Join Form Wizard opens. To continue, see Creating join forms on page 109. For display-only forms, a blank form opens. To continue, see Display-only forms on page 96. For view and vendor forms, other dialog boxes open. For information about view and vendor forms, see the Integration Guide.
3 Choose File > Save. 4 In the Save Form As dialog box, enter the name of the new form.
NOTE
You should avoid characters in a form name that result in an invalid URL when the form is access using the mid tier. BMC Remedy Developer Studio warns you if you use one of the characters configured in the Form preferences page. By default, the Invalid Characters for Form Name preference is set to /&#%'".?.
5 Click OK.
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Opening forms
The following procedure describes how to open all form types when you want to make changes.
To modify forms
1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 Double-click Forms. 3 In the Forms list, double-click the form name.
The default form view of the selected form opens. For information about default form views, see Setting form view properties on page 283.
4 Click the tab of the form view that you want to modify. 5 Make the necessary changes to the form view.
For information about the types of modifications you can make to a form view, see Modifying form views on page 281.
6 To change the form properties, choose Form > Form Properties, make the changes
in the Form Properties dialog box, and click OK. For more information, see Setting form properties on page 112.
7 Save the form.
The form is available to users at their next login.
Copying forms
When you copy forms, the new form retains all of the fields, views, and properties of the original form. Workflow objects (such as active links, filters, and escalations) associated with a form are not copied.
IMPORTANT
Most system forms (such as User, Group, Server Events, and Server Statistics) contain reserved fields that make these forms unique. Do not copy these forms, or you might introduce unintended access control functionality into your environment.
To copy forms
1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 Double-click Forms. 3 In the Forms list, double-click the form name. 4 Choose File > Save As. 5 In the Save Form As dialog box, enter the new name of the form. 6 Click OK.
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Renaming forms
When you rename a form, all settings are retained, and any workflow that references the form is automatically updated with the new name of the form.
To rename forms in BMC Remedy Developer Studio

1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 Double-click Forms. 3 In the Forms list, right-click the form name, and choose Rename. 4 Enter the new name, and click OK.
NOTE
You should avoid characters in a form name that result in an invalid URL when the form is access using the mid tier. BMC Remedy Developer Studio warns you if you use one of the characters configured in the Form preferences page. By default, the Invalid Characters for Form Name preference is set to /&#%'".?.
Deleting forms
When you delete a form, all associated data and workflow that are not associated with any other forms are deleted. However, if the workflow is shared by multiple forms, that workflow is not deleted until the last form that uses it is also deleted. Menus, applications, and images must be deleted separately because they are independent of forms. If you delete a primary or secondary form of a join, the join form is also deleted.
WARNING
Do not delete the User or Group forms, or you lose the ability to add or modify users and groups. For more information about the Group form, see Creating groups on page 43. For information about the User form, see the Configuration Guide.
To delete forms
1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 Double-click Forms. 3 In the Forms list, right-click the form name, and choose Delete.
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Display-only forms
You can create display-only forms for various purposes. This section provides tips for creating these forms, and examples of how you can use them.
Creating display-only forms

You can create display-only forms that work in New mode and Search mode in a browser and in BMC Remedy User (as shown in Figure 4-3). For general information, see Creating and managing forms on page 92. Be aware of the following issues when you create a display-only form: Unlike regular forms, display-only forms do not have the following form properties: Results list fields Sort Archive Audit Indexes Status history By definition, all fields that you add are display-only.
Using a display-only form as a control panel

A display-only form can be used as a centralized entry point from which users choose the tasks they want to accomplish. This is called a control panel, and it might include tasks from a variety of functional areas such as Help Desks, Employee Services, and Asset Tracking. Users select a functional area from the control panel and fill in data on the form related to the specific task.
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Display-only forms
Figure 4-3: Display-only form used as a control panel
In this figure, the buttons on the display-only form act as entry points to multiple underlying forms.
NOTE
When using a display-only form as a control panel in an application, set the control panel form as the primary form. Consider hiding the Details Pane Banner of control panels so that users are not distracted by banner buttons. For information about how to hide the Details Pane Banner, see Details Pane Banner on page 285.
Using a display-only form as a dialog box

Dialog boxes require user interaction and are useful when you want to: Prompt users for confirmation. Implement a main-detail (or parent-child) relationship between forms where users can edit the main form using a details dialog box. Reuse a form in a variety of ways. Embed a table that lists options from which users can choose. Provide a way for users to edit or view a rarely used set of fields, and thus avoid cluttering the main form. Provide a way for users to view or edit a set of fields that handle complex calculations of multiple components.
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To define a dialog box, use the following active link actions with the Window Type set to Dialog:
Table 4-1: Workflow actions for defining a dialog box Action Open Window Description Sets the Open Window action to open a dialog box from a parent form. This action also defines what data is transferred from the parent form to the dialog box when the dialog box opens, and what data is transferred from the dialog box back to the parent form when the Commit Changes action occursusually when the user clicks an OK button or the dialog box closes. Commit Changes Changes the fields in the parent form to the values that the user specifies in the dialog box. The data from the dialog box is written to the parent form based on the mapping you created for the On Close mode in the Field Mapping region when setting the Open Window active link action. Changes are usually committed with the OK button on the dialog box. You might also want to create an Apply button that commits changes without closing the dialog box. Close Window Closes the active dialog box. The Close Window action usually occurs immediately after the Commit Changes action or as the active link action associated with Cancel occurs. For information about active links, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
Creating dialog boxes

The following procedure provides a general overview for creating an application that uses dialog boxes. In this example, a button named Enter Serial Number is created on the parent form. When the user clicks this button, a confirmation dialog box (display-only form) appears to allow the user to enter a serial number and click OK. An active link returns the value to the parent form. For more information about active links, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
To create a simple dialog box

1 On the parent form, create a button named Enter Serial Number from which you
want to open the dialog box, and save the parent form. For more information about buttons, see Button fields on page 138.
2 Create a display-only form with the following fields:
A character field representing the entry field For example, if the user must enter the serial number of a product, create a field labeled Serial Number.
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Display-only forms
An OK button A Cancel button You can add additional fields to a dialog box, but they will be display-only fields.
3 Create an active link that will launch the display-only form (dialog box). a In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. b Right-click Active Links, and choose New Active Link. c On the Associated Forms panel, click Add, and add the parent form that contains
the Enter Serial Number button, which will open the display-only form.
d On the Execution Options panel, in the Button/Menu Field field, enter the name
of the button.
e Right-click the If Actions panel heading, and choose Add Action > Open
Window.
f On the Open Window sub-panel, complete the following fields as follows: In this field: Window Type Data Source Server Name Form Name View Name Enter: Dialog SERVER (The name of server that contains the displayonly form) (The name of the display-only form) (The name of view for display-only form)
g If you want the field to be automatically populated when the display-only form
opens, enter the fields name in the Field column, and enter a value in the Value column in the On Dialog Open Action area.
h Under On Dialog Close Action, enter the field from the parent form that you
want populated from the display-only forms Serial Number field.

i Click the Value pane at the selection point, enter the field whose value you want
transferred to the parent form when the display-only form closes. In this example, the field is Serial Number.
j Save the active link. 4 Create an active link that executes when the user clicks the OK button on the dialog
box. Creating this workflow transfers information from the Serial Number field on the dialog box to a field on the parent form.
a Create a new active link. b On the Associated Forms panel, click Add, and add the display-only form
(dialog box).
c On the Execution Options panel, in the Button/Menu Field field, enter the name
of the button that users will click to confirm their entry in the display-only form. In this example, the button name is OK.
d Right-click the If Actions panel heading, and choose Add Action > Commit
Changes. The Commit Changes subpanel appears under the If Actions panel.
e Right-click the If Actions panel heading, and choose Add Action > Close
Window.
f On the Close Window subpanel, from the State list, select Close Current. g Save the active link. 5 Create an active link that executes when the user clicks Cancel. This action simply
closes the dialog box without returning any values.

a Create a new active link. b On the Associated Forms panel, click Add, and add the display-only form
(dialog box).
c On the Execution Options panel, in the Button/Menu Field field, enter the name
of the button that users will click to confirm their entry in the display-only form. In this example, the button name is Cancel.
d Right-click the If Actions panel heading, and choose Add Action > Close
Window. The Close Window subpanel appears under the If Actions panel.
e From the State list, select Close Current. f Save the active link. 6 Set the correct permissions for the forms and active links so that your users can
operate them successfully. For information about permissions, see Chapter 1, Defining access control. For additional examples of using buttons that open dialog boxes, open the Sample:ClassCentral form that is installed with AR System, and click the Enroll tab.
Join forms
Join forms are composite forms that consist of fields derived from other existing forms. A join form can be useful in the following situations: When you need to produce reports from data that exists in more than one form. When data is stored in multiple forms and you want to display the data in a single form. To eliminate the need to enter the same data into multiple forms. This section helps you understand more about join forms.
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Understanding join forms

A join form in AR System is similar to joining tables in a relational database. A join form uses searches to combine fields from two forms based on join criteria (see the Join criteria section that follows). The data in a join form comes from the database tables of the forms that make up the join form. After the join form is created, it behaves similarly to non-join forms. Users can submit data for creation or modification, report from it, select entries from it, use it in workflow requests, define workflow on it, and so on. From the users perspective, there is no difference between join and non-join forms. You can use a join form as a member of another join form. For more information, see Joining three or more forms on page 104.
Primary and secondary forms in the join form

When creating join forms, you designate one of the underlying forms as the primary form and the other as the secondary form. Primary forms are used when determining which extra entries are included in outer join forms (see Inner and outer joins on page 103) and the execution order in workflow (see Filters and join forms on page 107). You cannot create a join form using a display-only form, view form, or vendor form.
Join criteria
Join criteria define the link between the two underlying forms. Join criteria are values common to the forms that you want to join. For example, if a help desk form and an employee record form both have an employee ID field, the two can be joined by the equality relationship between them, as shown in Figure 4-4 on page 102. In database terms, this is an equal join.
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Figure 4-4: Join criteria in AR System

Join form
Help Desk.Employee ID = Employee Record.Employee ID (your join criteria)
Help Desk form
Employee Record form
NOTE
Try to use indexed fields in the join criteria. A join, like any other query of the database, should be optimized for best performance results. For information about indexing fields, see Defining indexes on page 118.
Including fields in the join form

You choose the fields from the primary and secondary forms that will be part of the join form. If you choose two fields that have the same field ID, the system provides a new mapped field ID for one of the fields because duplicate field IDs are not allowed in a form. The new field ID is mapped to the actual field ID in the underlying form when operations are performed.
NOTE
In a join form, BMC Remedy Developer Studio tries to preserve the name and field ID of fields from the primary form. You can change the display properties for fields in a join form and set permissions for the join form itself. After creating a join form, you can add display-only fields to the form. For information, see Chapter 5, Types of fields.
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Join forms
Inner and outer joins

You can create two types of join forms: Inner joinSelects entries (or rows) only when corresponding values exist in both forms. For example, use an inner join if you want to retrieve only the entries from one form that have matching entries in another form. If there is an entry in one of the forms without a corresponding entry in the other form, the data is omitted. Outer joinIncludes all of the entries from the form that you select as primary, even entries for which there are no matching entries in the secondary form. For example, to see all submitted help requests, including those that have no specific employee information connected with them, create an outer join.
NOTE
An outer join in AR System is what relational database administrators call a left outer join. Selecting the left (or primary) form includes all of the entries associated with that form. Figure 4-5 illustrates the concept of inner joins. The Library Catalog form is the primary form. The Customer Checkout form is the secondary form. The join criteria is the ISBN (International Standard Book Number). Because an inner join creates a form that contains only the entries in which the join criteria exists in both the primary and secondary forms, the join form produces a report that shows only the titles that are actually checked out.
Figure 4-5: Example of an inner join
Primary form
Library Catalog Form
Secondary form
Customer Checkout Form
Title A B C D E F
ISBN 1 2 3 4 5 6
ISBN 1 2 4 6
Customer ID 200 201 203 267
ISBN is join criteria
Resulting inner join

Library Catalog Join
Because an inner join contains only the entries in which the join criteria is present in both forms, ISBN items 3 and 5 (which are not in the secondary form) are omitted from the join form.
ISBN 1 2 4 6
Title A B D F
Customer ID 200 201 203 267
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If the library had produced the same report using an outer join, it would be a comprehensive listing of all the catalog items in the library, regardless of whether they had corresponding entries in the other form. The Figure 4-6 shows an example of an outer join.
Figure 4-6: Example of an outer join
Primary form
Secondary form
Customer Checkout Form
ISBN 1 2 3 4 5 6
Title A B C D E F
ISBN 1 2 4 6
Customer ID 200 201 203 267
ISBN is join criteria
Resulting outer join

An outer join contains all of the entries from the primary form even if there is no corresponding join criteria in the secondary form.
ISBN 1 2 3 4 5 6
Title A B C D E F
Customer ID 200 201 203 267
When determining whether to create an inner join or an outer join, one approach is to base your choice on how much data you want to see. Inner joins are more useful for ad hoc queries and selection lists, while outer joins are more useful for special reports that are comprehensive by nature.
Joining three or more forms

To join three forms, you must first join two forms and then join the resulting form to the third, creating a hierarchy of joins. Joining multiple forms in a hierarchical order makes it easier to provide a consistent workflow. If you need to combine data from three or more forms, you can do so by creating a series of two-way joins. As shown in the Figure 4-7, you can join two regular forms, a regular form to a join form, or two join forms.
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Figure 4-7: Joining several forms

Layer 1
Form A
Form B
Form C
Form D
Form E
Layer 2
Join Form F
Join Form G
Layer 3
Join Form H
Layer 4
Join Form I
Add only as many join layers as you need, and make sure that your join criteria is efficient. The practical upper limit for combining forms is about six layers. This is because each join form is created by querying the databasewhich ultimately affects system performance. In addition, the workflow attached to each form in multiple layers of joins can also severely impact performance.
Self-join forms
You can join a form to itself. This is also known as a Cartesian Join. This functionality is useful when comparing data from the same form or when preparing reports. Suppose that you want a report of all of the managers, the managers phone numbers, the employees they supervise, and the employees phone numbers. Assume also that the employees and managers both exist in this form. In this example, DemoHD:Staff is the primary (designated as A) and the secondary form (designated as B), and it has the data shown in the following table.
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Figure 4-8: Self-join example 1

Request ID 001 002 003 004 005 006 Employee ID 111 222 333 444 555 666 Employee Name Bob Steve John Sue Doug Nancy Employee Phone Number 111-1111 222-2222 333-3333 444-4444 555-5555 666-6666 Manager ID 555 555 555 666 666 NULL
If you join the form to itself and specify A.Employee ID = B.Manager ID as the join criteria, you can then add and rename the following fields in the resulting join form: A.Employee Name (from the primary form) renamed to Manager. A.Employee Phone Number (from the primary form) renamed to Manager Phone Number. B.Employee Name (from the secondary form) renamed to Employee. B.Employee Phone Number (from the primary form) renamed to Employee Phone Number. The join form with four fields (or five if you include the composite request ID) contains the following results from an unqualified search.
Figure 4-9: Self-join example 2
Composite Request ID 005|001 005|002 005|003 006|004 006|005 Manager Doug Doug Doug Nancy Nancy Manager Phone Number 555-5555 555-5555 555-5555 666-6666 666-6666 Employee Name Bob Steve John Sue Doug Employee Phone Number 111-1111 222-2222 333-3333 444-4444 555-5555
You can include phone numbers for each manager and employee in one entry, even though they come from the same column in the same table. The self-join logically joins two separate forms that contain identical information. Self-join forms are useful for certain parent-child relationships. In the previous example, the manager-employee relationship is a type of parent-child relationship in which child entries (the employees) belong to a parent entry (the manager).
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Using join forms in workflow

When you use join forms in workflow, all of the typical execution conditions that apply to objects in non-join forms also apply. To enable the data entry functionality of a join form, data created or updated for a particular field must be associated with the appropriate database. The administrator must create workflow that defines how data should be pushed into the database when entered through join forms.
Filters and join forms

Filters are used to enforce the integrity of the system. When you use filters with join forms, the filters for the join form execute first, and then the filters for the underlying forms execute. The Figure 4-10 illustrates the execution order of the join forms and their primary and secondary forms.
Figure 4-10: Execution order of filters with join forms
Join Form I
Join Form H
Join Form F
Join Form G
Form A
Form B
Form C
Form D
Form E
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As you go down the execution order of the filters, all of the forms on the left side (the primary forms) execute first, and then forms on the right side (the secondary forms) execute. For information, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
Transaction control in database operations

All of the operations performed on join forms, such as querying, displaying, and workflow operations, are executed as a single database transaction. For example, if you update data in one form that affects the data in multiple forms, all of the changes are performed as a single transaction in the database. This process ensures the integrity of the information. The completion of the database transaction for a hierarchy of forms is all or none. For example, in Figure 4-7 on page 105, if a filter returns an error on form I, none of the updates for the other forms is written to the database.
The Request ID field

The AR System tracks the entries in the underlying forms that comprise a join form through the request ID of each entry. When you look at the Request ID field in a join form entry, you see that the field contains the Request ID of each underlying entry separated by a vertical bar. For this reason, if you create a join form from a non-join form and a join form (see join form H in Figure 4-7 on page 105), the join forms Request ID field contains three request IDs separated by vertical bars. The default permissions of the Request ID field in a join form are defined as Visible for the Assignee, Public, and Submitter groups. (For all other fields, the permissions are inherited from the underlying forms and cannot be changed.) However, you can remove the Public permissions of the Request ID field to make row-level security work in AR System. For information, see Controlling access by using implicit groupsRow-level security on page 34.
Creating entries in join forms

When creating entries through a join, AR System does not actually initiate a database operation. Because creating an entry in a join is not a determinate action, the system cannot automatically perform it. However, all filter operations defined for a join are performed, which requires you to define workflow that appropriately creates or modifies entries in the primary and secondary forms. For example, if you create a join between a customer and an item purchased, creating an entry through the join can be defined through workflow. With push fields filter actions, the workflow can create an entry for an item purchased or an entry for a customer.
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Creating join forms

The following procedure guides you through the process of creating a join form.
To create a join between forms

1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 Right-click Forms, and choose New Join Form.
The New Join Form wizard appears.

Figure 4-11: Choosing forms and join types
3 Select a primary form, and click Next. 4 Select a secondary form, and click Next. 5 In the Join Properties screen, select the options you want for your join form:
Join Type InnerSelects entries (or rows) only when corresponding values exist in both forms. OuterIncludes all of the entries from the form that you select as primary, even entries for which no matching entries are in the secondary form.
Field Positioning HorizontalArranges the fields of the primary form on the left side of secondary form fields. Vertical (the default)Arranges the fields of the primary form above the fields of the secondary form. Inheritance Inherit Help Text for All FieldsTakes the help text from the fields in both forms and uses it in the join form. Inherit Help Text for Selected FormsTakes the help text from fields in the forms you select and uses it in the join form.
6 Enter a qualification in the Join Criteria section.
To use the Expression Editor to build the qualification, click the ellipsis button. For example, the following qualification join forms from requests with the same part numbers, you might use the following qualification:
$Part Number$ = 'Part Number'
Use dollar signs ($) around field names from the primary form, and use single quotation marks ( ' ) around field names from the secondary form.
NOTE
For optimal performance, use indexed fields in the join criteria. For information about indexing fields, see Defining indexes on page 118.
7 Click Next. 8 On the Primary Form Field Selection screen, move the fields you want included in
the join form from Available Fields column to Selected Fields column.
NOTE
You can join fields only if they have Input Length of 4000 or less.
9 Click Next. 10 On the Secondary Form Field Selection screen, move the fields you want included
in the join form from Available Fields column to Selected Fields column.
11 Click Finish.
The new join form appears.

12 Arrange the fields as you want them to appear in the join form. For example:
Add trim, buttons, panel fields, or table fields. Create views for the join form. For information about fields in join forms, see Working with fields in join forms on page 186. For information about arranging fields on a form, see Arranging fields in a form view on page 290.
13 Save the form. 110 Form and Application Objects Guide
Join forms
Modifying join form properties

After you create a join form, you can modify properties that determine the characteristics of how that join form looks and performs during operations performed in a browser or BMC Remedy User. The Join Information page in the Form Properties dialog box of BMC Remedy Developer Studio allows you to modify options specific to join forms.
Figure 4-12: Form Properties dialog boxJoin Information page
You can swap which form is primary and which is secondary. You can also change the type of joininner or outer. Depending on whether you are working with an inner join or outer join, swapping forms can result in completely different criteria. For example, if the primary form (A) has three fields (1, 2, 3) and the secondary form (B) has three fields (3, 4, 5), an inner join retrieves the field that the two forms have in common (field 3), and an outer join retrieves this field and the remaining primary form fields, that is, fields 1, 2, and 3. If you swap forms so that form B becomes the primary form and form A becomes the secondary form, an inner join yields the same results (field 3), but an outer join now retrieves the fields 3, 4, and 5. For more information about inner and outer joins, see Inner and outer joins on page 103. In the large field under the Join Type field, you can modify the join criteria qualification.
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Setting form properties

For each form, you can define properties that determine how that form looks and performs during operations performed in a web browser or in BMC Remedy User. The pages that appear on the Form Properties dialog box vary depending on the type of form (regular, join, and so on) you are modifying. The available pages are as follows:
Table 4-2: Pages on Form Properties dialog box (Sheet 1 of 2) Page name Basic Entry Points Description Defines settings for next ID block size, cache, and status history. Defines the order in which entry points appear in a Application List field and the mode (New or Search) in which the form will open. For more information, see: Defining next ID block size, cache, and status history on page 114 Creating form entry points on page 307
Results List Fields
Defines the forms fields that appear when Defining search results on page 115 a user performs a Search operation in a web browser or BMC Remedy User. Defines the order in which requests appear Setting up sort order on page 117 in the matching table list when clicking the Search button on a form in a web browser or BMC Remedy User. Defines the settings for periodically backing up or deleting form data. Defines form indexes to reduce the database search time for frequently searched fields. Defines the primary and secondary forms of a join form, the join type, and a qualification. Defines form indexes to reduce the database search time for frequently searched fields. Appendix E, Archiving data Appendix F, Audit
Sort
Archive Audit
Join Information
Modifying join form properties on page 111 Defining indexes on page 118
Indexes
Vendor Information
For vendor forms only, defines the vendor The Integration Guide and table names used to create the form. If you modify these fields and specify a vendor name that is not associated with a valid ARDBC plug-in or a table name that the plug-in does not support, you receive errors when you try to access data from the vendor form. For view forms only, displays the names of The Integration Guide the table and key field used to create the form. You cannot edit these fields. Defines the access control groups that can Form, active link guide, and application access the form. permissions on page 26
View Information
Permissions
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Table 4-2: Pages on Form Properties dialog box (Sheet 2 of 2) Page name Subadministrator Permissions Change History Description For more information, see:
Defines the access control groups that have Form, active link guide, and application subadministrator permissions for the form. permissions on page 26 Defines the owner of a form, the user who The Introduction to Application last modified it, the date and time of the Development with BMC Remedy modification, and a description of the Developer Studio changes. Defines the help text for the form. This help The Introduction to Application text should describe the form, what it does, Development with BMC Remedy and how to use it. Developer Studio BMC Remedy User users can view this help text in the prompt bar (if visible) or in a list by choosing Whats This? help. Web browser users can view help by clicking the Help button, if a Help form action field is added to the form.
Help Text
Form properties apply to all form views associated with that form. To set properties for a specific form view, select the tab of the form view, click in an empty area on the form, and edit the forms view properties under Properties. For more information about setting view-specific properties, see Setting form view properties on page 283.
To define form properties

1 Open the form. 2 Choose Form > Form Properties. 3 In the Form Properties dialog box, modify the properties.
Select the names on the left to move through the pages in the Form Properties dialog box. The form type you are modifying determines which pages appear.
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Figure 4-13: Form Properties dialog box
4 Click OK. 5 Save the form.
Defining next ID block size, cache, and status history

On the Basic page of the Form Properties dialog box, you can: Define the number of next request IDs that are allocated at once for a form. This improves server performance. To set a default for a server, see of the section on the Server Information Configuration tab in the Configuration Guide and the performance section of the Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide. Override server view and field display property caching for a form. This improves server performance. To set the server default, see the section on the Server Information Configuration tab in the Configuration Guide. Disable the server maintenance of status history for a form. When the check box is selected, the server clears the history and does not update it when the status changes. BMC Remedy User and the mid tier show no status history for a form when it is disabled. When the Disable Status History check box is cleared, the server starts to record and return status history for the form. When status history is enabled, BMC Remedy User and the mid tier show the status history for the form starting from when it was enabled.
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To define the next ID block size, cache, and status history

1 Open the form with which you want to work. 2 Choose Form > Form Properties. 3 In the Form Properties dialog box, select the Basic page. 4 To define the next ID block size: a Select Enable Next Request ID Block Size to make the Next Request ID Block
Size field available.

b In the Next Request ID Block Size field, enter a value between 1 and 1000
inclusive.
WARNING
The use of this configuration setting might result in unpredictably large request ID sequence gaps. The likelihood of this occurring increases with the use of multiple servers that share a database. The AR System server does not malfunction due to this gap, so it should not be considered a defect.
5 To disable server view and field display property caching for this form: a Select the Override Server Default Display Property Cache Settings. b To disable caching of view display properties, select Disable VUI Display
Property Caching.
c To disable caching of field display properties, select Disable Field Display
Property Caching.
6 To disable the server maintenance of status history, select Disable Status History. 7 Click OK, and save the form.
Defining search results

Use the Results List Fields page to customize which fields appear in the results pane when a user performs a search operation in a web browser or BMC Remedy User. If you do not define a results list for a form, the default is to display the contents of the Short Description field only. If you add any other field to the results list, the Short Description field is no longer automatically included and is not part of the results list unless you add it. If you include an attachment field, the results list displays the attachment file name. You can include fields that are greater than 255 characters, but only 128 characters appear in the column.
NOTE
Even though 128 characters or fewer are displayed, all of the fields data is returned to the client, possibly causing a performance issue.
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In addition to the Results List, this configuration controls the appearance of the selection list that can be displayed when the match criteria of a Set Fields active link action matches multiple requests. The separator is used in the selection list for BMC Remedy User. The width is used in a web browser and BMC Remedy User. The settings in the Results List Fields page specify the default set of fields returned for API programs that do not override the fields returned.
To define fields returned in a search

1 Open the form with which you want to work. 2 Choose Form > Form Properties. 3 In the Form Properties dialog box, select the Results List Fields page. Figure 4-14: Form Properties dialog boxResults List Fields page
4 To add fields to the table, click Add and complete the Field Selector dialog box for
each field. Only fields of the following types appear in the Field Selector dialog box: character, date/time, date, time, currency, integer, real, decimal, drop-down list, radiobutton, check box, and attachment. If you purchased the full text search option, you can select the WEIGHT field to display the weighted value of retrieved requests when you perform a search in a browser or BMC Remedy User. See the Configuration Guide for more information about full text search.
5 (Optional) For forms whose search results will be viewed using a pre-6.0 version
of BMC Remedy User or the mid tier, enter a character or string in the Separator column to separate each field from the next field in the results list.
The separator is not shown in the search results by 6.0 and later versions of BMC Remedy User and the mid tier, but it does appear in the request selection list that all versions of BMC Remedy User display when a Set Fields action matches multiple requests. If you do not enter a separator, a single space character is used. To include special characters, use the codes shown:
Character Backspace Return Tab Backslash Enter \b \n \t \\
ASCII character \nnn (where nnn is the decimal code for the ASCII character that you want to use) 6 In the Width column for each field, enter a number (1128) to set its initial width
in the results list. For example, if you set a width of 20, approximately the first 20 characters of the field value appear initially in the list.
7 To remove fields or to change the order of the fields, select a field, and click the
Remove, Up, and Down buttons.

8 Click OK.
To set the color of requests that appear in the results list, see To define form view properties on page 283.
Setting up sort order

Use the Sort page to define the order in which requests appear in the matching results list when clicking the Search button in a browser or BMC Remedy User.
To set up the sort order for the results list pane

1 Open the form with which you want to work. 2 Choose Form > Form Properties. 3 In the Form Properties dialog box, select the Sort page.
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Figure 4-15: Forms Properties dialog boxSort page
4 To add fields to the Sorted Fields list, click Add and complete the Field Selector
dialog box for each field you want to add.

5 To remove a field, select it, and click Remove.
To remove all of the fields, click Remove All.

6 To change the order of the fields in the Sorted Fields list, select a field, and use the
Up and Down buttons.

7 As needed, change the Sort Order value for the fields in Sorted Fields list.
Click in the table cell, and choose Ascending or Descending from the list.
8 Click OK.
Defining indexes
Indexing can greatly reduce database search time. Indexes can be defined for data fields on regular forms. You cannot create indexes for other form types because: Join forms use the indexing defined for the forms from which they are constructed. Display-only forms have no database table, so they need no indexing. View and vendor forms are owned outside of AR System, so any indexing they support must be managed outside of AR System.
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The Request ID field is already indexed, so you need not build a separate index for this field. Good candidates for indexing include fields that users search on frequently. If you define an index for a character field, you might save search time by using a QBE Match setting of Leading or Equal, not by using a QBE Match setting of Anywhere. For information, see QBE Match on page 383. If you are creating or modifying indexes in a form for which a large amount of data exists, this process can take a significant amount of time and disk space because the index must be built or rebuilt. Therefore, avoid defining indexes during normal production hours. More time is required to modify a form (for example, adding new fields) when indexes have been defined for the form. The greater the number of indexes defined for the form, the more time and disk space is required. Submit and modify operations in a browser and in BMC Remedy User also take longer on forms with many indexes. For more information about maximizing index performance, see the Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide.
To define indexes for a form

1 Open the form with which you want to work. 2 Choose Form > Form Properties. 3 In the Form Properties dialog box, select the Indexes page. Figure 4-16: Form Properties dialog boxIndexes page
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4 To add an index: a Click New.
An index is added to the Index List.

b Select the new index. c To add fields to the index, click Add and complete the Field Selector dialog box
for each field. You can combine multiple fields into a composite index. You can enter as many as 16 fields. Add the fields in the order you want them indexed, or use the Up and Down buttons to put them in the correct order. Each indexed field must be less than or equal to 255 character, but the composite Index can have a total length greater than 255.
d Use the Remove and Remove All buttons to remove fields form the index.
NOTE
AR System does not verify if the size violates the databases rules, but a database error is returned if the size is too large.
5 To remove an index from the database, select the index, and click Delete. 6 Click OK.
For more information about performance issues and tuning in AR System, especially analyzing forms for performance, see the Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide.
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Types of fields
Fields are objects that enable you to control how information is captured and displayed on a form. Fields have properties that determine their structure within AR System. The following topics are provided: Data fields (page 122) Table fields (page 131) Attachment pools (page 131) View fields (page 134) Data visualization fields (page 135) Application list fields (page 135) Navigation fields (page 136) Button fields (page 138) Panel fields (page 138) Trim fields (page 143) For an alphabetical list of field properties, see Appendix D, Field properties. For information about adding fields to forms, see Chapter 6, Creating and managing fields.
Chapter 5 Types of fields
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Data fields
Data fields contain data and can be any one of the following data types: Character Diary Date/Time Date Time Currency Integer Real Decimal Selection (drop-down, radio, check box)
The following sections describe these types of fields. To learn how to add them to forms, see Chapter 6, Creating and managing fields.
Character fields
Character fields are useful when there is significant variation in the field contents or length of the content; for example, descriptive text, names of people, addresses, and keywords. You can attach a menu or a file system browser to character fields or fill them with default text. Depending on the Input Length of a character field and the database, a character field is created either a s a varchar or a clob database table column. If the Input Length exceeds the maximum for varchar a given Table 5-1, a clob is used.
Table 5-1: Maximum varchar size Database IBM DB2 Informix MS SQL Server Oracle
Maximum Input Length for varchar 3999 255 7999 3999 255
Sybase
If the AR System server uses an Oracle database, you can set the default storage of CLOB (character large object) data using the Store CLOB In-Row field of the AR System Administration: Server Information form Database tab. See the Configuration Guide. For AR System 7.5.00 and later, you can control the storage of CLOB data for individual character fields using the CLOB Storage field property. See CLOB Storage on page 362.
NOTE
To include a tab in the text that entered into a character field, the user must press Ctrl+Tab.
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Diary fields
Diary fields capture the history of a request over time. Whenever users enter comments in the diary field, the new entry is appended to the previous diary entries. Every diary entry is stamped by the AR System server with a time and a user name. After they are saved, diary entries cannot be modified. By default, AR System inserts a diary expand button to the right of each diary field. Users can click the button to open a Diary Editor dialog box. When the diary field contains entries, the icon changes from a blank book to an image of a book containing text. A diary field displays whole words only. To see the text beyond the words displayed in the field, open the Diary Editor dialog box.
NOTE
To include a tab in the text that entered into a character fields dialog box, the user must press Ctrl+Tab. The default maximum size limit of data contained in diary fields varies per database: For Sybase/MSSQL and Informix databases, 2 GB For DB2 databases, 10 MB For Oracle databases, 4 GB
NOTE
Use the ar.conf or ar.cfg files to configure a different maximum limit for Oracle and SQL Server databases by using the Db-Max-Text-Size configuration option. For more information about the AR System configuration files, see the Configuration Guide. To search a diary field when using Oracle, you must configure ar.conf or ar.cfg to allow searching on CLOB data types. See the Configuration Guide. Consider the effect of searching on system performance. You might want to use FTS to create a search index for diary fields. Note that you cannot search for the time stamp or the name of the user who submitted an entry. You cannot use the Indexes form property to create an index for a diary field. However, if you are licensed for full text search, you can use the Index For FTS field property described on page 371 to create a search index for the field. For more information about FTS, see the Configuration Guide.
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Date and time fields

There are three types of date and time fields: Date/TimeStores calendar dates and time together. You can set the Display Type property to Just Date or Just Time so that users see only the date or time. AR System stores date/time values as the integer number of seconds since 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970. Dates from January 1, 1970, through January 18, 2038, GMT are valid in date/time fields. If users enter only a time, the current date is assumed. If users enter only a date, the time defaults to 12:00:00 A.M. DateStores date information only as the number of days from the beginning of its range. Use a Date field to compare two dates or to perform calculations based on the date, such as calculating the number of days between two dates. Users can enter dates from January 1, 4713 B.C.E., to January 1, 9999 C.E. TimeStores time information only as the number of seconds from 12:00:00 A.M. Use a time field to compare two times or to perform calculations based on time, such as the number of elapsed seconds. The value in a time field is independent of the time zone. While a date/time field adjusts the displayed value to reflect the users time zone, the time value in a time field remains unchanged when displayed on the client.
WARNING
Because values stored in date/time, date, and time fields are not equivalent, setting, pushing, or merging values among these fields might produce unexpected results. The format for these fields matches the locale specified in the user preferences. If no user preference for locale exists, user environment settings are used (for example, Regional Settings Properties in the Windows Control Panel). For more information about how date and time settings are determined in AR System, see the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio. For information about workflow considerations for date/time, date, and time fields, see information about keywords and assigning values using function results in the Workflow Objects Guide.
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Currency fields
A currency field stores the following data: A user-entered decimal value Decimal values are displayed according to the users locale. For example, on German systems, thousands are separated by periods. If users do not include a decimal point, the system automatically adds it when the field data is saved. The system also adds zeros after the decimal point based on the precision setting in the fields properties. A currency code, such as EUR (Euro) or USD (US dollar) The codes are usually consistent with ISO 4217. You can override the codes with localized labels (see Localizing currency codes on page 456). A currency code can be entered into the field in any of the following ways: At runtime, a user can enter the code into the field or choose the code from the menu attached to the field. Users can specify a preferred initial currency type in BMC Remedy User (Tools > Options > Locale tab) or in the AR System User Preference form (Locale tab). When a user opens a new request, the code for the user-preferred currency appears in the currency field unless the codes currency type is not one of the fields allowable currencies (see Allowable and functional currencies on page 129). This user preference overrides the Initial Currency Type field property, but the Default Value field property overrides both the user preference and the Initial Currency Type. Developers can specify an initial currency code in a currency fields Initial Currency Type or Default Value properties. The default value overrides the initial currency type. If users do not specify a code, the system adds the code of the primary allowable currency when the request is saved. See Creating currency fields on page 160. One or more functional currency values Generated when users save the data that they entered in the currency field. See Allowable and functional currencies on page 129. Date on which the functional currency values were generated After entering data into a currency field and saving the request, users can view the fields functional currency values by clicking the expand button next to the currency field, as shown in Figure 5-1.
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Figure 5-1: Viewing functional currencies
In table fields, when users sort on a column that represents a currency field, records are grouped by currency type and then sorted within each group. This allows meaningful comparisons among currencies of the same type. To learn how to add currency fields to forms, see Creating currency fields on page 150.
Allowable and functional currencies

For each currency field, you specify allowable and functional currencies: Allowable currencies are the types of currencies that users can enter in a currency field. Codes for allowable currencies appear in a menu attached to the field. For each currency field, application developers can specify a primary allowable currency to use when users do not specify a currency code. If the developer does not specify a primary currency, the system uses a default. Functional currencies are the currencies into which the user-entered currency is converted when users save a request. For example, if a user enters 7.00 USD and the fields functional currencies are EUR and JPY, 7.00 USD is converted into the corresponding EUR and JPY values (see Currency exchange ratios on page 126). Applications can use these preconverted values, which are stored with the field, to search, report, and run qualifications without spending additional processing time to convert the user-entered value at runtime. For more information about allowable and functional currencies, see Creating currency fields on page 150.
Currency exchange ratios

To convert allowable currency values into functional currency values, AR System uses currency exchange ratios that you specify in the AR System Currency Ratios form. See Creating currency exchange ratios on page 153.
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Data fields
Keeping currency exchange ratios up to date

To keep your currency exchange ratios up to date, add or modify records in the AR System Currency Ratios form as currency exchange rates change. During currency conversions, AR System uses the value in the Conversion Date field. AR System does not automatically update records in the AR System Currency Ratios form. However, you can use AR System to design your own update mechanism. For example: Create a web service that consumes a currency conversion web service. Use an ARDBC plug-in that interfaces with a rate service. Create an escalation that submits new values. You can specify the interval at which clients query the server for the latest currency exchange ratios. See To set the currency exchange ratio refresh interval on page 153.
Setting currency field information

Set currency field information in these locations:
Table 5-2: Locations for currency information Currency information Default allowable and functional currencies Where to set Currency Types tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form. See the Configuration Guide. The defaults appear in the Currency Types property dialog box of all new currency fields. Individual field currencies Localized currency labels BMC Remedy Developer Studio. See Creating currency fields on page 150. AR System Currency Label Catalog form. See Localizing currency codes on page 456.
Workflow considerations
You can use currency fields in active link, filter, and escalation actions. Currency fields behave like other fields in workflow actions, with these exceptions: The Change Field active link action cannot access the currency code menu attached to the field. The Set Fields and Push Fields actions allow only the overall value of the field to be set. You can use the overall value or any portion of the value (such as the date) as a data source. Currency fields have four functions: CURRCONVERT, CURRSETDATE, CURRSETTYPE, and CURRSETVALUE. For more information, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
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Because the currency field is a complex type, it has special rules for conversion to and from other data types.
Table 5-3: Conversion from currency Target data type Character or Diary Decimal, Real, or Integer Selection Data conversion rule The decimal value, with the currency code to the right. The decimal value only, dropping the fraction as necessary. The decimal value converts to an integer value.
Date/Time, Date, or Time The decimal value converts to a long date value.
Table 5-4: Conversion to currency Source data type Character or Diary Data conversion rule Parses the string to get a number and symbol. If the currency code is valid, the following rules are applied: If the currency code represents one of the allowable currencies for the field, the currency value and code are used as is. For example, if 100 USD is entered, the data is converted to 100.00 USD. If the currency code does not represent one of the allowable currencies for the field: If a currency ratio exists between the currency code and the primary allowable currency for the field, the value is converted to the primary allowable currency. If no ratio exists between the currency code and the primary allowable currency, the data is set to NULL. If the currency code is invalid, the data is set to NULL. Decimal, Real, or Integer Converts the numeric value to Decimal, and then appends the primary allowable currency code.
Date/Time, Date, or Time Converts the numeric value of the time stamp to Decimal, and then appends the primary allowable currency code. Selection Converts the numeric value to Decimal, and then appends the primary allowable currency code.
Field name considerations

When the ODBC driver accesses a currency fieldfor example, when you run a reportit generates four or more column names for the field by adding these suffixes to the field name:
_Date _Type _Value _functionalCurrencyCode
The driver creates one column for each functional currency defined for the field.
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Data fields
If the form contains a field with a name that is the same as one of the generated names, the ODBC driver reports Cannot define field more than once and fails to get the data. To prevent this problem, do not use field names that conflict with the column names generated by the ODBC driver for currency fields.
Integer fields
Integer fields accept integer values between 2147483647 and 2147483647. You can use integer fields to process statistical information in reports.
Real fields
Real fields accept and contain floating-point numbers, which are useful for displaying very small and very large numbers. You can use real fields to process statistical information in reports. For real fields, the representation in the database keeps a maximum of ten digits of data. After ten digits, the number is rounded, and the succeeding digits are ignored. For example, if 12345.090009 is entered, the value after a submit is 12345.090010. But if 1234567.090099 is entered, the value after a submit is 1234567.090000. The last three digits are ignored because the rounded answer comes after the tenth position.
Decimal fields
Decimal fields accept and contain fixed-point decimal numbers. Real fields and decimal fields differ in the following ways: Real numbers are inherently defined to be approximations, and decimal numbers are defined to be exact. Decimal numbers can have greater precision. The administrator has control over the fractional portion in a decimal field. The total number of values in a decimal field can be as many as 28 places long. This number includes the decimal places (up to 9) that you define in the Precision field. You can control the precision of the number by defining where the decimal point is placed. Decimal fields appear right-justified. Decimal, digit grouping, and negative sign symbols are based on the users locale settings, which are found in the Regional Settings Properties window. You can use decimal fields to process statistical information in reports.
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Selection fields
Selection fields provide users a small number of choices. Selection fields are displayed as one of these types: Drop-Down ListUsers can select from a list of items. Radio ButtonUsers can select from a visible set of items. Check BoxUsers can select only one item. Users cannot enter values that are not in the selection field. (This is one difference between selection fields and character fields with menus.) Data for a selection field is stored in the database as an integer that relates to the order of the selection items. AR System can automatically generate item IDs, or you can create a custom ID for each item. If you create the IDs, gaps can exist between the ID numbers, enabling you to insert new IDs later. For example, you might create these IDs:
Table 5-5: Example IDs Selection item Open In Development In QA Closed Custom ID 10 20 35 39
At a later time, you can add a selection item and ID, such as Pending and 15, which is placed between Open and In Development. If AR System numbers the IDs for you, do not change the order of existing selection items, or the meaning of data previously entered in the database is changed. For example, in a Status field, if the original items are New, Assigned, and Closed and you add an item labeled Fixed before the Closed item, existing database entries with a status of Closed change to a status of Fixed. If you must add an item to a selection field on an active form, add it only as the last item. For example:
New = 0 Assigned = 1 Closed = 2 Fixed = 3
WARNING
Altering the items in a selection field might require explicit modifications to every request in a form. For check boxes, you can define more than one choice, but users have access only to the first value.
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Table fields
You can create searches using the item IDs in the selection field. For example, the search string Status < 2 searches for all New and Assigned requests in the previous example. The search string Check Box = $NULL$ searches for requests in which the check box is not selected. Use selection lists only in cases where you do not expect the options available to users to change over time. For more information, see Creating selection fields on page 154.
Table fields
AR System supports the following types of table fields: List view (see page 191) Tree view (see page 192) Cell based (see page 199) Alert list (see page 202) Results list (see page 203) For more information, see Chapter 7, Working with tables.
Attachment pools
An attachment pool contains attachment fields that enable users to store text, graphics, audio, or video with a request. The attachment data is compressed and stored in the database with each request. A form can have any number of attachment pools, and each attachment pool can have any number of attachment fields, subject to database limitations. You set properties for the attachment pool and for its attachment fields in BMC Remedy Developer Studio, including maximum size for each attachment field and permissions. View permission allows users in a group to view attachments. Change permission allows users in a group to add and remove attachments in an attachment pool. Attachment pools do not have labels, but you can use trim text to label them on a form. For more information, see Creating attachment pools on page 156.
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Viewing attachments in BMC Remedy User

In BMC Remedy User, attachments can be viewed as large icons, small icons, a list, or a detailed list that contains information such as file size. When creating or modifying requests, users can right-click the following items to open a menu that contains relevant commands:
Table 5-6: Right-click results Right click . . . Attachment pool Attachment field Attached file name To open a menu with commands that . . . Add an attachment Change the view Add an attachment Change the view Replace the file with another file Delete, display, save, or deselect the file Change the view
Users can also add attachments by dragging files into the attachment pool, and users can display attached files by double-clicking them. When users add a file to the attachment pool, the file is added to the next available attachment field. If no empty attachment field is available and if no attached file name is selected, the user is prompted to replace the file in the first attachment field. If an attached file name is selected, the user is prompted to replace the selected file. Attached files are added to or deleted from the database when the request is saved. You can customize both the column headings and the context menu labels in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. See step 6 on page 157. Figure 5-2 shows an attachment pool with its menu in BMC Remedy User.
Figure 5-2: Attachment pool in BMC Remedy User
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Attachment pools
NOTE
When users perform the Copy to New operation in BMC Remedy User, the new request does not include attachments and diary fields. Users must save attachments to files and then attach them to the new request. In a browser, there is no Copy to New operation.
Viewing attachments in a browser

When creating or modifying requests in a browser, users can click buttons below the pool to add, delete, display, save, and deselect attachments. Users can also right-click an attached file to open a context menu that contains those commands, and users can display attached files by double-clicking them. If users select an attachment field that does not contain an attached file, only the Add and Deselect buttons appear. You can customize both the column headings and the button labels in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. See step 6 on page 157.
Figure 5-3: Attachment pool in a browser
NOTE
If you open an attached file from a form in a browser, the file might be displayed incorrectly. For example, accented characters can become corrupted. To view the file with no display problems, save the file to disk, and then open the file separately from the browser.
Workflow considerations for attachment pools

Attachment pool and attachment field database names can be used as field references in workflow (see the Name field property on page 379). You can use all attachment pool and attachment field properties in active link, filter, and escalation actions. You can use the actions listed in the following table.
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Table 5-7: Workflow actions for attachments Action Change Field active link Message Set Fields and Push Fields Description Shows or hides an attachment pool, and sets focus to it. Displays the name of an attached file in a message. Transfers attachment data from one attachment field to another attachment field. You can also use Set Fields to display an attachment in a view field.
Set Fields and Run Process Adds, saves, opens, or deletes attachments. The following active link Run Process commands are available: PERFORM-ACTION-ADD-ATTACHMENT PERFORM-ACTION-DELETE-ATTACHMENT PERFORM-ACTION-OPEN-ATTACHMENT PERFORM-ACTION-SAVE-ATTACHMENT
For more information, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
View fields
A view field is a display-only field that displays any type of document that a typical browser can display, including these: URLs for locally stored HTML files or published web pages (BMC Remedy User and Internet Explorer only) Attachment field contents, such as HTML files, image files, and Microsoft Word documents Views of AR System forms HTML source code with embedded field references You set the initial value of a view field by setting its Text property or by using a Set Fields active link action. You can add multiple view fields to a form to display various pieces of data from different sources. You can also use different initial values for every view of a form to customize the presentation for any language, platform, or user role. For more information, see Creating view fields on page 159.
Using view fields

Users cannot resize view fields. If a view field is too small to display its entire contents, the value of the Scroll Bar property (see page 385) determines whether scroll bars appear at the bottom and right side of the field.
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Data visualization fields
Figure 5-4: View field with scroll bars
To print a document in a view field in BMC Remedy User, right-click the field and choose Print. (In a browser, you cannot print the contents of a view field.)
Workflow considerations for view fields

View fields participates in active links and filters as display-only character fields. View fields cannot participate in escalations, and they cannot trigger active links.
Data visualization fields

Data visualization fields provide a framework and services for graphing solutions based on the BMC Remedy Mid Tier. These fields provide an efficient way to add graphical fields such as Flashboards to AR System forms. To learn how to create a data visualization field on a form, see Creating data visualization fields on page 160. For more information about developing modules for data visualization fields, see the Integration Guide.
Application list fields

Application list fields display a list of entry points. AR System automatically generates the contents of the list, which contains the available applications, forms, and entry point guides on the current server. Any form that contains an application list field can be used as a home page (see Figure 5-5). A form can have only one application list field.
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Figure 5-5: Application list field in sample home page
Application list field with entry points
For more information, see these sections: Creating application list fields on page 160 Defining entry points and home pages on page 301
Displaying a subset of a servers applications and entry points

To display only a subset of a servers applications and entry points in an application list field, you can create sophisticated workflow by using a reserved character field ID that lets users see only a subset of entry points. Use a Run Process command (PERFORM-ACTION-HOME-FIELD-REFRESH) to display dynamically a subset of servers and applications.
Navigation fields
Horizontal and vertical navigation fields enable users to navigate to screens quickly and easily. A horizontal navigation field might enable users to move from application to application, and a vertical navigation field might give users access to common functions and application entry points within an application.
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Navigation fields
Figure 5-6: Horizontal and vertical navigation fields
Horizontal navigation fields can have only one level in their structure. Vertical navigation fields can have unlimited levels. But to keep the navigation of your application simple, limit the number of levels to three. Navigation fields can act as anchors for other menu fields, and you can use multiple navigation fields with menus attached to them. For more information, see To create a navigation field on page 162.
Workflow considerations for navigation fields

Remember these considerations when building workflow for navigation fields: One navigation field cannot be shared across several forms. To overcome this limitation, create common workflow for the navigation fields on several forms. You can show or hide individual navigation field items or the entire field. You can enable and disable items on a navigation field. You cannot set focus or change the label, color, or font of a navigation field. You can set workflow to fire on a menu item when it is selected, but workflow cannot fire on menus. You can change labels for horizontal and vertical navigation fields by using a change field active link.
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Button fields
Button fields are control fields used to execute active links. For more information, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
Figure 5-7: Button field
Buttons can be displayed as URLs and then associated with an Open Window active link action to simulate a hyperlink that opens a new window. See To create a button field on page 164. (To add a real URL that links to a web page, see Adding a URL to a trim text field on page 179.) You can add an image to a button to enhance the look of forms displayed in BMC Remedy User. See Adding images to buttons on page 165.
Panel fields
Panel fields organize other fields in one or more panels that can be displayed in various formats. Grouping information in panel fields within panel holders can make forms easier to use because users do not have to scroll through long forms to find a particular field.
Figure 5-8: Panel holder with panels
A basic panel provides the container functionality and display properties of all panel fields. A panel holder can contains one or more panels. You can add panels and arrange the panel order and field layout. You can hide a panel holder border and tabbed panels in tabbed panel holders, and use workflow to display individual panels. When creating panels, you can set properties for the panel holder and for each of the panels within it (including field ID) In addition, you must provide permissions for each of the following levels: Panel holder Individual panels Each field on each panel
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Panel fields
Users without permission to the panel holder cannot see the panels or the fields in them. Users with permission to the panel holder but not a panel cannot see any fields on a panel for which they lack permission. See Panel field permissions properties on page 31.
Basic panels
A panel serves as a container object that enables an application designer to group specific fields together on a form. Unlike a trim box, which can provide only a visual grouping for fields, a panel provides both the visual grouping and the ability to function as a true container.
Figure 5-9: Panel
You can style a panel using many field properties: background color including gradient fill, background image including tiling and filling, opacity (transparent or opaque), border thickness, border color, and rounded corners. Rounded corners are not shown in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. Rounded corner settings are ignored when panels are displayed in BMC Remedy User.
NOTE
On the Web, a panel is positioned using absolute positioning. For optimal appearance in a browser, all fields within a panel should share one common style class to enable simultaneous and consistent styling of the fields when using customized Cascading Style Sheets.
Panel holders
AR System provides several options for configuring the layout and behavior of panel holders and the panels in them. You can configure panel holders so that multiple panels are tabbed, stacked to be visible at the same time (and can be collapsed or expanded), or in an accordion display that shows only one panel at a time. You can create panels with a splitter that can be dragged to control the relative sizes of adjacent panels. Panels can have a header area, in which you can specify a header color and add header text in a font you can specify. (On some browsers, using a large font for header text will cause the header label to wrap.) A panels contents can be configured to allow its size to be changed dynamically. These display options enable you to make better use of screen space and remove clutter on the screen.
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Panel layout policies

Panels and form views have some common behavior in that both can be used as a container for other fields of any type.
XY layout (default)
Fields always have a location specified by X and Y coordinates, as well as a width and height. In previous releases of AR System, the only way containers could determine where to place fields within them was to use these absolute positions and sizes. This style of layout is now a specific choice for each container, and it is known as XY Layout.
Fill layout
An additional policy, Fill Layout, is a second option for a container. This policy is applicable only to forms viewed in a browser; it is ignored in BMC Remedy User and not displayed at design time in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. Use this option to allow the screens layout to be readjusted automatically when the browser window changes its size or to allow the contents of panels in a splitter panel holder to readjust their layout when a user moves the splitter. When Fill Layout is selected, the container ignores the fields XY width and height properties at runtime. Instead, each field takes up the containers entire width. The containers height is equally divided by the number of visible contained fields (for example, if you have three fields, each one gets 33% of the containers height). The first field is placed at the 0,0 location and the remaining fields appear in sequence in a vertical orientation. With this scenario, you would typically place a single field within a container set to Fill Layout, and that field will get 100% of the width and height. Setting a form view to Fill Layout allows the screen to dynamically adjust to changes in the browser window size. Typically there is a single panel holder as the field within the view. Setting a panel to Fill Layout is useful when: The panel contains a nested panel holder. The panel contains a field that can make good use of resizing, such as a table field, tree field, view field, or data visualization field. You can select Fill layout for a panel either by setting the Layout property to Fill or by right-clicking the panel and choosing Apply Fill Layout from the menu. The Apply Fill Layout menu selection is available only for basic panels or panels in panel holders; it is not available for views.
NOTE
If you are using Fill layout for a panel that includes a table, set the Auto Fit Columns field property to False to enable all columns in the table to be visible with a horizontal scroll bar if the table size is larger than the container size.
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Panel fields
NOTE
Because BMC Remedy User ignores the Fill Layout option, use care when selecting the Fill Layout option for applications that will run on both BMC Remedy User and a browser, so that both the absolute positions and sizes and the dynamic behavior work correctly in both clients.
Panel holder display types

The following display types are available for panels contained in a panel holder.
Tabbed
In a tabbed display, only one panel field in the container is visible at a time. Each panel is viewed by clicking on its tab, or by pressing the Tab key. Only the horizontal orientation is available for tabbed panel holders. Tabbed panel holders do not have Border Thickness or Border Color properties.
Figure 5-10: Tabbed panel holder display
If a tabbed panel holder has more tabs than fit in one row, BMC Remedy Developer Studio and BMC Remedy User display the tabs in two or more rows. In a browser, panel holders include left and right arrows that users click to access tabs that extend beyond the width of the panel holder. The arrows are visible only when the panel holder has enough tabs to require scrolling. The focus remains on the current panel when scrolling occurs.
Collapsible (stacked)
In a collapsible display, multiple panels in a panel holder can be viewed at the same time, either horizontally or vertically, with a fixed size.
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Figure 5-11: Collapsible (stacked) panel holder display
Splitter
In a splitter display, multiple panels in a container can be viewed at the same time, either vertically or horizontally, and can be dynamically resized by dragging a splitter control on either side.
Figure 5-12: Splitter panel holder display
Accordion
In an accordion display, the content of only one panel in the panel holder visible at a time. Only the headers for the remaining panels are visible. At runtime, when you click on a panel header, that panel is expanded to display its contents. If another panel was open, it is automatically collapsed and only its header is visible.
NOTE
Headers cannot be hidden in accordion displays.
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Trim fields
Figure 5-13: Accordion panel holder display
For information about creating panel holders, creating panels, and applying workflow to panels, see: Creating panel holder fields and panels on page 167 the Workflow Objects Guide
Trim fields
Trim fields are horizontal and vertical lines, boxes, and text (including URLs) that enable you to modify the appearance of a form.
Figure 5-14: Trim lines, boxes, and text
Each piece of trim is treated as a field by AR System, meaning that it has a unique field ID, a name, and display information. (No database information is associated with trim.) Because trim is a field, you can do this with it: Address each piece of trim in your workflow. For example, you can use a Change Field active link action to make a box hidden or visible. Change how or whether the trim appears in different form views. Define permissions for the trim to match the permissions of associated fields so that the trim is not visible if the fields are not visible.
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Add and change trim in the same way that you add and change other fields. Create URLs that link the form or application to the Internet. See Adding a URL to a trim text field on page 179. Although you can group fields visually with a a transparent trim box, a panel field is a better choice. A panel fields is more powerful and easier to maintain because the fields are actually contained in the panel field and positioned within it. For information about creating trim fields, see Creating trim fields on page 177.
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Chapter
Creating and managing fields
You can create or modify fields in a form at any time. All changes take effect as soon as you save them, but if a user has a form open when you modify its fields, the user must close all instances of the form and reopen it to see your changes. The following topics are provided: Determining what types of fields to use (page 146) Creating data fields (page 146) Creating currency fields (page 150) Creating selection fields (page 154) Creating attachment pools (page 156) Creating view fields (page 159) Creating data visualization fields (page 160) Creating application list fields (page 160) Executing entry points in HTML (page 161) Creating navigation fields (page 162) Creating button fields (page 164) Creating panel holder fields and panels (page 167) Creating trim fields (page 177) Creating global fields (page 180) Managing fields (page 182) Working with fields in join forms (page 186) To create table fields, see Creating table fields on page 204. For detailed descriptions of each field, see Chapter 5, Types of fields.
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Determining what types of fields to use

The way you add fields to a form should be guided by the planned use of the fields. Some possible uses include: Data fields that all users need. These fields should be grouped together. Data fields used by selected groups of users. Consider grouping these fields on separate tabbed panels. Data fields that contain information not presented to users. Consider hiding these fields from all views. Temporary workflow fields. These fields store temporary, working values used during workflow processing. Consider hiding them from all views because users do not need to interact with these fields. Visual cue fields. Trim fields, panel fields, view fields, and images on button fields provide cues to users on how best to use each form. List-oriented fields. Use table fields when presenting data lists on forms. Add fields carefully because you might find it impractical to eliminate a field after users have come to rely on it. In addition, how you administer fields can affect performance. For more information about system performance and fields, see the Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide.
Creating data fields

Use this procedure to create all data fields except currency and selection fields, which are discussed in Creating currency fields on page 150 and Creating selection fields on page 154.
NOTE
For an overview of data fields, see Data fields on page 122.
To create a data field

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > dataFieldType.
The new field appears on the form.

3 Select the field. 4 In the Properties tab, set the field properties as needed.
See Appendix D, Field properties.

5 To add a file system browser to a character field, see Adding a file system browser
to character fields on page 147.
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6 To add effects such as highlighting to fields, see Adding field effects on
page 148.
7 Select the field, drag it to a position in the form, and adjust its size.
See Arranging fields in a form view on page 290.

8 Right-click the form, and choose Save.
Adding a file system browser to character fields

File system browsers enable users to browse network file systems for a file and add the file path to a character field.
WARNING
Using the path in an active link Run Process action to access the contents of the file is not supported on the web. File system browsers do not enable users to upload or attach files.
To add a file system browser

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > Character.

3 Select the field. 4 In the Properties tab, select File from the Display Type list.
A file selection button is attached to the character field. For example:
When the Display Type property of a character field is set to File, If a menu is attached to the character field, the menu is disabled, and the menu button is hidden. The character fields Expand Box property is disabled, and the expand box button is hidden. When users click the file selection button in BMC Remedy User, a standard file selection dialog box is displayed. When users click the file selection button in browsers, a dialog box containing a Browse button is displayed; clicking Browse displays a standard file selection dialog box. When users select a file name to add to the character field, any existing data in the field is overwritten.
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Adding field effects

Field effects in AR System can serve as visual cues to specific system actions.
Highlight field on value change

Three field properties in the Highlight control whether a field is highlighted when a value is changed through a Set Field action, and the color of the highlight. These properties apply only to data fields (character, diary, date, time, date/time, currency, integer, real, and decimal, radio-button fields, check boxes, and dropdown lists). If the value being changed is in a selection field (such as a radio button field) that does not have a single input element, the entire set of boxes or buttons is highlighted.
Enabled
When set to True, you can specify a highlight start color and a highlight end color. The default value is false (highlight not enabled).
Highlight start color

The Highlight Start Color enables selection of a color for the highlight based on the theme of the form, background color, and other factors. If no highlight start color is specified, the mid tier uses the default color of yellow.
Highlight end color

The Highlight End Color enables a smooth visual transition following a system action. For best results, choose a color that matches the background color of the element on which the field resides, whether it is a panel or a form. The default color is white. For display-as-text fields, by default, the mid tier uses transparency to transition to the background color of the form.
Additional effects
The following effects are also available.
Dialog zoom out

This effect applies to calendar field, currency field, and character and diary field expand boxes. When a expand button is clicked, the associated dialog box zooms out.
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Highlight on required fields when a submit action fails

When a submit action fails due to missing required values, fields needing values are highlighted with a red border. This effect applies only to data fields. For data fields that have a specific input element (such as a text entry box in a character field), the input element is highlighted with a red border. For selection fields (such as radio button fields or check boxes) that do not have a single input element, the red border appears around the entire field set (the entire set of buttons or check boxes).
Slide in and slide out of items in vertical navigation bar and panels
This effect enables submenu items in a vertical navigation bar to be slowly shown and hidden by having them slide in and out.
NOTE
Field effects can be disabled by selecting No in the Animated Effects field on the Web tab of the AR System User Preference form.
Using character fields to generate GUIDs

You can use a character field to automatically generate a globally unique identifier (GUID) for each request in a form. GUIDs are useful in a multiAR System server environment where you need unique IDs across AR System servers. Using GUIDs in such environments guarantees unique, transactionally safe IDs for your requests. GUIDs do not replace Request IDs. Each request still has a Request ID.
NOTE
Prior to AR System 7.5.00, you used the $PROCESS$ command to generate GUIDs. Using a GUID field provides better performance than the $PROCESS$ command. To automatically store a GUID in a field, create a character field with database ID 179. A GUID is available through all filter phases. By contrast, the value of a Request ID field is not available until a request is successfully committed to the database. You can customize all the properties of the GUID field except data type, input length, and ID.
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Creating currency fields

Use this process to create currency fields:
Step 1
Set default currency types. Before you create a currency field, you should set default allowable and function currency types in the AR System Administration: Server Information form (see the Configuration Guide). The defaults appear in the Currency Types property dialog box of all new currency fields. For information about allowable and functional currencies, see Allowable and functional currencies on page 126.
Step 2 Create the currency field (see the following procedure). Step 3 Create currency exchange ratios (see page 153).
NOTE
For an overview of currency fields, see Currency fields on page 125.
Creating a currency field

Use this procedure to add a currency field to a form.
To create a currency field

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > Currency.

3 Select the field. 4 In the Properties tab, select the Currency Types property, and click its ellipsis
button. If default allowable currency types are not specified in the AR System Administration: Server Information form, all the available currency types are selected in the Currency Types dialog box on the Allowable Currency Types tab, as shown in Figure 6-1.
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Figure 6-1: Initial Allowable Currency Types tab without default currencies
If defaults are specified in the AR System Administration: Server Information form, those default currencies are selected on the Allowable Currency Types tab. For example, see Figure 6-2.
Figure 6-2: Initial Allowable Currency Types tab with default currencies
For information about allowable and functional currencies, see Allowable and functional currencies on page 126.
5 To change the allowable currencies for this field, perform these tasks in the
Allowable Currency Types tab:

a In the Select Types field, select the Customize option. b Use the arrow buttons to move currencies to and from the Available Types and
Selected Types lists.
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Currencies in the Selected Types list appear in the menu attached to the currency field. For example:
If you remove all currencies from the Selected Types list, all the available currencies are allowed and appear in the menu.
c (Optional) To change a currencys decimal precision, click the precision field in
the Selected Types list, and select a precision value from the drop-down list.
d In the Primary Currency list, select the currency to use when no currency code
is entered in the currency field. If you do not select a primary currency, the first currency in the Selected Types list is used as the primary currency.
6 To change the functional currencies for this field, perform these tasks in the
Functional Currency Types tab:

a Use the arrow buttons to move currencies to and from the Available Types and
Selected Types lists. The Selected Types list must contain at least one currency. There is no maximum number, but BMC recommends that you specify no more than five functional currencies to avoid delays when you submit requests.
b (Optional) To change a currencys decimal precision, click the precision field in
the Selected Types list, and select a precision value from the drop-down list.
7 Click OK. 8 In the Properties tab, you can set one or both of these currency field properties:
Default ValueSpecifies the value that appears in the field when a user initially opens the form in New mode. The value consists of a decimal number and an allowable currency code. This value overrides the Initial Currency Type field property value set in BMC Remedy Developer Studio and the initial currency type preference set in BMC Remedy User. Initial Currency TypeSpecifies the currency code that appears in the field when the form opens in New mode if there is no Default Value and if the user has not specified an initial currency type in BMC Remedy User.
9 Set the other field properties as needed.


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Creating currency exchange ratios

The following procedure describes how to create currency exchange ratios for converting allowable (user-entered) currencies to functional (stored) currencies. You must create currency ratios from every allowable currency to every functional currency and, conversely, from every functional currency to every allowable currency. For example, if United States dollars is an allowable currency and Euros is a functional currency, create one entry for converting from USD to EUR and another entry for converting from EUR to USD.
NOTE
If you create an incomplete set of ratios, your applications might not work properly. For example, sorting on currency fields might produce incorrect results.
To create currency exchange ratios

1 On the server where you created the currency field, open the AR System Currency
Ratios form in New mode in BMC Remedy User.

2 Create two entries for each pair of currencies to which and from which you want
to convert. For example, you might create one entry for converting from USD to EUR:
Field Conversion Date From Currency To Currency Conversion Ratio Contents $TIMESTAMP$ USD EUR 0.640
Then create a second entry for converting from EUR to USD:

Field Conversion Date From Currency To Currency Conversion Ratio Contents $TIMESTAMP$ EUR USD 1.562
To set the currency exchange ratio refresh interval

1 In the BMC Remedy AR System Administration Console, open the AR System
Administration: Server Information form.

2 Click the Timeouts tab. 3 In the Client Refresh Interval field, enter the interval in seconds.
The default setting is 60. A setting of 0 disables refresh. This is the interval at which clients query the server for new currency ratios from the AR System Currency Ratios form.
4 Click Apply. Chapter 6 Creating and managing fields 153
Creating selection fields

Use these procedures to create selection fields.
NOTE
For an overview of selection fields, see Selection fields on page 130.
To create a selection field

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > selectionField.
Selection field types are Drop-Down List, Radio Button, or Check Box. The new field appears on the form.
3 Select the field. 4 In the Properties tab, set the Selections values.
See the following procedures: To add selection items To modify selection items To delete selection items
5 Set the other field properties as needed.

To add selection items

1 Select the appropriate selection field. 2 In the Properties tab, select the Selections property, and click its ellipsis button.
In the Selections dialog box, you can create items that have linear IDs or custom IDs. AR System creates linear IDs automatically, beginning with 0. You must enter custom IDs manually. A selection field cannot have items with both linear IDs and custom IDs. See Selection fields on page 130.
3 To add items with linear IDs, go to step 5. 4 To add items with custom IDs: a In the ID Enumeration list, select Custom. b In the ID column of the item, enter an integer from 0 through 2147483647.
Negative integers are not permitted.

5 In the Selection Values column, enter the database value. 6 In the Alias column, enter the text to display in BMC Remedy User or a browser. 7 Click Add to add the item to the selection field. 154 Form and Application Objects Guide
Creating selection fields
8 Repeat steps 3 through 7 for each item you want to add.
NOTE
For Check Box fields, add only one item because users have access to only the first item.
9 To rearrange the items, select an item and click Up or Down.
IMPORTANT
If the items have linear IDs, do not change the order of existing items. If you do, the meaning of data previously entered in the database is changed. See Selection fields on page 130.
10 (Optional) In the Default Value list, select the item that appears when users
initially open the form to perform a search or to create a request.

11 Click OK. 12 Right-click the form, and choose Save.
To modify selection items

1 Select the appropriate selection field. 2 In the Properties tab, select the Selections property, and click its ellipsis button. 3 In the Selections dialog box, select an item. 4 In the Selection Values, Alias, or Default Value fields, edit the information. 5 Click OK. 6 Right-click the form, and choose Save.
To delete selection items

1 Select the appropriate selection field. 2 In the Properties tab, select the Selections property, and click its ellipsis button. 3 In the Selections dialog box, select an item. 4 Click Delete.
IMPORTANT
If the items have linear IDs, do not delete items in the beginning or middle of a selection field in an existing form. See Selection fields on page 130.
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Creating attachment pools

Use these procedures to create an attachment pool.
NOTE
For an overview of attachment pools, see Attachment pools on page 131.
To create an attachment pool

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > Attachment Pool.
The new attachment pool field appears on the form.

3 Select the field. 4 Add attachment fields to the attachment pool: a In the Properties tab, select the Attachment Fields property, and click its ellipsis
button.
b In the Attachment Fields dialog box, click New, and then click OK. c In the attachment pool, select the new attachment field. d In the Properties tab, enter these values:
Audit Log KeySee Appendix D, Field properties. Audit OptionSee Appendix D, Field properties. LabelCan have up to 80 characters. It is used as the display label and database name for the attachment field. See Appendix D, Field properties. Max SizeSpecifies the maximum size of the attachment in bytes. If you set Max Size to 0 (the default), users can add attachments up to the size that your database allows. See Attachment field size considerations on page 158.
e To add another attachment field, repeat steps a through d.
The number of attachment fields determines the number of attachments users can add. You can specify as many attachment fields as your database permits. If you exceed the limit, you get a database error. To determine the limit, see your database documentation.
f To move an attachment field from another attachment pool to this pool, see To
move an attachment field from one attachment pool to another on page 158.
g (Optional) Rearrange the attachment fields by using the Up and Down buttons
in the Attachment Fields dialog box
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Creating attachment pools
5 Set database properties for each attachment field: a In the attachment pool, select the appropriate attachment field. b In the Properties tab, set these properties as necessary:
Entry Mode ID Index for FTS Name See Appendix D, Field properties.
c Repeat steps a through b for each attachment field. 6 (Optional) Specify column headings and button (mid tier) or context menu
(BMC Remedy User) labels for the attachment pool:

a Select the attachment pool. b In the Properties tab, edit or clear the values of the following label properties.
If you clear a label for a button, the button is not displayed. If you clear a label for a column, the default column name is used. When users add attachments, the file names appear in the attachment pool even if you do not display any columns or buttons.
Label property Add Label Delete Label Deselect Label Default value Add Delete Deselect Description Label on button or context menu used for adding attachments. Label on column displaying attachment field labels. Label on button or context menu used for deleting selected attachments. Label on button or context menu used to deselect selected attachments. When you open a form created before version 7.1.00 in BMC Remedy Administrator, and BMC Remedy Developer Studio detects that an attachment pool is on the form, the modified flag is set, so you must save the form. The saved form includes the Deselect button or context menu. If the form is not opened in BMC Remedy Developer Studio before a user opens it: In BMC Remedy User, the Deselect item appears in the context menu. In a browser, the Deselect button or context menu does not appear. Display Label Display Label on button or context menu used for opening selected attachments on the client. For browsers, only files with file name extensions configured to open in the browser open. If a file type is not configured to open in the browser, a Save dialog box opens. File Name Label File Size Label Save Label File Name Max Size Save to Disk Label on column containing attached file names. Label on column containing attached file sizes. Label on button or context menu used for saving selected attachments on the client.
Attach Name Label Attach Name
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7 Set other field properties as needed.

8 Select the attachment pool, drag it to a position in the form, and adjust its size.
NOTE
For web views, make sure to leave enough space on the form to accommodate the Add, Delete, Display, and Save to Disk buttons that appear below the attachment pool in a browser. See Arranging fields in a form view on page 290.
To move an attachment field from one attachment pool to another

1 Select the attachment field to move. 2 In the Attachment Pool List list on the Properties tab, select the name of the
attachment pool to move the field to. Both attachment pools must be on the same form.
Attachment field size considerations

When setting the Max Size property for an attachment field, set a size that is large enough to accommodate typical attachments but small enough to conserve database space. If the size of an attachment exceeds the attachment fields allocated space, users cannot add an attachment to it even when the attachment pool contains other empty attachment fields. Attachment size can also be limited by the available memory on the client computer. For example, your database might allow attachments up to 2 GB but be limited to attachments of only a few MB because of client memory constraints. To set maximum attachment sizes for Oracle (including memory allocation) and MS SQL Server databases, see information about Db-Max-Text-Size in the Configuration Guide.
NOTE
Remote procedure call (RPC) and memory allocation errors might occur when users open large attachments on computers with limited memory resources. The error that appears depends on the stage of transfer (from client to server computer) at which the memory failure occurred. If you receive a malloc in client library failed error, check the memory resources of the client. If the error is Unable to send, check the memory resources of the client and server. If it was a databasespecific memory error, check the data or log (or transaction) space.
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Creating view fields
Creating view fields

Use this procedure to create a view field.
NOTE
For an overview of view fields, see View fields on page 134.
To create a view field

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > View.
The new view field appears on the form.

3 Select the field. 4 In the Properties tab, select the Text property, and click its ellipsis button. 5 In the Text dialog box, enter an initial value for the view field, and click OK.
You can enter any value that a browser can read. For example, you can enter your companys URL, the URL for a form in the mid tier, an HTML snippet, or JavaScript. The web page, form, or interpreted code appears in the view field in BMC Remedy Developer Studio when you close the dialog box. You can also reference a template. See Using templates with fields on page 268. In BMC Remedy User and a browser, the contents of a view field do not load automatically when users open a form. To display the initial value in those applications, perform one of these steps: Select the view and set the Set to Defaults property to True (governs New mode), and set user preferences to Set Fields to Default Values in New and Search modes in the AR System User Preferences form. You can also set these user preferences in BMC Remedy User by choosing Tools > Options and selecting the Behaviors tab of the Options dialog box. Use a Set Fields active link action to set the view field value to $DEFAULT$ when the form opens. In this case, set the execute on condition to Window Loaded. You can also leave the Text property blank and use workflow to set the initial display value. To make the contents of the view field persist across actions in the same window, make the view field a window-scoped global field. Create the view field with a field ID in the range of 3000000 to 3999999, and use workflow to set the initial value. See Creating global fields on page 180.
WARNING
Do not use HTML snippets that contain tables or frames. Instead, use a URL to display this type of content.
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6 Set border and scroll bar properties. See Appendix D, Field properties.
If the contents of the web page or HTML snippet are too large for the field, the value of the Scroll Bar property determines wether scroll bars appear at the fields bottom and right side in BMC Remedy User and a browser.
7 Set the other field properties as needed. See Appendix D, Field properties. 8 Select the view field, drag it to a position in the form, and adjust its size.

9 (Optional) Use a trim text field to add a label (view fields do not have labels). 10 Right-click the form, and choose Save.
Creating data visualization fields

Use the following process to create data visualization fields. The steps in the process are detailed in the Integration Guide.
Step 1 Create a module on the mid tier. Step 2 Register the module. Step 3 Deploy a custom data visualization module. Step 4 Add a data visualization field to a form.
NOTE
For an overview of data visualization fields, see Data visualization fields on page 135.
Creating application list fields

Use this procedure to create an application list field.
NOTE
For an overview of application list fields, see Application list fields on page 135.
To create an application list field

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > Application List.
The new application list field appears on the form.

3 Select the field. 4 In the Properties tab, set the field properties as needed.

Executing entry points in HTML

Executing entry points in HTML

To execute an entry point in a form, add a view field with custom HTML that uses the arInvokeObject commands to execute entry points in BMC Remedy User and in a browser:
arInvokeEntryPoint("serverName","guideName")Executes the specified
entry point guide.

arInvokeGuide("serverName","guideName")Executes the specified guide. arInvokeForm("serverName","guideName","mode")Executes the specified form in New or Search mode. Valid values for mode are New and Search.
You can use single or double quotation marks in these commands because JavaScript conventions permit strings to be enclosed by single or double quotation marks.
To execute entry points in HTML

1 Create a view field.
See Creating view fields on page 159.

2 Select the view field. 3 In the Properties tab, select the Text property, and click its ellipsis button. 4 In the Text dialog box, enter your commands.
For example:
<html> <script> function doInvokeForm(server, form, mode) { if("external" in window && "arInvokeForm" in window.external) arInvokeForm(server, form, mode); else parent.arInvokeForm(server, form, mode); } </script> <body> <form> <a href="javascript:doInvokeForm('ServerA','HelpDesk', 'search')">Search HelpDesk form</a> <br> </form> </body> </html>
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In this example, doInvokeObject makes sure that the arInvokeObject functions are available. In BMC Remedy User, arInvokeObject is then called. In a browser, the functions are not available in the view field because the view field is an HTML iframe element. To access the arInvokeObject functions in a browser, you must reference parent.
Creating navigation fields

Use this procedure to create a horizontal or vertical navigation field.
NOTE
For an overview of navigation fields, see Navigation fields on page 136.
To create a navigation field

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > Horizontal Navigation or
Create a New Field > Vertical Navigation.

3 Right-click the navigation field and choose Edit Navigation Items. 4 In the Edit Navigation Items dialog box, use the Add Menu, Add Item, and Add
Separator buttons to create menus for the field.

5 Click Close. 6 In the Properties tab, click the Attach Orphan Items property, and click its ellipsis
button.
7 In the Attach Orphan Items dialog box, attach orphaned navigation field and menu
items that are not attached to the form. Orphaned items are: Deleted menu bar items (choose Form > Edit Menu Bar to view them) Unattached items from deleted navigation fields
8 Click OK. 9 For each menu item, attach an active link that defines the action that occurs when
the item is clicked:

a Right-click the navigation field and choose Edit Navigation Items. b In the Edit Navigation Items dialog box, select the menu item. c In the Properties tab, click the Active Link(s) property, and click its ellipsis
button.
d In the Active Link(s) dialog box, move the appropriate active link to the Selected
Active Links field.

Creating navigation fields
e Click OK. f Repeat steps b through e for each menu item. g Click Close.
For information about creating workflow, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
NOTE
If you disable a parent item in a vertical navigation field, the parent item is collapsed and disabled, so the user cannot access the children. (To disable an item, use the Change Field workflow action.)
10 Select the navigation field. 11 In the Properties tab, select the appropriate item in these lists:
Fire workflow again on selected itemSelect an option to specify if workflow is fired again: Do not fire workflowWorkflow does not fire when the selected navigation item is clicked again. Fire workflowWorkflow fires again when the selected navigation item is clicked again. Navigation Initial StateIf you want a particular menu item selected when the user opens the form, select that item. Select item on clickTo select menu items with a single click, set to True. To select menu items with a double-click, set to False.
12 Set other navigation field and menu item properties as needed.
For example, select a menu item, click the Permissions property, click its ellipsis button, and set permissions for the menu item in the Permissions dialog box. Users see only the menu items to which they have access. See Appendix D, Field properties.
13 Select the navigation field, drag it to a position in the form, and adjust its size.
Make sure that the field is large enough to hold the menus and items that you created. Horizontal and vertical scrollbars appear in a navigation field in BMC Remedy User and a browser if the field is not large enough. See Arranging fields in a form view on page 290.
14 Right-click the form, and choose Save. 15 (Optional) To change the styling of menus in forms in a browser, create properties
in the applications cascading style sheet (CSS). For information about CSSs, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
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Creating button fields

Use this procedure to create a button field.
NOTE
For an overview of button fields, see Button fields on page 138.
To create a button field

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > Button.
The new button appears on the form.

3 Select the button. 4 In the Properties tab, set these properties:
Button LabelThe text displayed on the button. Display TypeSelect one of these button styles: ButtonThe button looks like a button. Users can click it to initiate active link actions. MenuThe button field is added to the menu bar. See the Workflow Objects Guide for a discussion of using buttons and menu bar items to execute active links. URLThe button looks like a URL. Users can click it to initiate active link actions.
5 (URL only) Modify the color of the URL: a In the URL Color propertys drop-down list, select Custom. b Choose a color from the color palette, and click OK. 6 Specify active links to execute when the button is clicked: a In the Properties tab, select the Active Link(s) property, and click its ellipsis
button.
b In the Active Link(s) dialog box, connect active links to the button. c Click OK.
For information about using buttons to execute active links, see the Workflow Objects Guide.


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Creating button fields
Adding images to buttons

Bitmap size is not restricted in the form or on the disk. All forms are stored in memory, however, and forms with large images can cause a performance decline. Furthermore, adding an image to multiple views causes copies of the same image to be stored in memory. For a browser, large images increase the download time. For best performance, use images with small file sizes, such as GIF or JPG files.
NOTE
To support the Image Reference functionality for button fields, AR System clients and supporting applications such as BMC Remedy User and the mid tier must be release 7.5.00 or later. When previous clients open a form containing an image reference, the server converts the image format into a byte stream that is cached on the client, as in previous versions.
NOTE
The functionality to gray out disabled buttons is part of the button feature; you do not need different bitmaps to represent different button states (for example, normal, grayed, depressed, reversed).
To add an image to a button

1 Select the button. 2 In the Properties tab, click the Image property, and click its ellipsis button. 3 In the Image dialog box: a If necessary, click Clear Image to delete an existing image. b Browse for the image to display on the button.
You can choose BMP, JPEG, JPG, GIF, and PNG files. The chosen image appears in the Preview area.
c
To save the image to a different file or folder, click Save to File. Embedded ImageThe image is stored in the field display properties as an ARByteList. In this case, the image is embedded in the form and is therefore downloaded with the form whenever the form is refreshed by the client. Image ReferenceA reference to a shared image object is stored in the field display properties. In this case, the image is stored as an image object in AR System. When the form is downloaded, the image is cached separately, so the image does not have to be refreshed along with the form. This allows for faster form refresh time. See Chapter 9, Working with images.
d Set the Image Type:
e Click OK.
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4 Select the button, and set these properties in the Properties tab:
Alternative TextDescribes the image to satisfy accessibility requirements. Assistive technologies read the alternative text for the sight impaired. Internet Explorer displays it as a tool tip. Display as Flat ImageDisplays the button without its three-dimensional border. This is helpful when you want to use images as trim. If the button performs an action when clicked, make sure the button looks like an object that users should click. For example, you can include a label for the button. Image PositionSets the image location relative to the label: Center (default) Left Right Top Bottom When the image is centered, the label is not visible inside the button. Scale Image to FitScales the image to fit the size of the button. If this option is set to False, the image might be cropped, and you might need to resize the button frame. Maintain Aspect RatioRetains the proportions of he image when the image is resized to fit the size of the button. This option is enabled when Scale Image To Fit is set to True.

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Creating panel holder fields and panels

Use these procedures to create panel holder fields (previously, page holders) and panels (previously, page fields). For more information about the types of panel holders you can create, see Panel fields on page 138.
Creating panel holders

To create a panel holder
1 Open the form to which you want to add the panel holder. 2 From the palette, select a panel holder type, and drag it to the form.
The new panel holder appears on the form. By default, it contains two panels. To add more panels, see Adding a panel to a panel holder on page 169.
To set properties for a panel holder

1 Select the panel holder, making sure you select the panel holder and not one of the
panels in it. To select the panel holder, click on the grabber at the top of the panel holder.
2 Assign permissions for the panel holder by selecting Permissions from the
Properties.
NOTE
Users must have permission to access the panel holder to view or change the panels. For more information, see Panel field permissions properties on page 31.
3 Set other panel holder properties as needed.
NOTE
For tabbed panel holders, if you set the Tabless Borderless property to True, BMC Remedy User displays the panel holder with a border and very small tabs without labels. If any of the panels have rounded corners, the panel border will be visible. Also, you must create workflow to enable users to navigate from one tabless panel to another. See Workflow considerations for panels on page 177. Multiple rows of tabs are not supported in forms viewed in a browser. If the number of tabs in a tabbed panel holder exceeds the width of the panel holder, left and right arrows appear to allow scrolling.
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Creating panels
You can create additional panels to appear in a panel holder, or any place else on a form outside of a panel holder.
To create a panel
1 Open the form to which you want to add a panel. 2 In the palette, select Panel, drag to the form, and release the mouse where you want
the panel to appear.
To set properties for a panel

1 Select the panel. 2 On the Properties tab, edit the Label value if necessary.
NOTE
If you do not save the form after adding a panel, the label value also becomes the fields database name (Name property).
3 To specify a custom database ID, modify the ID property before saving the panel. 4 Set permissions for the panel.
NOTE
Users must have permission to view or change the fields in a panel. For more information about setting permissions, see Panel field permissions properties on page 31.
5 Set other panel properties as needed.
For more information about: Field properties see Appendix D, Field properties. This appendix provides brief descriptions of field properties for all AR System forms. The properties are listed in alphabetical order. Background modesee Background Mode in panel holders on page 171. Color optionssee Setting color options for panels and panel headers on page 172. Images in panelssee Adding an image to a panel on page 174. Rounded cornerssee Applying rounded corners to a panel on page 174.
6 Save the form.
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Adding a panel to a panel holder

To add a panel to a panel holder
1 Select the panel holder to which you want to add a panel. 2 In the Properties, select Add New Panel, and click the ellipsis button. 3 In the Add New Panel dialog box, enter a unique database name for the new panel. 4 Click OK. 5 Set permissions for the new panel by selecting Permissions and clicking the ellipsis
button.
6 Set other properties for the new panel as needed by selecting the panel and editing
the relevant properties. For more information, see Appendix D, Field properties.
IMPORTANT
To specify a custom database ID (for example, to control the ID for purposes of shared workflow), change the default ID before saving the panel.
Rearranging or removing panels in a panel holder

Use the following procedures to rearrange the order in which panels appear in a panel holder, or to remove a panel from the current view of a form. To delete a panel from all views of a form, see Deleting a panel from all views in a form.
To rearrange panels in the current form view

1 Select the panel holder that contains the panels whose order you want to
rearrange.
2 In the Panel category, select the Panels property, and click its ellipsis button.
In the Panels dialog box, the Panels in Current View column lists the order in which panels currently appear in the panel holder.
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Figure 6-3: Panels dialog box
3 Select a panel, and click Up or Down to change its order. 4 Click OK.
To remove a panel from the current form view

1 Select the panel holder that contains the panels you want to remove from the form
view.
2 In the Panels dialog box, select a panel, and click Remove.
The panel is removed only from the current view of the form. If the form has only one view, it is deleted.
3 Click OK.
Deleting a panel from all views in a form

To delete a panel from a panel holder
1 Select the panel you want to delete. 2 Right click, and select Delete from the context menu.
The panel is deleted from all views of the form.
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Background Mode in panel holders

Although a panel holder provides no color controls, the Background Mode setting in a panel holder affects the appearance of panels. Two options are available: OpaqueFields on the form behind the panel in the stacking order are not visible. TransparentIn a browser, fields on the form behind the panel holder in the stacking order are visible unless covered by a panel with a Background Color or Background Image set. This setting produces a pane of glass effectthe fields behind the panel are visible, but they cannot be accessed.
Figure 6-4: Panel holder Background Mode set to Transparent
A panel holders Background Mode also applies to any white space areas, which are portions of the panel holder that are not occupied by a panel. This white space can include: The area created outside the panel borders when margins are set The area of the panel holder that has no panels The area below the last panel in a collapsible panel holder The area that appears when all of the panels in a panel holder are collapsed.
Figure 6-5: White space created by panel margins
White space created by margins
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Setting color options for panels and panel headers

Use the following procedures to set a background color and gradient effects, and color opacity for a panel or a panel header. By default, the background color of a panel is the color of the forms view.
NOTE
Gradient effects are ignored in BMC Remedy User. In tabbed panel holders, colors selected for panels are not applied to the tabs themselves. The background color of the selected tab is white, unless another color is selected for the tab using Cascading Style Sheets. You can set a color for the tab label text.
To set a background color without a gradient in a panel or panel header

1 In the panel, select the Background Color property (for the panel itself) or the
Header Background Color (for the panel header).

2 Right-click in the Value column. Figure 6-6: Custom Color dialog box
3 Click the Color button, select a color from the palette, and click OK. 4 Click OK to close the Custom Color dialog box.
To set a background color with a gradient in a panel or header

1 Perform steps 1 and 2 in To set a background color without a gradient in a panel
or panel header.
2 In the Custom Color dialog box, check Gradient.
The Custom Color dialog box expands to show the gradient options.
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Figure 6-7: Gradient options
3 In the Target Color field, click Color to select the target color for the gradient effect. 4 Select a gradient effect:
Linear HorizontalThe gradient effect starts with the primary color at the top and goes to the target color at the bottom of the panel. Linear VerticalThe gradient effect starts with the primary color at the left side and goes to the target color at the right side of the panel. Reflected HorizontalThe gradient effect starts with the primary color at the top and bottom and goes to the target color at the center of the panel. Reflected VerticalThe gradient effect starts with the primary color at the center and goes to the target color at the top and bottom of the panel.
5 Click OK.
To set color opacity for a panel

In the Opacity property, enter an opacity value of 0, 1.0, or any decimal value between 0 and 1. For example: 0color is fully transparent 1.0 color is fully opaque 0.5color is semitransparent
NOTE
The Opacity setting is ignored in BMC Remedy User. If the setting is 0, the color is fully transparent in BMC Remedy User; if the setting is greater than 0, the color is fully opaque.
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Adding an image to a panel

You can use an image as the background of a panel field, of the cells in a cell-based table field, or of a form view. For more information about adding an image to a panel, see Adding background images to fields and form views on page 260.
NOTE
The Opacity settings for the panel do not affect the opacity of the image itself. An images opacity is determined by the settings applied in the tool that was used to create the image.
Applying border colors and thickness to a panel

To apply a color to a panel border
1 Select the panel to which you want to apply a border color. 2 Select the Border Color property. 3 Click the Down arrow. 4 Select Custom. 5 Select a color from the color picker, and click OK.
To change a panel borders thickness NOTE

Border thickness cannot be set for panels in tabbed panel holders.
1 Select a panel. 2 Select the Border Thickness property. 3 Enter a value from 0 (no border) to 9 (maximum thickness).
Applying rounded corners to a panel

Use the following procedures to apply rounded corners to one or more corners of a panel.
To apply the same rounding radius to all four corners of the panel
In the Rounded Corners property, enter a number (for example, 25). This number will apply the same rounding radius to all four corners of the panel.
Figure 6-8: Panel with four rounded corners (Web)
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To apply different rounding radii to panel corners

Enter one number for each corner, separated by commas; for example: 15,15,0,0. The values you enter will be applied in the following order: Top left Top right Bottom left Bottom right Enter zero to apply no rounding to a corner, or leave blank.
Figure 6-9: Panel with two rounded corners (browser)
NOTE
Rounded corners are not displayed in BMC Remedy Developer Studio or BMC Remedy User.
Moving a panel to another panel or panel holder

To move a panel to another panel or another panel holder
1 Select the panel to be moved. 2 Right-click. 3 Select Move Panel to...from the context menu. Figure 6-10: Move Panel to Other Panel Holder dialog box
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4 In the Move Panel to Other Panel Holder dialog box, select the new location for the
panel. If you select a panel holder, the panel becomes the last panel of the panel holder where is has been moved. If you select another panel or a view, the panel is placed as a basic panel on the container where it has been moved.
Deleting a panel from a panel holder

To delete a panel from a panel holder
1 Right-click the panel you want to delete. 2 Choose Delete.
Shared fields in panel holders

A field is in a panel if you drop it on the panel when you create it, if you move it on to the panel, or if you right-click in the panel and choose Create a New Field. BMC Remedy Developer Studio does not support adding shared fields to panels. You can view shared fields in panels if the field was shared using BMC Remedy Administrator.
To view the shared fields in a panel holders

1 Select a panel holder. 2 In the Properties tab, select Shared Fields, and click its ellipsis button. 3 The Shared Fields dialog box lists the shared fields for the panel holder.
NOTE
If you remove a shared field from a panel, you cannot make it shared again using BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
Expanding and collapsing panels using workflow

In addition to the ability to expand or collapse panels from the header, you can use Active Link Execute On conditions and Change Field options to expand and collapse panels. In addition, you can use the execute-on conditions On Expand and On Collapse to apply workflow actions when a panel is expanded or collapsed. The Change Field options include an Expand/Collapse panel option, which allows you to specify expanding or collapsing a panel on a Change Field action. For more information about these workflow actions, see the Workflow Guide.
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Creating trim fields
Workflow considerations for panels

If you do not display the borders and tabs for a tabbed panel holder, you must create workflow to allow users to change which panel is displayed. For information about removing borders and tabs, see To create a panel holder on page 167. Remember these considerations when building workflow for panels: When active links are executed, a specific panel gains focus when any of these conditions occur: A user clicks a panel. A user tabs to a panel. An active link sets focus to a panel. A panel in a tabbed panel holder loses focus when any user or workflow operation causes the focus to move from a tab. Panel visibility is not always dependent on field focus. You can use the following workflow actions with panel fields: Use the Set Fields action on a panel holder to bring a panel (by using its database name) to the top of the panel holder without setting focus. Use the Change Field action to change focus to a panel, to make a panel or panel holder hidden or visible, or to set the panel label color. You can use a panel holder as a data source in workflow. For example, you can use a Run If qualification such as 'PageHolder' = "Page3". If users have permissions to a table field in a panel or panel holder but they do not have permissions for a panel or panel holder that contains a table field, active links and active link guides cannot access that table. To work around this issue, give users permissions to the panel holder, and then hide the holder. For more information, see the Workflow Objects Guide.

Use this procedure to create any of these trim fields: Horizontal line Vertical line Trim text Trim box
NOTE
For an overview of trim fields, see Trim fields on page 143.
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To create trim fields

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > trimType.
The new trim field appears on the form.

3 Select the trim field. 4 (Trim text) In the Properties tab, select the Text property, click its ellipsis button,
enter the text that will appear on the form into the Text dialog box, and click OK. See also To add a URL to a trim text field on page 179.
5 (Trim text) Set these properties:
Text AlignSpecifies where text is positioned relative to the top and bottom edges of the text box: Top, Middle (default), or Bottom. Text StyleSpecifies a font type for the text field. For information about the font family, style, and size of each type, see form font preferences in the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
NOTE
Users can change the font family, style, and size of each font type by using the BMC Remedy User Display options settings. As the administrator, your font preferences should match that of the majority of your users tools.
6 Set the remaining field properties.
See Appendix D, Field properties. By default, trim box and trim text backgrounds are opaque (default trim text backgrounds are the color of the form). To show the area beneath a trim box or trim text (for example, when using an image on a button and placing trim text on the image), make their backgrounds transparent, and bring the trim box or trim text to the front (choose Layout > Bring To Front).
NOTE
In some browsers, users cannot click fields under a transparent trim box. For applications viewed in a browser, place trim box fields under other fields.
7 Select the trim field, drag it to a position in the form, and adjust its size.

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Adding a URL to a trim text field

Using a trim text field, you can add a URL to a form that links users to an Internet or intranet site or that opens a file in its associated program. In BMC Remedy User, the URL target opens in a browser window. In a browser, the target opens in a new window.
To add a URL to a trim text field

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Create a trim text field (see To create trim fields on page 178).

3 Select the trim text field. 4 In the Properties tab, select the Text property, and click its ellipsis button. 5 In the Text dialog box, enter the text that will appear on the form.
For example, enter Go to the BMC Software site.

6 Select all or part of the text to convert to a URL, and click Insert URL. 7 In the Insert URL dialog box, enter the appropriate URL.
For example, enter http://www.bmc.com. You can use any of these prefixes:
file: ftp:// gopher:// http:// mailto:
TIP
Before using the URL in the trim text field, test it in your browser.
8 Click Insert.
The URL text in the Text dialog box is automatically converted to HTML. For example:
Go to the <a href="www.bmc.com">BMC Software</a> site
By default, the URL appears in blue text.

9 Click OK. 10 (Optional) Change the color of the URL text: a Select the trim text field. b In the Properties tab, select Custom from the URL Color drop-down list. c In the URL Color palette, select the appropriate color.
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d Click OK.
Only the color of the URL text is updated. For example, if you use the text in step 8, only BMC Software is updated. To update any other text in the trim text field, use the Label/Text Color property.
For more information about adding URLs to a form, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
Creating global fields

Global fields are display-only fields. AR System has two types of global fields: Regular global fieldsShare data across multiple windows and forms. See Regular global fields on page 181. Window-scoped global fieldsShare data across multiple records in the same window. See Window-scoped global fields on page 181. To make a field a global field, you set the field ID to a value within a reserved range (see To create a regular global field on page 181 and To create a window-scoped global field on page 182). The following types of fields can be global fields: Character Currency Date Date/Time Decimal Diary Integer Real Selection (drop-down list, radio button, or check box) Time View (window-scoped global fields only) You cannot create default values for global fields. The values in global fields begin as NULL until active links initialize them or users enter information into them. The values in global fields are not affected if users choose Edit > Clear All or Edit > Set to Defaults. For more information about display-only fields, see Entry Mode on page 368.
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Creating global fields
In forms viewed in a browser, global fields are implemented as encoded values in cookies, which have a 4 kilobyte limitation. (With other cookie data, you can estimate that 3,500 bytes can be stored.) Global values are checked and fields are updated when a window receives focus.
Regular global fields

Use regular global fields to share data across multiple forms. The field value stays in BMC Remedy User memory until the next login. In a browser, the value in the global field persists across forms for the user session, but the value is not shared across sessions. Use regular global fields for information that is expected to be shared across multiple forms and windows in an application. For example, on several forms, you might include a global field for a users license information.
To create a regular global field

1 Add one of the valid global field types to a form.
For a list of valid field types, see Creating global fields on page 180.
2 Select the field. 3 In the Properties tab, set the fields database ID to a value from 1000000 through
1999999. See ID on page 371.

4 Copy the global field to multiple forms.
Make sure that each copy of the global field uses the same field ID number.
Window-scoped global fields

Use a window-scoped global field to share data across multiple records in the same window. The initial field value is set by a user or by active links and stays in the field until the window is closed. This value must be reinitialized when the window reopens. For example, you could use window-scoped global fields to display information about weather conditions in a view field. The information remains the same while the user performs searches on other fields in the same window. If you displayed the same information in a regular global field, it would have to be refreshed every time a new record is displayed. With a window-scoped global field, you set the value once for that window and update the value when you choose to do so by using active links. For example, you could update the information about weather conditions on an interval.
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To create a window-scoped global field

1 Add one of the valid global field types to a form.
For a list of valid field types, see Creating global fields on page 180.
2 Select the field. 3 In the Properties tab, set the fields database ID to a value from 3000000 through
3999999. See ID on page 371.
Managing fields
The following sections explain how to modify, copy, delete, disable, and find fields in a form.
Modifying fields
If you modify the display properties of a field, the modifications apply only to the current form view. If you modify any other field properties, the modifications apply to all form views.
To modify a field
1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Select the appropriate field. 3 In the Properties tab, modify the field properties as needed.

4 If necessary, drag the field to another position in the form, and adjust its size.

Copying fields
You can copy all field types except attachment fields. Most properties of the copy are the same as the original with these exceptions: If you copy a field to the same view or to a different view of the original form, the only field properties that change are the ID and Name. If you copy a field to a different form, all the fields properties (including the ID) remain the same. However, if you want to use the field in shared workflow (for example, in an active link), you must modify the workflow to include the form to which the field was copied.
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WARNING
Be careful when using different field names that share the same field ID because shared workflow might use the field ID. You might want to use the same field name to help you remember what the fields purpose is on each form if you attach shared workflow to multiple forms. Regardless of the form or form view to which you copy a field, menus attached to a field are copied with the field and do not need to be reattached.
To copy a field
1 Open the form from which you want to copy a field. 2 Right-click the field, and choose Copy.
You can also select and copy multiple fields.

3 Open the form to which you want to copy the field. 4 Right-click the form, and choose Paste.
The new field appears on the form. If the form has multiple views, these conditions apply: If your form preferences are set to add that type of field to all form views, the field is added to all form views. For more information about form preferences, see the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio. If your form preferences are not set to add that type of field to all form views, the field is added only to the current form view. To add the field to a different form view, too, select the view, and choose Form > Add/Remove Fields On View. See Including and excluding fields from form views on page 289. If you copy the field to a different view on the same form, a dialog box appears with this prompt: Do you wish to add existing fields to this view or create new fields? Select one of these options, and then click OK: Create New FieldsCreates a copy of the field, and adds it to the view. The copied field has the same properties as the original field except for the ID and Name. Add to ViewAdds the selected field to the view. No fields are created. The added field has the same properties as the original field. For another way to perform this operation, see Views on page 387.
5 Select the newly pasted field. 6 In the Properties tab, modify the field properties as necessary.


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Deleting fields
When a field is deleted, it is removed from all form views. When you save a form from which you have deleted a field, the field is deleted from the form in the database, and the field and its associated data for each request are also deleted from the database and space is freed. The operation might take several minutes to complete. Because your database might be unavailable while the deletion is occurring, users might not be able to access the server and might receive time-out messages. To minimize user inconvenience, perform deletions during off-peak hours. To disable data fields without removing them or their associated data from the database, see Making data fields nonoperational on page 184.
To delete a field
1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the field, and choose Delete.
You cannot delete core fields. See Core fields on page 332.
3 In the confirmation box, click Yes to delete a single field, or click Yes To All to
delete multiple fields.

NOTE
When you delete a panel field, the data fields on the panel are not deleted; they are only removed from the view. See Including and excluding fields from form views on page 289.
Making data fields nonoperational

To stop using a data field without deleting it, make it nonoperational. Do this for fields that contain necessary data that you do not want users to access or for fields that you plan to delete when you restructure the database.
To make a data field nonoperational

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Select the field. 3 In the Properties tab, change the Entry Mode value to Optional.
The Entry Mode property is enabled only for required and optional fields. You cannot change the entry mode of a display-only field, table field, or panel field. See Entry Mode on page 368.
4 If the form has multiple views, remove the field from all form views except the
current form view. See Views on page 387.
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Managing fields
5 Remove the field from the current form view.
See Including and excluding fields from form views on page 289.
The field is not hidden to current users of the form until they reopen the form or log in again.
NOTE
You can also set permissions to make a field available to selected users only. See Field permissions on page 28.
Finding fields in a form

Use the procedures described in this section to locate a field in a specific form view. These procedures are useful in the following circumstances: The form has a lot of fields. You need to find an unlabeled field. You need to find a field that is behind another field. You know the field ID but do not know where the field is on the form.
Finding fields by label, name, or ID

Use this procedure to search for a field by all or part of the fields label, name, or ID.
To find a field by ID, label, or name

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 If the form has multiple views, select the appropriate view. 3 Choose Edit > Find/Replace. 4 In the Find Field field of the Find Fields dialog box, enter an alphanumeric string
to search for. The string can be all or part of the fields label, database name, or ID.
5 In the By Type section, select the option that identifies the string entered in step 4:
LabelThe name of the field displayed on the form. NameThe name that identifies the field in the database. Field IDThe number that identifies the field internally in AR System.
6 Select the direction to search. 7 (Optional) Select one or more search options. 8 Click Find.
The first field that matches the search criteria is highlighted in the form.
9 Repeat step 8 until all fields matching the search criteria are found. Chapter 6 Creating and managing fields 185
Finding fields in a list on the Outline tab

Use this procedure to search for a field in a hierarchical or tabular list on the Outline tab.
To find a field in the Outline tab

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 If the form has multiple views, select the appropriate view. 3 In the Outline tab, click one of these display format buttons:
Show Tree Overview In this format, the fields are displayed in a tree view, which shows any parentchild relationships among the fields. Each field is identified as follows: fieldTypeIcon fieldDatabaseName (fieldID) Show Table Overview In this format, the fields are listed in a table that contains these columns: Field ID, Name, Label, and Type. You can sort the table on any column.
4 In the Outline tab, select the field that you want to locate.
In the form, the selected field is outlined with a selection box, and its properties are displayed in the Properties tab.
Working with fields in join forms

Field properties function somewhat differently in join forms than in other forms. For each field in a join form, you can perform these tasks: View information about the underlying form and field, such as this: Database properties such as field ID and data type. The name of the field in the underlying form. (This information is helpful for keeping track of field names when they are changed in a join form.) Group permissions. See To view or modify field properties in a join form on page 187. Modify a join fields change history, color, database name, display, font, and help text properties. See To view or modify field properties in a join form on page 187. Add data fields to the join form, or create display-only or trim fields. (Displayonly fields can be inherited or created on the join form.) See Adding data fields to join forms on page 187. Remove fields from the join form. See Removing fields from join forms on page 188.
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Working with fields in join forms
To view or modify field properties in a join form

1 Open the appropriate join form. 2 Select the appropriate field in the join form. 3 In the Properties tab, if the properties are not grouped by category, click the Show
Categories button.
4 Modify any field properties in these categories:
Change History Color Database (name only) Display Font Help Text For information about the properties, see Appendix D, Field properties. In the Properties tab, you can also view important read-only information. For example, the Join Information properties provide information about the underlying form that the field came from.
Adding data fields to join forms

From a database perspective, a join form is a temporary composite table. Therefore, you cannot add data fields directly to a join form. Instead, you can add only data fields that already exist in the underlying primary or secondary form. The following procedure explains how to do that.
NOTE
You can add trim fields (lines, text, and boxes), buttons, panel fields, table fields, and display-only data fields directly to a join form in the same way that you add them to other types of forms.
To add a data field to a join form

1 Open the appropriate join form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Add Fields from formName, where formName is the
primary or secondary form that contains the appropriate field. The Add Fields dialog box appears. It contains a list of fields in the underlying form that are not on the join form.
3 In the Select Field from formName list, select the appropriate fields, and click OK.
The selected fields appear in the upper-left corner of the join form.
4 Drag the fields to the appropriate position in the join form.
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5 To modify the display properties of the new data fields: a Select the field. b In the Properties tab, if the properties are not grouped by category, click the
Show Categories button.

c Modify the field properties in these categories as needed:
Change History Display Help Text See Appendix D, Field properties.

Removing fields from join forms

You can remove inherited data fields from a join form at any time, but doing so removes them only from the join form view, not from the database. To delete a data field displayed in a join form from the database, you must delete the field from the underlying form (see Deleting fields on page 184.).
NOTE
If you remove a display-only field or trim from a join form, it is actually deleted.
To remove a field from a join form

1 Open the appropriate join form. 2 Select the appropriate field.
You can also select and remove multiple fields.

3 Choose Edit > Delete. 4 In the confirmation box, click Yes to delete a single field, or click Yes To All to
delete multiple fields.

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Chapter
Working with tables
This section describes how to create and modify tables. The following topics are provided: About table fields (page 190) List view tables (page 191) Tree view tables (page 192) Cell-based tables (page 199) Alert lists (page 202) Results lists (page 203) Creating table fields (page 204) Workflow considerations for table fields (page 219) Adding buttons and URLs to tables (page 220) Creating dynamic tables (page 224) Enabling users to customize columns (page 226) Refreshing table fields (page 229)
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About table fields

AR System supports the following types of table fields: List view (see page 191) Tree view (see page 192) Cell-based (see page 199) Alert list (see page 202) Results list (see page 203) These fields can be used by the client and the server. Depending on your needs, you might use the same table field in one context as a server-side table field and in another context as a client-side table field. The choice depends on where you want to process the information: the client or the server. When using table fields, remember this important distinction: Active links work on table fields on the client. Filters work on table fields on the server. Client-side table fields enable users to view specific fields and requests from a form in tabular format. Requests are displayed in the field based on a search of the source form. A server-side table field is any table field that appears in server-side workflow in filters or filter guides. Use server-side table fields with filters to perform calculations on a set of records. Accordingly, you can create filters to find a specific row in a table field (for example, the last Entry ID) and then perform actions based on specific criteria. You can also use functions with server-side table fields to compute how many records exist, for example, for a given user or for all users. For more information, see the Workflow Objects Guide. Data in a server-side table field is read-only. The most important reason for using server-side table fields is network performance. When you perform actions on large amounts of data (for example, Push Fields actions), server-side tables improve performance because they do not use API calls from the client to the server. To lessen network traffic, use filters with server-side table fields instead of client-side table fields when BMC Remedy User must communicate with the server or when a form in a browser must communicate with the mid tier to the server and back through the mid tier to the browser.
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List view tables
List view tables

Use a list view table field to display data in a standard table grid with column headings. You can have multiple list view table fields on one form. Operations for a list view table field are contained in a context menu.
Figure 7-1: List view table field with menu
NOTE
To make sure a list view table field contains data when a user opens a form, you must create a Change Field action that refreshes the field when the form is loaded. For information about the Change Field action, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
Structure of list view table fields

In list view table fields, each column represents a field from the source form, and each row represents a request from that form. You specify which fields from the source form are displayed as columns in the table. Almost any field can be a column except attachment fields and diary fields with a data length of more than 255 bytes. The columns themselves are also fields, and you can specify their properties. For more information, see Creating table fields on page 204.
Editing row data in list views

If the Table Drill Down property of a list view table is set to True, users can change the data in list view tables by drilling down to the source request. Users must have access permission for the source form, the fields on the source form, and the table field. See Table Drill Down on page 210. You can also make columns associated with data fields editable by setting the Field Access property of the fields on the source form to Read/Write. To store the modified values, use workflow to push them to the source request (see Workflow considerations for table fields on page 219).
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Tree view tables

Use a tree view table field to display data from forms in a hierarchical manner, as shown in Figure 7-2.
Figure 7-2: Tree view table field
In tree view tables, users open and close nodes by double-clicking them or by selecting the plus (+) or minus (-) sign next to them. Workflow that the administrator builds determines what happens when users select a node. For example, a large organization might use a tree view table that lists IT requests by region, as shown in Figure 7-2, to find requests associated with a particular part of the country (Eastern, Central, and Western). The list of requests could be dynamically pulled from the IT database. Users would open the appropriate nodes in the table to find requests for their region. Under each regional node, requests could be grouped by severity (Low, Medium, High, and Urgent). When users click a request leaf node, information about the request could be displayed in fields next to the table, which could be populated through workflow triggered by actions associated with the table (see Workflow considerations for table fields on page 219).
Structure of tree view table fields

A tree view table field can obtain data from only one form, either local or remote. Each level of a tree view table represents a field from the source form (or a column in a list view table). Each node represents one or more requests from that form. Ideally, each leaf node should contain data from a field in one request. For example, the tree view table in Figure 7-3 has these levels:
Table 7-1: Example tree view table levels Level 1 2 3 4 Source field Type Severity Priority Description Nodes Problem, Defect Critical, Severe, Moderate Urgent, High, Medium, Low Customer Down, Incorrect Setup, and so on Requests per node Multiple Multiple Multiple One
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Figure 7-3: Example of tree levels, nodes, and leafs

Level 1 Level 2
Single requests (called leaf nodes because they have no child nodes)
Level 3 Level 4
You use the Sort/Levels property of the tree view table field to specify which fields from the source form appear as levels in the tree view (see Setting sort order and visible levels on page 215). You cannot use these fields as tree levels: Attachment fields, diary fields, or character fields with a data length of more than 255 bytes. Display-only fields Tree levels are also fields, and you can specify their properties. For more information, see Creating table fields on page 204.
Editing data in tree views

If the Table Drill Down property of a tree view table is set to True, users can double-click a leaf node to open the source form, which might show one or more requests. Users must have access permission for the source form, the fields on the source form, and the table field. See Table Drill Down on page 210.
Arranging nodes in tree views

The nodes in each level of a tree view table are sorted alphanumerically. To arrange nodes in a logical order instead, use hidden sort levels. For example, suppose your source form contains this data:
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If you use the Type, Severity, Priority, and Description fields as levels in a tree view table, their data is sorted alphabetically and appears in an unintuitive order:
To arrange each level in a logical manner, add Type Sort, Severity Code, and Priority Code sort fields to the form:
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Then add the new sort fields as levels to the tree view table field in the order shown in the preceding figure. The following figure shows the resulting tree view table when the new sort levels are visible and when they are hidden:
When the sort levels are hidden, child nodes of a node in a hidden level appear as children of the first visible ancestor of the hidden node.
IMPORTANT
The best practice is to hide only levels used for sorting. Do not hide levels that contain data leaf nodes. If a visible parent node with multiple hidden leaf nodes is selected, workflow selects only the request represented by the first hidden leaf node in most instances. It does not select the entire set of leaf nodes associated with the parent node. See Selecting requests in list views and tree views on page 198.
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Using PERFORM-ACTION-TABLE-SELECT-NODE
The PERFORM-ACTION-TABLE-SELECT-NODE command selects nodes according to a specified row and column (level) offset. If a tree view table contains hidden levels, this action might select a hidden node. If it does, the selection is rejected and the first visible ancestor is selected instead. For example, in both of the following tables, the action was instructed to select row 1, column (level) 2:
If the action is instructed to select row 1, column 3 in the preceding example, it selects the Change node in both tables.
Avoiding data inconsistencies

You can create problems in tree views if you mismatch the data used for ordering and the data used for display. In the preceding example, the following Type Sort and Type values are always paired:
Type Sort 1 2 Type Problem Defect
Suppose that a request is submitted with Type Sort = 1 and Type = Defect:
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This error creates two branches in the tree for the Defect type:
To avoid similar problems, design your data model carefully.
Compatibility with earlier releases

In earlier releases, tree levels marked as hidden in BMC Remedy Developer Studio were visible in browsers and in BMC Remedy User. In AR System 7.5.00, tree levels marked as hidden will be hidden in all clients.
IMPORTANT
Check applications based on earlier versions of AR System to verify that all levels in tree view tables that should be visible are visible.
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Selecting requests in list views and tree views

Figure 7-4 compares a list view and a tree view derived from the same source form. The list view columns display the source field names, and its rows display the field data. In the tree view, the field data is all that appears.
Figure 7-4: List view versus tree view
List view
Tree view
When users click a row in a list view, they select only one request. To select multiple requests, they must click multiple rows while pressing the Shift or Ctrl key. In a tree view, a node can represent one or more requests. For example, if a user selects D in the previous example, all the requests under D (x and y) are selected. If more than one request is selected, the first request (in this example, x) is considered the primary request, and the other requests are secondary. Workflow uses the primary request for all field value references except those in table loop guides. In table loop guides, all the requests (primary and secondary) are processed in turn. Be aware of this functionality when creating workflow for tree views (see Workflow considerations for table fields on page 219).
Refreshing tree view tables

Unlike list view table fields, tree view table fields do not include operations such as Refresh or Select All. To ensure that a tree view table field contains data when a user opens a form in a mode other than Modify, you must create a Change Field action that refreshes the field when the form is loaded. For information about the Change Field action, see the Workflow Objects Guide. For information about refreshing tree view table data in Modify mode, see Refresh on Entry Change on page 209.
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NULL values in tree view table fields

NULL values are displayed in tree view table fields as follows: When users select a parent node and any of its child nodes have data, all child nodes (including NULL nodes) are displayed. If all child nodes are NULL, the first child node appears, but the rest of the nodes are collapsed. If a parent has only one child and that child is NULL, the child is not displayed. NULL data is represented with the words No Value in brackets ([No Value]) unless you specify a different string for the tree view table fields Display NULL Value As property (see page 207).
Cell-based tables
Use a cell-based table field to display a row of data in a single table cell. For example, a list view table field displays text in a traditional grid format with column headings as shown in Figure 7-5.
Figure 7-5: Traditional list view table field
In a cell-based table field, the information from each table row is displayed in each cell of the table, as shown in Figure 7-6.
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Figure 7-6: Cell-based table field
The cell of the table, which is repeated for each row of data, is represented by a panel field in the BMC Remedy Developer Studio Outline tab. That panel field is part of the cell-based table (and cannot be deleted), and the table shares many field properties with panels.
NOTE
In a browser and BMC Remedy Developer Studio, cell-based tables have the format shown in Figure 7-6. In BMC Remedy User, however, cell-based tables display a list view table (see page 191) at the top and one cell-based table cell at the bottom. The list view is read-only. If the table has no records or if nothing is selected in the list view portion, the fields in the cell portion are unavailable. When a user selects a row in the list view, the cell displays data for that row. When a user updates information in the cell, the corresponding list view row is updated after the user selects a different row in the list view.
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You can have multiple cell-based table fields on one form, and they can appear in multiple views. Commands for a cell-based table field, such as Refresh and Select All, are in a context menu. Double-clicking a cell or field in a cell opens the source form linked to the table. The source form displays the record shown in the clicked cell. Cell-based tables support chunking. They also support tabbing as follows:
Table 7-2: Tabbing in tables Use this key Tab In a browser To move focus from . . . Outside the table to the table header Header to the first cell field Field to field in a cell Cell to the table footer Footer to a field outside the table Cell to cell Outside the table to the list view part of the table Selected row in the list view to the cell part of the table Field to field in the cell Cell to a field outside the table Row to row in the list view In BMC Remedy User
Up and down arrow
After you add a cell-based table to a form, you cannot change it to another type of table, nor can you display it as a different type of table in different views.
Templates for cell-based tables

You can bind a template to a view field in a cell-based table and specify fields to provide the template parameters. Workflow is not needed to initialize the table. See Binding a template on page 268 for more detail.*
Editing data in cell fields

If the Table Drill Down property of a list view table is set to True, users can change the data in cell-based tables by drilling down to the source request. Users must have access permission for the source form, the fields on the source form, and the table field. See Table Drill Down on page 210. You can also make columns associated with data fields editable by setting the Field Access property of the fields on the source form to Read/Write. To store the modified values, use workflow to push them back to the source form (see Workflow considerations for table fields on page 219).
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Alert lists
Use an alert list table field to display an alert list in the web view:
Figure 7-7: Alert list table field
Each AR System server installation includes the Alert List form, which includes an alert list table field in a web view. To display an alert list, you can add this form to your web-based applications or use your own form. A form can have only one alert list table field. The source form for an alert list is the Alert Events form, but when users drill-down in the table field, they see the request on the form that generated the alert. To support drill-down from the alert list table field, the forms originating the alerts must contain results list table fields. For more information about implementing alert lists in a browser, see the Configuration Guide.
Structure of alert list table fields

In alert list table fields, each column represents a field from the Alert Events form, and each row represents a request from that form. The columns themselves are also fields, and you can specify their properties. For more information, see Creating table fields on page 204.
Editing row data in alert lists

If you give users permission, they can change the data in alert lists by drilling down to the source request. See Table Drill Down on page 226.
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Results lists
Results lists
Forms can display results lists in these formats: Results list paneBy default, forms viewed in BMC Remedy User and in a browser include a results list pane that shows a list of requests returned by a search:
In New mode, the pane is hidden. In Search mode, the pane is visible only after a search. For information about customizing results list panes, see Defining search results on page 115. Results list table fieldThis type of table field is primarily for legacy support. If a form contains a results list table field: In a browser, the results list pane is hidden, and search results are displayed in the table field. Clicking a request in the table field displays the requests data in the form. In BMC Remedy User, the results list pane is visible, and search results are displayed in both the pane and the table field. Clicking a request in the pane displays the requests data in the form. Clicking a request in the table field, however, does not display the requests data in the form. A form can have only one results list table field; each view of the form, however, can display different columns in the results list table field. To add columns to a results list table field, use the Tree/Table Property dialog box (see Creating table fields on page 204).
NOTE
The columns specified in the Results Lists Fields page of the Form Properties dialog box affect the results list pane, not the results list table field (see Defining search results on page 115).
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Editing row data in results lists

Users can display and modify a record in the current form by selecting that record in the results list table field.
Creating table fields

This section explains how to create the following types of table fields:
Table 7-3: Types of table fields Table field List view Tree view Cell-based Alert list Results list
1 1
View in a browser? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
View in BMC Remedy User? Yes Yes Yes (format differs) No Yes
Results list table fields are primarily for legacy support. For information about results list panes, see Defining search results on page 113.
To create a table field, perform these procedures:

Step 1 Adding a table field to a form on page 205 Step 2 Customizing table labels on page 211 Step 3 Setting column properties on page 213 Step 4 Setting sort order and visible levels on page 215 Step 5 (Optional) Setting row colors on page 217 Step 6 Setting the remaining table properties on page 219
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Adding a table field to a form

Use this procedure to add a table field to a form and to configure its basic properties.
To add a table field to a form

1 Open the appropriate form. 2 Right-click the form, and choose Create a New Field > tableField.
tableField can be any of these values: Table - List View Table - Tree View Table - Cell Based Alert List Results List The new field appears on the form.
3 Add columns, levels, or cell fields to the table as follows: a Select the table field. b In the Properties tab, select one of the following properties, and click its ellipsis
button: (List view, tree view, alert list, results list) Tree/Table Property (Cell-based) Remote/Local Fields The Tree/Table Property or Remote/Local Fields dialog box appears.
c (List view, tree view, cell-based, alert list only) In the Data Source field, select the
source of the tables data: SERVERThe table displays data from the server specified in the Server Name field and the form specified in the Form Name field. SAMPLE DATAThe table displays data from a server and form that are dynamically selected at runtime according to values that users or workflow enters in certain fields. See Creating dynamic tables on page 224.
d (List view, tree view, cell-based only) In the Server Name list, select the server
that contains the form that supplies the tables data.

e (List view, tree view, cell-based only) To select the form that supplies the tables
data, click the ellipsis button to the right of the Form Name field, and use the Form Selector dialog box to select the appropriate form.
NOTE
(Deployable applications only) To restrict the table to forms in a particular application, select the appropriate application in the Application list of the Form Selector dialog box.
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f (List view, tree view, cell-based, alert list only) To limit the data that appears in
the table, click the ellipsis button to the right of the Qualification field, and use the Expression Editor to create a qualification statement. You can use fields from the current form or from the data source form. You can also use keywords. The way qualifications function in table fields is similar to the way that they are used with the Set Fields action. For information about building qualifications, see the Workflow Objects Guide. The character limit for strings in a qualification is 4K. For more information about building qualifications, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
WARNING
If you do not include a qualification, all requests in the data source form appear.
g Select fields in the Fields from Remote Form formName and Local Form
formName list and use the arrow buttons to move them to the Table Columns list. The following types of fields are included in the list: Data fields from the source form Display-only fields from the current form The following types of fields are not in the list and cannot be used as columns: Attachment and diary fields with a data length of more than 255 bytes Display-only fields from the source form View fields You can add up to 128 columns to a table.
TIP
To display a field from the local form in the table but not on the form, hide the field on the form. For list view tables, you can also add buttons and URLs inside the table. See Adding buttons and URLs to tables on page 220. For cell-based tables, fields in the working cell are called cell fields. You can add these types of cell fields: From the current formButton, character fields whose entry mode is Display, menu item, navigation item, trim, and view. (In BMC Remedy User, button and view fields do not appear in the list view portion of the cell-based table, but they do appear in the cell portion.) From the source formData fields.
IMPORTANT
To change a column database ID (for example, to control the ID for purposes of shared workflow), you must change the ID before saving the table field. See To set column properties on page 213.
h To edit a table column heading, right-click the text in the appropriate Column
Title cell, and enter the text that you want to use as the column heading.
i (List view, alert list, results list only) To change the order in which the columns
appear in the table, select the appropriate item in the Table Columns list, and click the Up or Down button. For tree view tables, the order of the fields in the Table Columns list is ignored. Instead, set the order in the Sort/Levels property. See Setting sort order and visible levels on page 215.
j Click OK to close the Tree/Table Property or Remote/Local Fields dialog box. 4 In the Properties tab, set the following table field properties as necessary.
Properties that do not apply to the type of table that you are creating do not appear in the Properties tab when that table is selected.
Table 7-8: Properties used for table fields (Sheet 1 of 4)
Property Auto Fit Columns
Description (List view, cell-based, alert list, results list) To scale column widths proportionally to the width of the table field, set this property to True. This ensures that no horizontal scrolling is necessary to see all columns. When this property is set to False, column widths are not scaled, and a horizontal scroll bar might appear so that users can access all columns. See also the Column Width property on page 214.
Background Color Background Image Background Image Horizontal
(Cell-based only) Background color of all cells in the cell-based table. (Cell-based only) Background image in all cells in the cell-based table. See Adding background images to fields and form views on page 260. (Cell-based only) Position of the image in the cell from side to side. Values are Left Center Fill (stretches image to fill the width of the cell) Right Tile (repeats image across the cell from side to side) See Adding background images to fields and form views on page 260. (Cell-based only) Position of the image in the cell from top to bottom. Values are Top Center Fill (stretches image to fill the height of the cell) Bottom Tile (repeats image across the cell from top to bottom) See Adding background images to fields and form views on page 260. (Tree views only) Specify what appears if a node is a NULL value. You can enter a string up to 255 bytes or 80 characters in this field. If you do not specify a value, [No Value] appears in such nodes. For more information about how NULL values are treated in tree view fields, see Tree view tables on page 192.
Background Image Vertical
Display NULL value As
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Property Display Type
Description (List view and tree view only) Use this property to switch the table format between a list view and a tree view at any time.
Note: If a tree view is displayed in pre-7.0 BMC Remedy User, the format reverts to a
table. Fixed Headers (Browser only) To prevent the table header from disappearing when users scroll down a table, set this property to True. In some browsers, editable drop-down list fields in a table might not appear correctly when this property is set to True. Horizontal Space Initial Row Selection (Cell-based only) Width of the space between columns of cells. Specify in points. Specify what happens the first time the table field is displayed: Select First, Fire WorkflowThe first row or child node is selected, and enabled workflow is executed. Select First, No WorkflowThe first row or child node is selected, and no workflow is executed. No SelectionNo item is selected. Layout Style Margin Bottom (Cell-based only) Specifies how fields are laid out in each cell. See Panel layout policies on page 140. (Cell-based only) Space between the bottom of the cell-based table field and the last row of cells. Specify in points. Margin Left (Cell-based only) Space between the left side of the cell-based table field and the first column of cells. Specify in points. Margin Right (Cell-based only) Space between the right side of the cell-based table field and the last column of cells. Specify in points. Margin Top (Cell-based only) Space between the top of the cell-based table field and the first row of cells. Specify in points. Max Rows Enter the maximum number of records that can be returned by a search. The default is 0, which means that the number of records is unlimited unless the Limit Number of Items Returned user preference is selected.
Note: Because users can override the Max Rows setting by selecting Refresh All in
BMC Remedy User, also use an appropriate qualification to control the amount of data that can be returned by a search (see step f on page 206). Alternatively, use chunking to return all records while limiting the number of records displayed at one time. If you enable chunking, this setting is ignored. See the Size of Chunk property in this table. Next Label If chunking is enabled, specify the label that users click to proceed to the next chunk. This label does not appear if the current chunk is the last chunk. See the Size of Chunk property in this table. Panel Border Color 208 (Cell-based only) Color of lines surrounding the cells.
Property Panel Border Thickness Panel Height Panel Width Previous Label
Description (Cell-based only) Dimension of lines surrounding the cells. Specify in points. (Cell-based only) Size of cells from top to bottom. Specify in points. (Cell-based only) Size of cells from left side to right side. Specify in points. (List view, cell-based, results list) If chunking is enabled, specify the label that users click to return to the previous chunk. This label does not appear if the current chunk is the first chunk. See the Size of Chunk property in this table. (Modify mode only) Specifies if table data is refreshed in these situations: A user opens the form containing the table in Modify mode. After opening the form, a user selects a different request in the results list. If users must see the contents of the table in these situations, set this property to True. To reduce performance impact, limit the use of this feature (each refresh requires a database search). When this property is set to False, users can manually refresh table data as follows: (BMC Remedy User) Clicking the table field (BMC Remedy User) Right-clicking the table field and choosing Refresh Table (Browsers) Clicking the Refresh button if the developer supplies it (see Customizing table labels on page 211) To use workflow to refresh a table field, select the Table Refresh check box when defining a Change Field active link action. See also Refreshing table fields on page 229.
Refresh on Entry Change
Refresh Row Selection Specify what happens when a table is refreshed: Retain Selection, Fire WorkflowThe current selection is retained, and enabled workflow is executed. Retain Selection, No WorkflowThe current selection is retained, and no workflow is executed. Select First, Fire WorkflowThe first row or child node is selected and enabled workflow is executed. Select First, No WorkflowThe first row or child node is selected and no workflow is executed. No SelectionNo item is selected.
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Property Row Selection
Description Specify how users can select rows in a table: MultipleUsers with selection capability can select multiple rows at the same time. This is the default. SingleUsers with selection capability can select only one row at a time. NoneRow selection is not allowed. In this situation, users cannot Trigger active links Delete a row item Users can Scroll Sort Drill down Create a report
Size of Chunk
(List view, cell-based, results list only) Use this property to return requests in groups by specifying the size of data chunks (the number of records) that can be displayed in the table: If the value is 0, chunking is disabled. To limit the number of records displayed, see the Max Rows property in this table. If the value is greater than 0, the specified number of records is displayed. For example, if you set Size of Chunk to 5, up to 5 requests are initially displayed. The Max Rows setting is ignored. To customize the labels that users click to navigate from chunk to chunk, modify the table fields Next Label and Previous Label properties.
Note: To set the chunk size of server-side tables for the entire server, use the
Configuration tab in the AR System Administration: Server Information form. See the Configuration Guide.
Warning: For tree views, you cannot set chunking in BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
If you set chunking through the AR System configuration file (ar.conf or ar.cfg) as described in the Configuration Guide, users see only the first chunk in the tree, and they cannot display the next chunk. Table Drill Down Specifies if the source request can be displayed. When this property is set to True, users can double-click the table row in BMC Remedy User or a browser to open the rows source request in Modify mode. For tree views, users must double-click a node. See also Row Header on page 212. Vertical Space Visible Columns (Cell-based only) Width of the space between rows of cells. Specify in points. (Cell-based only) Number of cells displayed horizontally in the cell-based table field. If the Layout Style property of the cell-based table is set to Fill and the table is resized in a browser, the number of visible cells can change dynamically.
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Customizing table labels

This procedure explains how to customize the text for hyperlinks, buttons, and informational strings displayed in tables.
To customize table labels NOTE

Tree views do not use label properties.
1 Select the appropriate table field. 2 In the Properties tab, set the following label properties.
Properties that do not apply to the type of table that you are creating do not appear in the Properties tab. You can write strings in different languages for localized form views. To remove a button, function, or message string, clear the appropriate label value.
Table 7-9: Label properties (Sheet 1 of 2)
Property Auto Refresh String
Location Header
Description The message that appears when the Alert Refresh Interval in the Web tab of the AR System User Preference form is set to a value greater than 0. This is an informational message only. The presence of this string does not enable or disable auto refresh. For information about user preferences, see the Configuration Guide.
Delete Button
Footer
The label for the alert delete button.

Note: Available only in a browser. In BMC Remedy User, users open the
Alert Events form or use the View Alerts option. Deselect All Number of Entries Returned Footer Header The label of the hyperlink used to deselect all rows. The message that appears when data is loaded into the table. In forms viewed in a browser, the message is displayed in the table header. In BMC Remedy User (where there is no table header), the message appears in the status bar. You can pass these parameters to this string: {0} Starting row number {1} Ending row number {2} Total number of rows returned {3} Maximum number of rows that can be returned If chunking is not enabled, this field defaults to {2} entries returned - {3} entries matched. If chunking is enabled, this field defaults to Showing {0} - {1} of {3}.
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Table 7-9: Label properties (Sheet 2 of 2)
Property Preferences
Location Header
Description When a value is entered in this field, a right-mouse menu is added to the table field in BMC Remedy User, and a button is added to the table header in a browser. The value becomes the label for the menu or the button. The default value is Preferences. To disable table column preferences, clear the Preferences field. When this field does not have a value, no preference menu or button appears in the table field, and users cannot set preferences for the table. See Enabling users to customize columns on page 226.
Read Button
Footer
The label for the button used to mark an alert as read.

Alert Events form or use the View Alerts option. Refresh Button Header The label for the refresh button. In mid tier 6.3 and later, the refresh button appears above the table to the right instead of in the footer as in previous versions. Report Button Row Header Footer Body The label for the report button. AR System 7.5.00This property enables developers to specify a column that uniquely identifies the data in a row when a table is displayed in a browser. User assistive technology tools read out the content of the cells in the specified column to provide context for the other data in each row.
Tip: For the best results, specify the first column in the table.
AR System 6.37.1.00This property is not supported. In those releases, tables in a browser behave as they do in BMC Remedy User. If users double-click a row, the selected record appears in the new window. Select All Footer The label of the hyperlink used to select all rows. (Internet Explorer only) The column header that appears above the selection column in Accessibility mode. For all other browsers not in Accessibility mode, this property is ignored at runtime. Table Not Loaded String Unread Header Footer The message that appears when a table is initially displayed. The label for the button used to mark an alert as unread.
Select Column Label Body
Alert Events form or use the View Alerts option. 3 Right-click the form, and choose Save.
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Setting column properties

This procedure explains how to set properties for table columns. (In tree views, columns appear as levels. In cell-based tables, columns appear as cell fields.)
NOTE
In cell-based tables, fields in the working cell are called cell fields. Each cell field is linked to a field on the local or remote form. Initially, all the display properties of a cell field match the display properties of the form field to which it is linked except the bounding area properties, which automatically change to reflect the cell fields position in the working cell. The cell fields Help text also matches the form fields Help text. After creating a cell field, you can change these types of field properties: display, color, font, highlight, permissions, and Help text. You cannot modify other properties, such as the data type or default value.
To set column properties

1 To display column properties in the Properties tab, click the appropriate column
heading, tree level, or cell field.
NOTE
In cell-based tables, only the top-left cell, called the working cell, is editable. Changes made to this cell are immediately replicated in the other visible cells. The working cell is not a separate or child field; it is an integral part of the cell-based table field.
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2 In the Properties tab, set the following column properties. Table 7-4: Column properties (Sheet 1 of 2) Property Column Width Description Specify the width of the column in pixels. See also the Auto Fit Columns property on page 207.
Note: Unlike in BMC Remedy User, column size in a browser is not exact. The mid tier
tries to fit columns into the specified table width. If a columns heading and data are narrow and its specified width is wide, the mid tier might shrink the column width to accommodate other columns so that all columns can be seen. Tree views do not use this property. Display Type List view, tree view, alert list, results list Select one of these options: Read OnlyUsers cannot change the field value. EditableUsers can change the value in column cells. Editing cells in a table does not affect data in the source form. On refresh or sort, changes that users make are lost, and the data displayed in the table is from the source form. Editing a table also does not affect the modify flag of the form, nor does it affect row colors. Tree views ignore this option. Read Only-HTMLUsers cannot change the field value. In a browser, data in the cell is displayed as HTML. For example, if a cell contains <b>my cell</b>, it is displayed as my cell, but in BMC Remedy User, it is displayed as <b>my cell</b>. Tree views ignore this option. If the column references a display-only field, you can specify the initial value of the column in the Initial Value field (see the following property). For more information about display-only fields, see Entry Mode on page 368. Cell-based Display Type options match the options of the external field to which the cell field is linked. Initial Value (List view, tree view, cell-based, results list) For columns, levels, and cell fields that reference display-only fields, specify the initial value, which can have up to 255 bytes. If the column, level, or cell field has a display type of Editable or Read Only, its initial value can be either text or the value from another column in the same table. If the column, level, or cell field has a display type of Read Only-HTML, its initial value can be a combination of text and column references. If Default Value is a column reference, such as $Column2$, the value in the displayonly column, level, or cell field is set to the corresponding value in that column. If the column reference is invalid, the reference is displayed as text. To specify an initial value, do one or both of the following, depending on the fields display type: Enter text into the Initial Value propertys Value cell. Select the Initial Value property, click its ellipsis button, and use the Field Selector dialog box to specify column references. Alert lists do not use this property.
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Table 7-4: Column properties (Sheet 2 of 2) Property Name Description To change the column, level, or cell field database name, edit the value of this property.
Note: To change the column database ID (for example, to control the ID for purposes
of shared workflow), you must change the ID after adding the column and before saving the table field. See To add a table field to a form on page 222. Wrap Text To wrap two or more lines of data in table column fields and to allow carriage returns in row data, set this property to True. This property does not apply to tree views. Visible To hide the column, set the Visible property to False. See also Setting sort order and visible levels on page 236. 3 For display-only fields, optionally specify a default value in the Default Value
field. See Appendix D, Field properties.

4 (Cell-based only) If necessary, reconfigure the display properties of the working
cell to accommodate the cell fields. For example, you can change the cells width and height by dragging its borders.
NOTE
The working cell is part of the cell-based table field; it is not a separate field. When the working cell is selected, however, the Properties view shows only the table field properties that apply to the working cell.
5 To hide the table header or footer, right-click the table, and choose Hide Header or
Hide Footer. To redisplay the header or footer, right-click the table, and choose Show Header or Show Footer.
6 Set the remaining properties as necessary.

Setting sort order and visible levels

Use the Sort/Levels or Sort property to specify the following: The order in which data appears when a table is refreshedthat is, the primary sort column, the following sort columns, and columns that do not participate in the sort. For example, if you sort first by Assembly Manager and then by Part Number, requests appear alphabetically by Assembly Manager in list views. In tree views, Assembly Manager values are higher in the tree hierarchy (further to the left in the tree display) than Part Number values.
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The default sort direction (ascending or descending) for each column. Users can click a column heading to re-sort data in the opposite direction. (Tree view) The visible tree levels. If you do not define a sort order for a list view, results list, or alert list, requests appear in ascending order based on the Request ID. If you do not define a sort order for tree views, AR System sorts the tree by the column at the top of the Table Columns list in the Tree/Table Property dialog box.
NOTE
In BMC Remedy User, you can sort on columns that reference display-only fields, but you cannot do so in a browser.
To set sort order and visible levels

1 Select the appropriate table field. 2 In the Properties tab, select one of the following properties, and click its ellipsis
button: (List view, tree view, alert list, results list tables) Sort/Levels (Cell-based tables) Sort
3 In the Available Columns list of the dialog box, select the columns by which you
want to sort the table data. Table columns associated with character fields whose input length is more than 255 bytes do not appear in the Available Columns list.
4 Click the arrow button to move the selected columns to one of these lists:
(List view, tree view, alert list, results list tables) Sort Order/Tree Levels (Cell-based tables) Sort Order Columns that are not included in the sort order do not appear in tree view tables at runtime. They can still, however, be used in workflow.
5 Use the Up and Down buttons to set the sort order of the columns or levels.
The field that appears at the top of the list has the highest precedence.
6 To change the sort direction of a column, click its Sort Direction cell.
Clicking the cell switches the sort direction between ascending and descending. Ascending order for numeric fields means that values such as lower ID numbers or earlier dates appear at the top of the table list. Ascending order for character fields means that requests are sorted alphabetically from A to Z.
7 (Tree view only) To create hidden sort levels, select each column that you want to
hide, and click its Visibility cell. The Visibility value changes from Visible to Hidden. See Arranging nodes in tree views on page 193.
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Sorting tables in browsers versus BMC Remedy User

Table column data is sorted differently in browsers and BMC Remedy User: BrowsersRequests to sort data in table columns are sent to the AR System server, which sorts the underlying data in the database. Hence, display-only columns cannot be sorted in browsers because their data is not stored in the database. In addition, if users change column data in the browser but the change is not pushed to the form, the changed data is not included in the sort because it is not in the database. BMC Remedy UserColumn data is sorted locally, so display-only columns and changes that were not pushed to the form are included in the sort.
Setting row colors

This section explains how to set the colors of individual rows in a table. The colors are based on the value of one of the selection fields (see page 130) in the table. For example, you might make all New requests red and all Assigned requests green. Or, as shown in Figure 7-10, you might set engine parts whose status is Backordered in red to alert the assembly manager.
Figure 7-10: Example of using row color in a table
Using color in tree views

For tree view table fields, only leaf nodes are colored. If the visible leaf nodes are actually parent nodes associated with multiple child request nodes, the color of a parent leaf nodes is based on the first hidden child request under that parent. For example, the color selection in Figure 7-11 on page 218 is linked to the Priority values in level 6: Urgent (red), High (orange), Medium (blue), and Low (green). In the first and second trees, the leaf nodes represent individual requests and their colors are meaningful. But in the third table, the leaf nodes can represent multiple requests with different priorities; hence, the priority of the first request under each leaf controls the color of the leaf.
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Figure 7-11: Colored nodes in tree views
To set row colors

1 Select the appropriate table field. 2 In the Properties tab, select the Results Color property, and click its ellipsis button. 3 In the Results Color dialog box, click the ellipsis button to the right of the Selection
Field field.
4 In the Available Fields list of the Field Selector dialog box, double-click the name
of the selection field whose value will determine the row color. A list of all the fields selection values appears in the Results Color dialog box.
5 To specify the color of text for rows that have a particular selection value: a Click the Color cell of the value, and select Custom from the drop-down list. b Choose a color from the color palette, and click OK.
The selected color is displayed in the color cell.

6 (List view, cell based) To specify the background color for rows that have a
particular selection value:

a Click the Background cell of the value, and select Custom from the drop-down
list.
b Choose a color from the color palette, and click OK.
The selected color is displayed in the Background cell.
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7 When you finish setting results colors for the selection field, click OK. 8 Right-click the form, and choose Save.
Setting the remaining table properties

This procedure explains how to set the remaining table properties.
To set the remaining table properties

1 Select the appropriate table or column. 2 In the Properties tab, set the remaining field properties as needed.

3 Select the table field, drag it to a position in the form, and adjust its size.
See Arranging fields in a form view on page 290. In a browser, all tables except tree views have space allocated at the top and bottom for buttons such as Refresh and Select All, so make the table field tall enough in BMC Remedy Developer Studio to leave room for the buttons.
Workflow considerations for table fields

You can use active links and filters to modify data in the source form of a table field as follows:
1 Create a Set Fields action to pull request data from a row into a set of fields.
Users can then modify the values in the set of fields.

2 Create a Push Fields action to push the new values into the request on the source
form.
3 Create a Change Field action to refresh the table.
You can create active link and filter guides that loop through rows in a table. A guide selects each row in a table field (without highlighting) and performs a series of workflow actions on the row. This action is also known as walking a table field. See the Workflow Objects Guide. You can also select rows and create statistics on columns such as sums, averages, maximum and minimum values, and total number of rows or total number of nonNULL values in a column. For more information about functions you can use with table fields, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
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Workflow in tree view tables

In a tree view, a node can represent one or more requests. If a node representing multiple requests is selected, the first request listed under the node is considered the primary request, and the other requests are secondary. Workflow uses the primary request for all field value references except those in table loop guides. In table loop guides, all the requests (primary and secondary) are processed in turn. See Selecting requests in list views and tree views on page 198.
Workflow in cell-based tables

Workflow in cell-based tablesfor example, firing active links on row selection or setting the current row by using an active link Set Field actionworks the same as it does in other table types, such as list view. Workflow in cell fields works the same as it does in list view table column fields. Clicking a button fires workflow that executes on a Button/Menu Field selection for the cell field. Workflow associated with the control field to which the cell field is linked, however, does not fire. No other field-based workflow execution options, including gain focus and lose focus, are supported for cell fields.
Adding buttons and URLs to tables

In pre-7.5.00 versions of AR System, buttons that affected table items had to be outside the tables. To perform actions with the buttons, users first selected a field in a table row and then clicked the button. Now, you can add buttons to columns inside these types of tables: List view Cell-based For example, this table contains three styles of buttons: URL, text, and image:
Image button URL button
Text button
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When adding buttons to tables, consider these points: Buttons in tables can have text or images but not both. They can also be displayed as URLs in a browser. For an image button, the Button Label value is used only as a column header. To have no column header, leave this property empty. Row height is determined by the tallest button in the row. Regardless of how high a row is, text in other columns is displayed in a single line without wrapping. If you use the standard button size, rows must be higher than usual, and fewer rows might appear in the tables scrollable area. To preserve standard row height in a browser, use CSS to designate a small font for table button labels (see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide). Large images on buttons can make table rows difficult to read. After adding an image to a button in a table column, check the result in a browser to make sure that the button and row text are proportional to each other and that a reasonable number of rows appears in the tables scrollable area. When users resize rows that contain buttons, the buttons are not scaled. Instead, the buttons are clipped or surrounded by extra white space. Clicking a button causes its row to be selected before any workflow fires. Therefore, the column field values can be used as parameters in workflow because they always refer to the same row in which the button click occurred. In BMC Remedy User, a table can have no more than 64 columns that contain buttons with images. This limitation applies to each view of a form.
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Setting workflow for buttons in tables

To execute an active link when users click a button in a table, you must associate the active link with the column field, not with the related button control field that resides on the form. Therefore, in the Execution Options panel for the active link, select the column field, not the control field, in the Field Selector for the Button/Menu Field field:
If you select the control field, the active link will not fire when users click the buttons in the column.
NOTE
You cannot share active links between column and control fields.
To add a button to a list view table

1 Add the button to the form that contains the table. 2 Select the table. 3 In the Properties tab, select one of the following properties, and click its ellipsis
4 In the Fields from Remote Form formName and Local Form formName list, select the
button field.
5 Use the arrow buttons to move the button field to the Table Columns list. 6 Click OK.
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7 (Optional) Modify the button column heading: a On the form, select the appropriate column in the table. b In the Properties tab, edit the Label property value. 8 Modify other column properties as necessary.
All standard column properties apply to columns that contain buttons. The values for the Display Type property have these meanings: Read OnlyButton is disabled. EditableButton is enabled. Read Only-HTMLButton is enabled.
9 (Optional) Hide the button that resides on the form.
NOTE
Because rows do not appear in table list views in BMC Remedy Developer Studio, the button is not displayed inside the table at design time. At runtime, however, identical buttons appear in each row of the table.
To modify a button in a table

1 Select the table. 2 In the Properties tab, select the Tree/Table Property property, and double-click its
ellipsis button.
3 In the Tree/Table Property dialog box, find and note the name of the button field
in the Table Columns list.

4 Close the dialog box. 5 Using the field name found in step 3, find and select the button field that resides
on the form.
6 In the Properties tab, edit the following button properties as necessary:
Alternative text Button Label Display as Flat Image
Image Image Position Label/Text Color
Label Font Maintain Aspect Ratio Scale Image to Fit
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Creating dynamic tables

Instead of hard-coding a table data source, you can specify that the source server and form be dynamically selected at runtime according to values that a user or workflow enters in specified fields. For example, the Dynamic Table Field form in Figure 7-12 contains two fields (server and form) that can be hidden or display-only. The values entered in these fields (for example, from a Set Fields action) at runtime determine which server and form are used as sources for the table field. Administrators might prefer to hide this functionality from users and use the Window Loaded execution condition instead.
Figure 7-12: Using dynamic table fields
In this example, two requests exist in the Source form on the server cordova. If users open the Dynamic Table Field form in BMC Remedy User, enter cordova as the server and Source as the form, and then refresh the table field, the content of the table is refreshed by the underlying active link workflow. The table field displays the requests from the dynamically specified server and form.
NOTE
You cannot use a dynamic data source in a results list.
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To create a dynamic table

1 Select the appropriate table. 2 In the Properties tab, select one of the following properties, and click its ellipsis
3 In the Data Source list, select SAMPLE DATA. 4 In the following fields, enter a server and form to use to add sample field
columns to the table: Sample Server Name Sample Form Name The sample server and form are used as temporary references to create the dynamic table field. You can even delete the sample form after saving the table field. What is important is having a sample form from which to select field columns in step 7. The sample form must contain fields, such as core fields, that exist on any form that can be used as a source form at runtime. By default, the current server and form are selected. You can select a different server from the drop-down list. To select a different form, click the ellipsis button next to the Sample Form Name field, and use the Form Selector dialog box.
5 To specify the fields or keywords (for example, $server$) that determine which
server and form are used at runtime, click the ellipsis buttons next to the following fields, and use the Field/Keyword Selector dialog box. Runtime Server Value Runtime Form Value The fields listed in the dialog box come from the sample form. If you select fields, the server and form that a user or workflow enters into those fields at runtime are used as the source server and form whose data the table displays. For the example in Figure 7-12, the Runtime Server Value field would be set to
server, and the Runtime Form Value would be set to form. 6 In the Qualification field, enter a qualification to specify the search criteria that
determines which requests appear in the table. Fields from the sample form can be used in the qualification. Conversion rules do not apply in this case.
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7 Select the fields to use as columns in the dynamic table field.
Make sure you select fields that are available on any form that can be dynamically selected at runtime. Otherwise, when users refresh the table, they might receive an error that the field does not exist, and no data will appear in the table. For example, in Figure 7-12, the table includes two columns that are core fields required on every form: Request ID and Short Description.
Dynamically defining table field search criteria

To enable users to define table field search criteria dynamically, use the EXTERNAL() operator. See the Workflow Objects Guide.
Enabling users to customize columns

You can enable preferences that let users customize columns in table fields. Users can add and remove columns, resize columns, change the order in which columns appear, and change the order in which data is sorted in tables. When logged in to a preference server, users can save these settings to the preference server, making them available for future logins in both BMC Remedy User and the Web. Users can set preferences for any visible table column except columns (levels) in tree views. To enable preferences, make sure the table fields Preferences property has a value. See the Preferences property on page 212. The following sections describe table column preference options and how they work in a browser and in BMC Remedy User.
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Enabling users to customize columns
Browser table preferences

When column preferences are enabled for a table, a button with the default label Preferences appears in the table heading. (To edit the label, see Customizing table labels on page 211.)
Figure 7-13: Preferences button and menu items in web table header
Preferences button. The label can be edited by the administrator in the table fields Preferences property.
When clicked, the button displays a drop-down menu with these options: Add ColumnDisplays a list of columns that the user can add to the table. The list includes only columns that the administrator made visible and that the user previously hid (such columns have a width of zero).
NOTE
If a tables Auto Fit Columns property is set to True, the width of its columns is adjusted at runtime so that they all appear in the table. As a result, when a previously removed column is re-added to the table, its width might not match the administrator-defined width. Remove ColumnDisplays a list of columns that the user can remove from the table. This list includes only columns that the administrator made visible and whose width is greater than zero. Set Refresh IntervalSets the interval at which a tableincluding the results list paneis automatically refreshed. See Setting refresh intervals on page 229. ResetRestores column width, visibility, and sort order to administratordefined values. Sets the refresh interval to 0. SaveSaves the current column settings to the users preference server, making them available from a centralized location for future logins. If the user is not logged in to a preference server, this option is disabled.
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BMC Remedy User table preferences

When column preferences are enabled for a table, a menu with the default label Preferences appears when users right-click the table. (To edit the label, see Customizing table labels on page 211.)
Figure 7-14: Menu with table preferences submenu in BMC Remedy User
Table column preferences menu
This menu has a submenu that includes these options: Add ColumnDisplays a list of columns that the user can add to the table. The list includes only columns that the administrator made visible and that the user previously hid (such columns have a width of zero). Remove ColumnDisplays a list of columns that the user can remove from the table. This list includes only columns that the administrator made visible and whose width is greater than zero. Column OrderDisplays a dialog box from which users can change the order in which columns appear in the table. ResetRestores column width, column order, visibility, and sort order to administrator-defined values. SaveSaves the current column settings to the users preference server, making them available from a centralized location for future logins. If the user is not logged in to a preference server, this option is disabled.
NOTE
The standard Save operation for a request does not save table preferences. Users must select Save from the table preferences menu to save their table preferences.
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Refreshing table fields
Refreshing table fields

When a table field is refreshed, information from the tables source form appears beneath the column headings. If entries are added to the source form, they appear in the table the next time the table is refreshed. You can set the Refresh on Entry Change property (see page 209) to refresh data automatically whenever a request is displayed or to require manual refresh. By default, the table or tree is cleared when users switch from one request to another. See also Refreshing tree view tables on page 198.
Setting refresh intervals

In a browser, users can set the interval at which a tableincluding the results list paneis automatically refreshed by choosing Preferences > Set Refresh Interval in the tables header. Valid values are 099 minutes. If the interval is 0, no automatic refresh occurs. (Choosing Preferences > Reset sets the refresh interval to 0.) If a preference server is specified, the refresh interval is saved as a table preference so that it can be restored the next time the user opens the same form. In BMC Remedy User, only the results list can be automatically refreshed at specified intervals (choose View > Auto Refresh in the menu bar).
Locale-specific refresh
To refresh tables with locale-specific information, set the table fields Use Locale property to True. Now, when the table is refreshed, the system returns only requests related to the users locale.
NOTE
In the Advanced tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form, the Localize Server option must be selected, and the Locale field (see Locale on page 279 and page 284) must be on the form.
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Chapter
Creating menus
This section describes how to create and modify character field menus. The following topics are provided: About character field menus (page 232) Creating character menus (page 233) Creating file menus (page 235) Creating search menus (page 238) Creating SQL menus (page 244) Creating data dictionary menus (page 248) Refreshing menus (page 251) Adding (clear) to drop-down lists (page 251) Automatically completing menu entries (page 252) Recording menu change history (page 254) Creating help text for menus (page 254) Modifying menus (page 254) Copying menus (page 255) Deleting menus (page 255) Before performing the procedures described in this section, familiarize yourself with Chapter 4, Creating AR System forms, and Chapter 5, Types of fields.
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About character field menus

Character field menus provide lists of options for quick and consistent field data entry. You can attach menus to any character field in any form on the server, and you can use the same menu for as many character fields as you want. You can create the following types of character field menus: Character MenuDisplays a static list of items configured in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. See Creating character menus on page 233. File MenuDisplays a formatted character menu by referencing an external plain text file. See Creating file menus on page 235. Search MenuDraws menu labels and values from a specified form. Used to create menus that are automatically updated to reflect your systems current data. See Creating search menus on page 238. SQL MenuUses an SQL command to retrieve menu labels and values from a database table. Used to create menus that are automatically updated to reflect the data in a specified database. See Creating SQL menus on page 244. Field Data Dictionary MenuPulls labels and values from field objects in the AR System data dictionary. See Creating data dictionary menus on page 248. Form Data Dictionary MenuPulls labels and values from form objects in the AR System data dictionary. See Creating data dictionary menus on page 248.
NOTE
After a menu is created, you cannot change its type. To work around this limitation, delete the menu, create a menu of the appropriate type, and give the new menu the same name as the deleted menu. In BMC Remedy User, users can set a preference to determine whether menus are displayed in pop-up style, tree view (list box) style, or a combination of both (smart menus). In a browser, menus are always displayed as lists.
NOTE
Do not confuse character field menus with menus in the menu bar used to execute active links (see the Workflow Objects Guide) or menus in drop-down list selection fields (see Selection fields on page 130). Initially, menus appear in the Menus list of the server on which they are created. After you add a menu to a character field on a form (or to a Change Field action) that belongs to an application, the menu appears in the applications Menus list.
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Creating character menus

A character menu is a static list of items that can have multiple levels. Plan your menu structure before creating a character menu. Figure 8-1 shows an example of a plan, including parent and child menu items.
Figure 8-1: Design for parent and child menus
First-Level Menu (parent) Second-Level Submenu (child) Third-Level Submenu for Clients (child)
AR System Utilities Clients Remedy User Remedy Import Remedy Alert
To create a character menu

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, choose File > New > Character Menu. 2 Select the server on which to create the menu, and click Finish. 3 In the Menu editor, click Add Menu to create a menu item.
An item is added to the Label/Value list (see Figure 8-2). It has two properties: LabelThe text that appears on the menu. The default label is New Menu 0. ValueThe text that is entered into the character field when users select this menu item. The default value is New Menu 0.
Figure 8-2: New character menu
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4 Double-click the default label, and enter an appropriate label.
The maximum length is 80 characters.

5 Double-click the default value, and enter an appropriate value.
The maximum length is 255 bytes. The Value field applies only to selectable menu items (that is, menu items that are not parents of other menu items).
6 To add another item at the same level as the first item, repeat steps 3 through 5. 7 To create a submenu: a Select an item, and click Add Menu Item.
A subitem (child) is added beneath the selected item (parent), and a minus sign appears to the left of the parent item. The minus sign indicates a menu expanded to show its contents. A plus sign indicates a collapsed menu. Clicking either symbol switches between the two states. You can create as many as 15 menu levels (including the top level), but to enhance usability, use as few levels as possible. This figure shows a two-level menu:
NOTE
If some menu levels appear blank in the Menu editor, increase the width of the Label column until they are visible.
b Edit the subitem label and value.
You can create as many as 99 sub-items for each parent item.

8 To add more menu items, repeat steps 3 through 7 as necessary.
For example, to create the menu hierarchy shown in Figure 8-1:

a Click Add Menu, and replace the default label and value with BMC Remedy AR System. b Select the BMC Remedy AR System item, click Add Menu Item, and replace the default label and value with Utilities. c Click Add Menu, and replace the default label and value with Clients. d To add the third-level items, select the Clients item, click Add Menu Item, and replace the default label and value with BMC Remedy User.
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e Click Add Menu, and replace the default label and value with BMC Remedy Data Import. f Click Add Menu, and replace the default label and value with BMC Remedy Alert. 9 You can also perform these actions:
To modify a menu item, double-click and edit its label or value. To expand or collapse all menu hierarchies, click Open All or Close All. These buttons control your view of the menu definition, not how the menu appears in the UI. (When users open menus, the submenus are hidden.) To delete a menu item, select the item, and click Delete. Child menu items are deleted when you delete the parent menu item. To reorder the menu items, select the item to move, and click Up or Down.
10 (Optional) Modify the menus change history.
See Recording menu change history on page 254.

11 (Optional) Add Help text to the menu.
See Creating help text for menus on page 254.

12 Choose File > Save. 13 In the Save Menu As dialog box, enter a name for the menu, and click OK.
Menu names must be unique on each AR System server. Names can have as many as 80 characters, including spaces. Names can include double-byte characters, but avoid using numbers at the beginning of the name.
14 Attach the menu to any character field in any form.
See Creating data fields on page 146 and Menu Name on page 378.
Creating file menus

A file menu displays a formatted character menu by referencing an external plain text file. The file can reside on the client or the server and can be updated at any time. After you update the file, the changes are automatically applied when the menu is refreshed.
To create a file menu

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, choose File > New > File Menu. 2 Select the server on which to create the menu, and click Finish.
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A new file menu appears as shown in Figure 8-3.

Figure 8-3: New file menu
3 In the Refresh list, select the appropriate refresh mode.
See Refreshing menus on page 251.

4 In the Location list, select the location of the file that contains the menu definition:
ClientFile is on the system where the BMC Remedy User client is running. This location is not supported for a browser. ServerFile is on the computer where the AR System server is running.
5 In the File Name field, enter or browse for the path and name of the plain text file
that contains the menu definition. To format this file, see the following section, Menu file format.


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Menu file format

A menu file is a plain text (.txt) file that contains a formatted menu structure and is used with file menus. You cannot use MS Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) files as menu files. Each line in the file contains a definition of a menu item in this format:
label\value
Where
label is the text that appears on the menu. A label can have a maximum of 80 characters. value is the text that is entered into the character field when users select the menu item. A value can have a maximum of 255 bytes.
To create subitems, use tabs (not spaces). Omit the value for any label that has subitems. This example shows a formatted menu structure with three main items, two of which have subitems:
Consulting Services\Consulting Services Training Administrator\Administrator Training User\User Training Support Standard\Standard Support Priority\Priority Support
You can create as many as 15 levels of menus (including the top level). To enhance usability, use as few levels as possible. A parent item can have as many as 99 sub-items. If you insert a pound sign (#) at the beginning of a line of text, the text that follows the pound sign is ignored.
NOTE
A menu file for a Unicode system must use the encoding used by that system. A menu file stored on a Unicode AR System server must be a UTF-8-encoded text file without the byte-order mark. You can prepare a text file with a Unicode text editor and then remove the first three bytes (hexadecimal EF BB BF) using a byte editor.
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Creating search menus

A search menu draws menu labels and values from a specified form. Use search menus to create menus that are automatically updated to reflect the current data in your system. For example, you could build a menu that displays the names of everyone who has an open help desk request. To do so, select the Submitter field as both the menu Label and Value, and then build a qualification that searches for requests with a Status that is not Closed ('Status' < "Closed").
Figure 8-4: Search menu example
You can create a hierarchical search menu by defining up to five levels. Permissions are verified at the time of the search, so users can see only the items for which they have permission.
To create a search menu

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, choose File > New > Search Menu. 2 Select the server on which to create the menu, and click Finish.
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A new file search appears as shown in Figure 8-5.

Figure 8-5: New search menu

4 In the Data Source list, select one of these options:
SERVERThe menu displays data from the server specified in the Server field and from the form specified in the Form Name field. SAMPLE DATAThe menu displays data from a server and form that are dynamically selected at runtime according to values that users or workflow enters in certain fields. See Creating dynamic search menus on page 242.
5 In the Server list, select the server that contains the form to search. 6 Click the ellipsis button next to the Form Name field. 7 In the Form Selector dialog box, select the form to search, and click OK.
To shorten the list of available forms: In the Name field, type the initial letters of the form name. In the Application field, select the appropriate application.
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To find a form in the Available Forms list, perform one of these actions: Scroll through the list. In the Locate field, enter the first characters of the form name.
8 Select the fields whose values will be used as menu items: a Click Add. b In the Field Selector dialog box, select one or more fields to use as menu items,
and click OK. To shorten the list of available fields, type the initial letters of the field name in the Name field. To find a field in the Available Fields list, perform one of these actions: Scroll through the list. In the Locate field, enter the first characters of the field name. The field appears in the Label Fields list.
c To change the position of the fields in the menu hierarchy, select a field in the
Label Fields list, and click Up or Down. The first fields values are the first-level menu items, the second fields values are the second-level menu items, and so on. Only the first 80 characters of each field value are displayed. In multilevel menus, items in all levels (except the last level) that do not have a value appear blank. If the last-level menu item does not have a value, it does not appear. In single-level menus, if the first or last item does not have a value, it does not appear. If items in the middle of the menu do not have values, they appear blank.
9 Click the ellipsis button next to the Value field. 10 In the Field Selector dialog box, select the field that contains the information to
load into the field when users choose a menu time, and click OK. Only the first 255 bytes of each field value are displayed.
11 Select or clear the Sort On Label check box:
SelectedMenu items appear alphabetically. Identical menu items are combined. For example:
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Cleared (default)Menu items appear in the order that they are retrieved (that is, the form default sort order). Identical menu items are not combined. For example:
When a search menu has a long character field (CLOB column) as a menu label, make sure that the Sort On Label check box is cleared because the database does not support sorting on CLOB columns.
12 To limit the requests that are included in the menu, click the ellipsis button to the
right of the Qualification field, and use the Expression Editor to create a qualification statement. Make the qualification as specific as possible to avoid creating a menu with an unmanageable number of items. You can use fields from the form specified in the Form Name or Sample Form Name field. You can also use keywords. When referencing the value of a field in the specified form, you must use the $fieldID$, not the field name. For example:
'Problem Summary' = $8$
NOTE
If the qualification includes a field value from the specified form, you cannot use the character field pattern $MENU$ for any field to which the menu is attached. Because the server cannot resolve the field references, that value is always rejected. For more information about building qualifications, see the Workflow Objects Guide.


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16 In the Save Menu As dialog box, enter a name for the menu, and click OK.
Creating dynamic search menus

Instead of hard-coding a search menus data source, you can specify that the source server and form be dynamically selected at runtime according to values that a users or workflow enters in specified fields. For example, the Dynamic Search Menu form in Figure 8-6 contains two fields (server and form) that can be hidden or display-only. The values entered into these fields (for example, from a Set Fields action) at runtime determine which server and form are used as sources for the search menu. Administrators might prefer to hide this functionality from users and use the Window Loaded execution condition instead.
Figure 8-6: Using dynamic search menus
In this example, two requests exist in the Help Desk Request form on the server cordova. If users open the Dynamic Search Menu form in BMC Remedy User, enter cordova in the server field and Help Desk Request in the form field, and then click the search menu button attached to the Submitter field, the search menu queries the Help Desk Request form on the source server (cordova), and the returned values are used to dynamically add items to the search menu (Joe User and Josephine User).
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To create dynamic search menus

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, choose File > New > Search Menu. 2 Select the server on which to create the menu, and click Finish. 3 In the Refresh list, select the appropriate refresh mode.

4 In the Data Source list, select SAMPLE DATA. 5 In the following fields, enter a server and form to use to add sample items to the
menu: Sample Server Sample Form Name The sample server and form are used as temporary references to create the dynamic search menu. You can even delete the sample form after saving the menu. What is important is having a sample form from which to select Label and Value fields in step 7. The sample form must contain fields, such as core fields, that exist on any form that can be used as a source form at runtime. By default, the current server is selected. You can select a different server from the drop-down list. To select a form, click the ellipsis button next to the Sample Form Name field, and use the Form Selector dialog box. To shorten the list of available forms in the Form Selector dialog box: In the Name field, type the initial letters of the form name. In the Application field, select the appropriate application. To find a form in the Available Forms list, perform one of these actions: Scroll through the list. In the Locate field, enter the first characters of the form name.
6 To specify the fields that determine which server and form are used at runtime,
click the ellipsis buttons next to the following fields, and use the Field Selector dialog box. Runtime Server Runtime Form Value The fields listed in the Field Selector dialog box come from the sample form. To shorten the list of available fields, type the initial letters of the field name in the Name field. To find a field in the Available Fields list, perform one of these actions, scroll through the list or enter the first characters of the field name into the Locate field.
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At runtime, the server and form that a user or workflow enters into the specified fields are queried to dynamically build the search menu. For the example in Figure 8-6, the Runtime Server field is set to server, and the Runtime Form Value is set to form.
7 Go to step 8 on page 240 in To create a search menu, and perform the remaining
steps in that procedure.
Creating SQL menus

An SQL menu pulls values from a database table by using an SQL query. The database values make up the SQL menu items. By using an SQL query to create a menu, your application can do the following: Select data from databases other than AR System databases. Issue complex queries to the database. This is useful for customers who want to use database features specific to a particular database platform. To use SQL queries effectively, you must understand relational databases in general and your relational database in particular. If an SQL query is databasespecific instead of generic, moving the SQL menu definition to another environment might be difficult. Before creating an SQL menu, determine what information you want to search for in the database and what information your SQL query should return. For example, see Sample SQL menu on page 247.
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Creating SQL menus
To create an SQL menu

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, choose File > New > SQL Menu. 2 Select the server on which to create the menu, and click Finish.
A new SQL menu appears as shown in Figure 8-7.

Figure 8-7: New SQL menu

4 In the Server list, select the database server to which the SQL query will be issued. 5 In the Label Index List field, enter the numerical index of the database column that
contains the information to display as menu item labels. To create a hierarchical menu, enter up to five index numbers separated by commas. The first number becomes the first level, the second number the second level, and so on. Only the first 80 characters of each field value are displayed. In multilevel menus, items in all levels (except the last level) that do not have a value appear blank. If the last-level menu item does not have a value, it does not appear. In single-level menus, if the first or last item does not have a value, it does not appear. If items in the middle of the menu do not have values, they appear blank.
6 In the Value Index field, enter the numerical index of the database column that
contains the information to load into the field when users choose a menu item. Only the first 255 bytes of each field value are displayed.
7 Click the ellipsis button next to the SQL Query field, and use the Expression Editor
to build the SQL query to issue to the database to create the menu. For more information about the Expression Editor, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
Chapter 8 Creating menus 245
Consider these tips when building the query: You can enter only one query for each menu. You cannot enter two queries separated by a semicolon and have both queries run. To run a set of queries, you must create a stored procedure or function and run that. Because AR System does not verify the validity of your query, run the query directly against the database (as a test) before you enter it into the SQL Query field, and then copy and paste the tested query into the SQL Query field. If the query returns unexpected values or results, turn on SQL logging in the database to debug the SQL syntax. An additional debugging strategy is to start an SQL interpreterfor example, isql for Sybase, SQL*Plus for Oracle, Command Center for DB2, or Query Analyzer or Microsoft ISQL/w for SQL Serverand enter the same SQL query directly into the database to see what results are returned. If the SQL operation fails, an AR System error message and the underlying database error message appear. You can greatly affect database performance by the way that you write an SQL query. If a row has many columns, a SELECT * SQL command can have a greater performance impact than if you select specific columns. For more information, see your relational database documentation. See also Database security issues on page 248.
NOTE
If the query includes a field value from the specified form in its WHERE clause, you cannot use the character field pattern $MENU$ for any field to which the menu is attached. Because the server cannot resolve the field references, that value is always rejected.


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Creating SQL menus
Sample SQL menu

Suppose your SQL menu uses this query: SELECT BUG_ID, FIRST_NAME, TECHNCN FROM CUSTOMER_INFO And the query returns the results shown in Figure 8-8.
Figure 8-8: Results returned from the sample SQL query
SELECT BUG_ID, FIRST_NAME, TECHNCN FROM CUSTMR_INFO
1 BUG_ID 5000 5001 5002
2 FIRST_NAME Mary John Mark
3 TECHNCN Zan Fran Tran
Each column has a corresponding numerical index:

1 corresponds to the BUG_ID column 2 to the FIRST_NAME column 3 to the TECHNCN column
Entering 2 into the Label Index List field creates a menu with the contents of the FIRST_NAME column as its menu items (see Figure 8-9).
Figure 8-9: Menu created by the sample SQL query
Entering 1 into the Value Index field inserts values from the BUG_ID column into the field. For example, if a user chooses John from the menu, the BUG_ID value associated with John is entered into the field (see Figure 8-10).
Figure 8-10: Field value if Value Index is set to 1 in sample SQL menu
Entering 3 into the Value Index field inserts values from the TECHNCN column into the field (see Figure 8-11).
Figure 8-11: Field value if Value Index is set to 3 in sample SQL menu
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Entering 2,3 into the Label Index List field creates a hierarchical menu (see Figure 8-12).
Figure 8-12: Hierarchical SQL menu
Database security issues

To use SQL queries, familiarize yourself with your underlying database. All SQL queries are issued by the following users:
Table 8-1: Users of SQL queries Database DB2 Informix MS SQL Server Oracle Sybase User The user who installs AR System The user who controls the arserverd process ARAdmin ARAdmin ARAdmin
If you run AR System as one of these users without permission to access the database, you cannot issue the SQL query. To access nonAR System databases, use the database name as part of the SQL query syntax. For example, for a Sybase/MS SQL database:
databaseName.owner.table acme.ARAdmin.CUSTMR_INFO
Creating data dictionary menus

A data dictionary menu pulls labels and values from field or form objects in the AR System data dictionary.
To create a data dictionary menu

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, choose File > New > dataDictionaryMenuType,
where dataDictionaryMenuType is one of these values: Field Data Dictionary MenuThe menu pulls labels and values from field objects in the data dictionary. Form Data Dictionary MenuThe menu pulls labels and values from form objects in the data dictionary.
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Creating data dictionary menus
2 Select the server on which to create the menu, and click Finish.
A new data dictionary menu appears as shown in Figure 8-13 and Figure 8-14.
Figure 8-13: New field data dictionary menu
Figure 8-14: New form data dictionary menu

4 In the Server Name list, select the server from which the objects will be selected.
You must have administrator permissions to the specified server. You can also enter a field ID, such as $fieldID$, so that the value in that field is used as the server name at runtime.
5 In the Label Format list, select a format for menu items:
NameThe name of the object in the database. LabelThe label displayed for the object in the client. IDThe ID of the object.
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6 In the Value Format list, select a format for displaying values in the field to which
the menu is attached. You can specify the value name, label, or ID in various formats, such as plain (Name), or enclosed in single quotation marks (Name) or dollar signs ($Name$). You can specify pairs of values separated by semicolons, for example, ID;Label or ;Name;Label.
7 Select the object type to pull data from.
For field data dictionary menus:

a Click the ellipsis button next to the Form Name field, and use the Form Selector
dialog box to select the form that contains the fields to pull data from. To shorten the list of available forms: In the Name field, type the initial letters of the form name. In the Application field, select the appropriate application. To find a form in the Available Forms list, perform one of these actions: Scroll through the list. In the Locate field, enter the first characters of the form name.
b In the Field Type area, select one or more field types.
The menu will be constructed from fields that match the selected types. For form data dictionary menus:
a In the Form Type list, select the type of form to pull data from.
The menu will be constructed from fields that match the selected types.
b To display hidden forms matching the form type, select the Show Hidden Forms
check box.


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Refreshing menus
Refreshing menus
For all menu types except character menus, you must set a refresh mode: On ConnectRetrieves the menu when the user opens the menu after selecting the form. To update the menu, the user must reopen the form. On OpenRetrieves the menu each time the user opens it. Frequent menu retrieval can slow performance, so select this option only when it is critical that the menu be up-to-date. On 15 Minute IntervalRetrieves the menu when the user first opens it and when 15 minutes have passed since the last retrieval. Balances the need to be current and the expense of constant menu retrieval. For a browser, this option behaves the same as On Open. Refresh modes affect only a menus contents, not its definition. The definitions of all menus are updated every time you reconnect to a form.
NOTE
Character menus are static, so they are not refreshed.
Adding (clear) to drop-down lists

By default, when the Display Type property of a character field with a menu is set to Drop-Down List, the last item on the first-level menu in the drop-down list is (clear). You do not manually add the (clear) item to the menu attached to the field. Instead, the item automatically appears at runtime on the drop-down lists of all typescharacter, file, search, SQL, and data dictionaryof character field menus. When users choose (clear), any previously entered value is removed from the field. If the (clear) item does not appear on a drop-down list, add it as follows.
To add (clear) to character field drop-down lists

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the appropriate form. 2 Select the character field whose drop-down list you want to modify. 3 In the Properties tab, set the Enable Clear property to Always (the default). 4 Save your change.
At runtime, the (clear) item will appear on the drop-down list in all modes.
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Removing (clear) from drop-down lists

To prevent users from clearing a drop-down list character field in non-Search modes, such as New and Modify, remove the (clear) item from the drop-down list.
NOTE
You cannot remove (clear) from drop-down lists in Search mode.
To remove (clear) from drop-down lists

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the appropriate form. 2 Select the field whose drop-down list you want to modify. 3 In the Properties tab, set the Enable Clear property to Search Only. 4 Save your change.
At runtime, the (clear) item will appear on the drop-down list in Search mode only.
Automatically completing menu entries

You can turn on an automatic complete feature for character fields that have a menu attached to them. When this feature is turned on for a field and a user begins typing text into the field, a list of values that match the text appears. When multiple values are presented, the user can change the selection with the up and down arrow keys or using the mouse. To select a highlighted option, the user presses Enter or click it with a mouse.
The matching list is case-insensitive by default, and it displays the value of the option, not the label. (You can change the configuration so that the menu's labels are displayed instead of its values.) This feature applies only to forms viewed in a browser (not BMC Remedy User). Before enabling this feature for character fields whose Display Type property is set to Drop-Down List, consider these points: Users can enter partial values into the character field only in Search mode. If users press Enter or Return after entering a partial value, the system might complete their partial value. This might confuse users.
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Automatically completing menu entries
Remember these tips when configuring workflow with character fields that have the automatic complete feature turned on: The Menu/Row/Level Choice workflow condition executes when auto complete is used to fill in the value. If workflow manipulates values of menu selections, you might want to configure auto-complete to show labels rather than values for the workflow to run properly. The Return/Table or Level Dbl-Clk workflow condition does not run when the user presses Enter as part of the Auto Complete feature (that is, when the selection list is displayed). At other times, the workflow condition executes normally. For more information, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
To enable or disable auto-complete

1 Create a character field. 2 Attach a menu to it. 3 Select the character field. 4 In the Properties tab, click Auto Complete, and select one of the following values:
NoneDisables auto-complete. Leading MatchLists menu options that begin with the text that the user entered in the field. Anywhere MatchLists menu options that include any text that the user entered in the field.
NOTE
At runtime, users can disable auto-complete by pressing Escape while typing in a character field. Auto-complete remains canceled until the field loses focus; it is reenabled the next time the field gets focus.
To configure auto-complete to match by label

1 Follow the steps in To enable or disable auto-completeto enable Auto Complete
for a character field.

2 Select the character field. 3 In the Properties tab, click Auto Complete Match By, and select one of the
following values: Value (the default)Menu values are displayed and used for matching while typing, as well as for completion. LabelMenu labels are displayed and used for matching while typing, but the menu value is used for completion. (This option is not normally used unless workflow on menu choice operates on the value but you want to show the label to the user.)
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Recording menu change history

AR System automatically records the menu owner, the user who last modified the menu, and the last modification date. When a menu has focus in the editor area of BMC Remedy Developer Studio, this information is displayed in the Properties tab. For more information about change history properties, see Appendix D, Field properties.
Creating help text for menus

You create help text for menus the same way that you create help text for other objects. See the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
Modifying menus
Use this procedure to modify a menu.
To modify a menu
1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 In the All Objects list, double-click the Menus node. 3 To rename the menu: a In the Menus object list, right-click the menu, and choose Rename. b In the Rename Menu dialog box, enter a new name, and click OK. 4 To modify other menu properties: a In the Menus object list, double-click the menu. b In the editor area, modify the menus fields as needed.
For information about those fields, see one of these sections: Creating character menus on page 233 Creating file menus on page 235 Creating search menus on page 238 Creating SQL menus on page 244 Creating data dictionary menus on page 248
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Copying menus
Copying menus
When you save a menu under a different name, the new menu contains all the properties of the original menu. The only difference is the name.
To copy a menu
1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 In the All Objects list, double-click the Menus node. 3 In the Menus object list, double-click the appropriate menu.
The menu is displayed in the editor area.

4 Choose File > Save As. 5 In the Save Menu As dialog box, enter a new name, and click OK.
Deleting menus
The delete operation is permanent and cannot be undone. You cannot delete a menu that is open in BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
To delete a menu
1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 In the All Objects list, double-click the Menus node. 3 In the Menus object list, right-click the menu, and choose Delete. 4 In the confirmation message, click OK.
The menu is deleted from the database and the Menus object list.
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Chapter
Working with images
This section describes how to create and modify image objects. The following topics are provided: About images (page 258) Transparent images (page 262)
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About images
An image object is an image stored in the AR System database, along with certain information defining the image as an AR System object. The image object type appears in the AR System Navigator pane, at the end of the All Objects list, as shown in Figure 9-1.
Figure 9-1: Image objects in BMC Remedy Developer Studio
Image object list in the object list tab group
Image objects in the list of object types
Image object open in the editor area
You can use images as backgrounds for form views and certain field types, including buttons, panels, and cell-based tables. If you use the same image in more than one location, such as the background for a related set of forms, you no longer need to store a separate copy of the image in the display properties of each form view or field using the image. Instead, you store the image once as an image object, and then include it by reference in form view and field display properties. Using an image object, you can also avoid the 4 MB size limit on the field display property. AR System supports the following image types: Windows bitmap (.bmp file extension) Joint Photographic Experts Group format (.jpeg or .jpg file extensions) Graphics Interchange Format (.gif file extension) Portable Network Graphics format (.png file extension)
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About images
NOTE
You can convert existing references and image files to shared images with the ImageExtractor.bat utility. For more information, see the Configuration Guide.
Creating image objects

Use the procedure in this section to create and save a shared image object that you can reference in the display properties of fields and form views.
To create an image object

1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 Right-click Images, and choose New Image.
A blank image object opens in the editing area.

3 In the Description field, enter a description of the image.
The description appears in the list of images in the Object Selector dialog box when you add an image to a field or form view. You can enter up to 255 characters for the description.
4 To select the image, click Browse, and then navigate to the directory containing the
image.
5 To display the available images in the directory, select the various image types
from the Files of Type list.

6 Select the image to store in AR System, and click Open.
The image appears in the preview pane of the image object.

7 Save the image object, assigning a unique name in the Save Image As dialog box.
Images are indexed on the name you assign, as well as by the image ID. You can use up to 255 characters for the image name.
Working with existing image objects

This section describes changes you can make to existing image objects. To use an image object as the background of a field or form view, see Creating and managing fields on page 145 and Creating and managing form views on page 271.
To open an existing image object,

1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 Double-click Images. 3 From the Images list, double-click the image object to open.
To save an image to a file outside of AR System

1 Open the image object, and then click Save to Disk. 2 Navigate to the directory where you want to save the file. 3 Enter an appropriate file name, and then click Save. Chapter 9 Working with images 259
To rename an image object

1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 Double-click Images. 3 Right-click the image to be renamed, and then choose Rename. 4 Type the new name, and then save the image object.
You cannot rename an open object in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. If a warning appears indicating that the object has an open editor, close the image and then follow the steps to rename it.
To delete an image object

1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects. 2 Double-click Images. 3 Right-click the image to be renamed, and then choose Delete. 4 Confirm the deletion when prompted. 5 In the second confirmation dialog, choose whether to remove references to the
image for the display properties of fields and objects. Click Yes to remove the reference from the listed fields or objects. Click Yes to All to remove all references to the image. Click No to retain the reference in the listed field or object. Click No to All to retain all references to the image. If you retain a reference, the name of the image object remains in the display property, and you can create another image object with the same name to restore the reference.
WARNING
Deleting a shared image object removes it from all form view and field display properties where it is used. After you delete an image object, you cannot undo this operation in BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
Adding background images to fields and form views

You can use an image as the background of a panel field, of the cells in a cell-based table field, or of a form view. You can either use a reference to an AR System image object, or you can store the image as an embedded object in the field.
NOTE
To support the Image Reference functionality for panel and cell-based table fields, AR System clients and supporting applications such as BMC Remedy User and the mid tier must be release 7.5.00 or later. When previous clients open a form containing an image reference, the image is converted to embedded format.
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About images
To add an image to a panel field or a cell-based table

1 Select the panel field or the working cell of the cell-based table field. 2 In the Properties tab, click the Background Image property, and click its ellipsis
button.
3 In the Background Image dialog box: a If necessary, click Clear Image to delete an existing image. b Browse for the image to display on the button.
You can choose BMP, JPEG, JPG, GIF, and PNG files. The chosen image appears in the Preview area.
c To save the image to a different file or folder, click Save to File. d Set the Image Type:
Embedded ImageThe image is stored in the field display properties as an ARByteList. In this case, the image is embedded in the form and is therefore downloaded with the form whenever the form is refreshed by the client. Image ReferenceA reference to a shared image object is stored in the field display properties. In this case, the image is stored as an image object in AR System. When the form is downloaded, the image is cached separately, so the image does not have to be refreshed along with the form. This allows for faster form refresh time.
e Click OK. 4 To position the graphic horizontally in the panel or cell, select the Background
Image Horizontal property, and then select one of the following options: LeftPosition the left edge of the image at the left edge of the panel or cell. CenterPosition the horizontal center of the image at the horizontal center of the panel or cell. FillResize the image horizontally to fit the width of the panel or cell. RightPosition the right edge of the image at the right edge of the panel or cell. TileIf the width of the image is smaller than the width of the panel or cell, tile the image horizontally in the panel or cell. If the width of the image is larger than the width of the panel or cell, Tile has no effect. This property works together with the Background Image Vertical property to control the overall position and dimensions of the image.
5 To position the graphic vertically in the pane or cell, select the Background Image
Vertical property, and then select one of the following options: TopPosition the top edge of the image at the top edge of the panel or cell. CenterPosition the vertical center of the image at the vertical center of the panel or cell.
Chapter 9 Working with images 261
FillResize the image vertically to fit the height of the panel or cell. BottomPosition the bottom edge of the image at the bottom edge of the panel or cell. TileIf the height of the image is smaller than the height of the panel or cell, tile the image vertically in the panel or cell. If the height of the image is larger than the height of the panel or cell, Tile has no effect. This property works together with the Background Image Horizontal property to control the overall position and dimensions of the image.
Transparent images
In previous versions, AR System supported only BMP, DIB, JPEG, JPG, TARGA, and TIFF images. Those image types cannot have transparent backgrounds. In AR System 7.5.00, the following AR System components now support GIF and PNG images, which can have transparent backgrounds: BMC Remedy Developer Studio BMC Remedy Mid Tier BMC Remedy User
NOTE
PNG images that use alpha transparency are supported by Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, Safari, and BMC Remedy User. They are not supported by Internet Explorer 6. PNG and GIF images that use binary transparency are supported by all AR System 7.5.00compatible browsers and BMC Remedy User. You can use GIF and PNG images with the Display as Flat Image property to create graphics with transparent backgrounds that let the surface on which they are placed show through. For example, you can use such images to create borderless buttons. Figure 9-2 shows a GIF coffee cup image with a transparent background on a regular button and on a borderless button.
Figure 9-2: GIF with transparent background on regular and borderless buttons
You can use transparent images on borderless buttons to build toolbars, as shown in Figure 9-3.
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Transparent images
Figure 9-3: Transparent images as toolbar buttons
NOTE
Most browsers always use a visual aid, such as a dotted outline, to indicate that borderless buttons have focus. Internet Explorer, however, does this only when the form has certain background colors.
NOTE
In BMC Remedy User, a gray area is displayed around a PNG image when a button is larger than the image and the Scale Image to Fit property is set to False. In the mid tier, this gray area does not appear.
TIP
To add decorative graphics to forms, use borderless buttons without workflow. You can use GIF and PNG images anywhere that images are supported in AR System, including the following: Backgrounds on form views Backgrounds on standalone panel fields
NOTE
GIF and PNG images are not supported for toolbar buttons in BMC Remedy User.
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Chapter
Using templates
Templates are a method of formatting text dynamically for presentation in AR System. A template is suitable for dynamically creating an HTML document to be displayed in a view field of tool tip created by a Message action. When the template is evaluated at runtime, values are substituted for parameters in the template either using workflow or references to fields on the form. The following topics are provided: Resources for templates (page 266) Template content (page 267) Using templates with fields (page 268)
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Resources for templates

Templates and resources they use are stored as attachments to requests of the AR System Resource Definitions form. Three types of resources are available: TemplateA text file containing text with parameters. ImageAn image file in any format, including GIF or PNG formats. CustomA file of another type, such as an audio file, that can be presented by a browser. A template is accessed either by using the TEMPLATE function or by binding it to a view field. The template can refer to other resources to include images and other media in the output it produces. Figure 10-1 shows the form used to store templates and other resources.
Figure 10-1: AR System Resource Definition form
This form includes the following information: NameThe name used to references the resource. StatusEither Active or Inactive. Inactive resources cannot be processed by the client. TypeThe type of resource: Template, Image, or Custom. DescriptionA brief description of the template.
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Template content
Mime typeThe Internet media type or MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) type of the resource. For Type set to Template, text/html. For Type set to Image, image/gif or image/png. For Type set to Custom, any type entered, for example, audio/mpeg. SubtypeAn optional character value that can identify a more specific type to distinguish resources. LocaleThe locale of the resource. If specified, AR System uses this field to select the resource with a given name that matches the users locale. ApplicationThe name of the application that uses this resource, if any. ResourcesAn attachment field where the actual HTML text, image, or other resource file is stored.
Template content
A template consists of text with parameters that are replaced with values when the template is used for rendering. Usually, the result of processing the template is a complete HTML document, starting and ending with the <html> and <body> tags, or a snippet of HTML to be inserted in a document, such as, a group of table rows.
Parameters in templates
There are two kinds of parameters in templates: Explicit parameters are named. They get their values from parameters of the TEMPLATE function and are represented by ${parameterName}. Implicit parameters are references to fields in a form. They get their values from the referenced fields and are represented by $fieldID$. A parameter can provide text in either the value of an HTML element or the value to an attribute of an HTML element. The value of the HTML tag element can be an expression that consists of more than one parameter, as in the following example:
<td>Full Name:</td> <td style="background:00ffff;${STYLE}"> ${FNAME} ${LNAME} </td>
Where The first parameter, STYLE, specifies one or more additional style properties and values to control the appearance of the table cell defined by the <td> tag. The additional parameters, FNAME and LNAME, specify the content of the table cell.
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In the following example, field IDs are used as parameters in the template content for two table rows.
<table> <tr> <td>First Name:</td> <td style=background:00FFFF>$123456789$</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Last Name</td> <td style=background:00FFFF>$234567890$</td> </tr>
In this example, the template is using explicit parameters to specify a background color for the First Name and Last Name fields in a table.
<table> <tr> <td>First Name:</td> <td style="background:00ffff">${FNAME}</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Last Name:</td> <td style="background:00ffff">${LNAME}</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Emp ID:</td> <td style="background:00ffff">${EID}</td> </tr> </table>
Using templates with fields

A template can be used in either of the following ways: By binding the template to a view field. Use this method when you do not need to calculate parameter values in workflow. However, you can always use workflow to update hidden fields that are referenced as implicit parameters and reinitialize the view field. By creating a Set Fields workflow action that uses the TEMPLATE function to place content into a character field or a view field. Use this method when you need to calculate parameter values using workflow.
Binding a template
To use a template to display in a view field without workflow, set the Text property of the view field to template:templateName. The parameters in a template used this way must reference fields on the form by field ID. An application can create a rich HTML-based data display using a cell-based table with data fields and a view field with a template bound to it.
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Using templates with fields
To redisplay a view field with a template bound to it, for example, after one of the referenced fields has its value changed, use workflow to assign the value of the view field to itself or to a value generated by the TEMPLATE function, as describe in the next section.
Evaluating a template with the TEMPLATE function

Use the TEMPLATE function to set the values of a field to the result of evaluating a template. The TEMPLATE function can appear in a field value in a Push Fields, Set Fields, Open Window, or Service action. The TEMPLATE function returns a text string with values for the parameters included in the template. The template name is always the first parameter, followed by name-value pairs for the remaining parameters, as follows:
TEMPLATE("templateName", "parameter", "value", "parameter", "value", ...)
Templates can be nested within templates using either of the following methods: By using workflow to generate content from a template with an HTML snippet and placing it into a hidden field. The value of that hidden field can be passed to another TEMPLATE function. Using the TEMPLATE function as a parameter within another TEMPLATE function. At runtime, when the client (BMC Remedy User or the mid tier) executes the active link where the template is specified, the template is retrieved from the AR System server and processed for the parameters that should be substituted. The resulting information is then rendered either in a view field or as a value in a character field. If the template does not use explicit parameters, it can be evaluated by calling the TEMPLATE function with only the templateName. A message action of the type Tooltip can display the HTML generated by a Set Field action. This is typically done using a Set Field action (generating content into a hidden field), followed by a message action to display the content of the hidden field. The BMC Remedy Developer Studio Expression Editor includes a mapping tool for setting template parameter values. After you choose the TEMPLATE function, choose a template from the Template Name list. The explicit parameters are listed in the table below. If you select the Value cell and click the ellipsis button, you can open an editor to set the value. See Figure 10-2 on page 270.
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Figure 10-2: Entering template information in the Expression Editor
Using auto-complete functionality with the TEMPLATE function

You can also use the auto-complete feature in the text portion of the Expression Editor. When you enter Ctrl+Space over the template name, a list of available templates appears.
Figure 10-3: Using auto-complete for template information
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Creating and managing form views

This section covers topics related to managing and defining form views. The following topics are provided: About form views (page 272) Creating and managing form views (page 278) Setting form view properties (page 283) Including and excluding fields from form views (page 289) Arranging fields in a form view (page 290) Rendering forms in right-to-left format (page 298) Setting the tab order of fields in a form view (page 298) For additional information specific to web views, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
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About form views

A form view is what users see when they open a form in BMC Remedy User or in a browser. Form views are versions of an original form and can exist only after the initial creation of a regular form. (For information about creating regular forms, see Creating and managing forms on page 92.) Every form has one default view. As an administrator, you can create additional views of the same form, each defined for a unique purpose, locale, or view type. You specify default views to determine which view of a form opens in BMC Remedy User or in a browser. An administrator might define views for the following environments: Different localeViews for specific languages or regions. Different user rolesCustomized views for requesters, frontline staff, backline staff, or managers. Hardware dependenciesViews that allow for the size of a monitor, such as laptop or desktop. This is useful for legacy systems without scalable fonts. Purposes other than a formViews that are used only when invoked as a dialog box using an active link.
How a form view is selected for the user

To provide each user with the best possible view of a form, AR System uses this order of preference to determine which form view to display:
1 View requested by a user or by workflow. For example, a view can be specified in
an Open Window active link action or a URL for the browser.

2 Actor-based view.
This view represents the function that a user performs in an application. For example, a user might use an application to manage, submit, or audit help desk requests. In AR System, each of those functionsmanager, submitter, auditoris called an actor. Each actor can be associated with a different view. See Configuring actor-based view selection on page 274.
NOTE
An actor is not related to access permission roles.
3 Default view specified in the User Preferences form. 4 Default view specified in the form.
After using this order of preference to select a base form view, the system selects a version of the base view appropriate for the users locale. If no version exists for that locale, a fallback mechanism finds the closest possible locale to the one requested. The resulting view is then displayed for use.
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Figure 11-1 illustrates the AR System form view selection process:

Figure 11-1: Form view selection process
Open form
View label explicitly specified? Yes Use specified view label
No
Actor-based view label found? Yes Use actor view label
No
View label specified in User Preference form? Yes Use preferences view label
No
View extension specified in User Preference form?
Yes
Add extension to label name
Client
No
Server
View exists? No Use default form view label
Yes
Server localized and locale-specific view exists? Yes
No
Open view
Open localized view
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Configuring actor-based view selection

When a user opens a form, AR System can determine which form view to display by matching the user to an actor in the context of the current application and then matching the actor to a view. To enable AR System to perform actor-based view selection, applications must define actors and link them to form views by adding entries to these forms: AR System User Application ActorUse this form to define actors for your system. See Defining actors on page 274. AR System Actor ViewUse this form to link actors to views. See Specifying an actor-based form view on page 276.
Defining actors
To select an actor on which to base view selection, AR System queries the AR System User Application Actor form. To add actors to AR System, applications must define them in this form.
NOTE
Adding a large number of entries to this form might degrade the performance of logging in and opening forms.
Figure 11-2: AR System User Application Actor form
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About form views
Each entry (actor definition) in the AR System User Application Actor form should contain this information:
Table 11-1: Fields in AR System User Application Action form Field User Name Application Name Actor Group Access Description (Optional) A users AR System login name. To specify all users, leave this field empty. (Optional) Name of an application to limit this actor to. To specify all applications, leave this field empty. (Required) Name of the actor, such as Request Manager, Request Submitter, or Request Auditor. Name of one or more access control groups. By default, this field is set to Public.
Important: This field (ID 112) controls row-level security. If it is set to NULL, no user has
access to the entry, so AR System will not consider the entry when selecting an actor. Order (Optional) Integer that determines which entry to use when multiple entries contain matching User Name and Application Name values. In this situation, the entry with the highest Order value is used. An Order value of NULL is lower than 0.
To select an entry from the query results, AR System uses these criteria:
Table 11-2: Criteria for selecting an entry Entry selection order 1 2 3 4 User Name currentUser currentUser NULL NULL Application Name currentApplication NULL currentApplication NULL Default actor in all applications for this user. Default actor for all users in this application. Default actor for all users in all applications. In previous versions of AR System, the default form view was specified in one of these places: User Preferences forms Default Form View field The form itself (Form > Set Default View) In AR System 7.5.00, however, if the AR System User Application Actor form contains this entry, the actor in the entry is always used to determine the forms default view (see Specifying an actorbased form view on page 276). To use the legacy default views, do not include this entry in the AR System User Application Actor form. Notes
If multiple entries meet these criteria, the entry with the appropriate Group Access value and the highest Order value is used. If multiple entries share those criteria, the first entry returned by the query is used. AR System uses the actor specified in the entry to select a view. See Specifying an actor-based form view on page 276. If no entry meets these criteria, AR System uses the default form view specified in the User Preferences form or in the form itself. See Figure 11-1 on page 273.
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Specifying an actor-based form view

If AR System finds an actor in the AR System User Application Actor form, it uses the AR System Actor View form to select a view based on that actor.
Figure 11-3: AR System Actor View form
To link actors to form views, applications must add entries to this form.
NOTE
Adding a large number of entries to this form might degrade the performance of logging in and opening forms. Each entry in the AR System Actor View form should contain this information:
Table 11-3: Fields in the AR System Actor View form Field Application Name Form Name Actor View Label Description Name of the application that contains the form. (Optional) Name of the form. If you leave this field empty, the entry is the default for all forms in the specified application. (Optional) Name of the actor. If you leave this field empty, the entry is the default for all actors in the specified application. Name of the view to display. See the views Label property.
NOTE
If you later rename a form or change a view label, AR System will not automatically update the entries in this form.
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To select the appropriate entry, AR System uses these criteria:

Table 11-4: Criteria for selecting an entry Entry selection order 1 2 3 4 Application Name currentApplication currentApplication currentApplication currentApplication Form Name currentForm NULL currentForm NULL Actor actorName actorName NULL NULL Notes View for this particular actor for this particular form. Default view for this actor for all forms. Default view for all actors for this form. Default view for all actors for all forms in this application.
If multiple entries meet these selection criteria, the first entry returned by the query is used. If no entry meets these criteria, AR System uses the default form view specified in the User Preferences form or in the form itself. See Figure 11-1 on page 273.
How a form view is selected in BMC Remedy Developer Studio

BMC Remedy Developer Studio chooses the form view to display when you open a form based on the default view you choose for the form and the Default Locale you set in the Preferences dialog box.
Step 1 Every form has a default form view. If you do not set it, it is the form view that is
created by when you create the form. If you delete the default form view, BMC Remedy Developer Studio chooses another. BMC Remedy Developer Studio only considers form views whose Label matches the default view for the form as possible views to display.
Step 2 If you set the Default Locale, BMC Remedy Developer Studio uses it to select the
form view to display from the views that pass the step 1 test. If there is a form view with Locale that matches the Default Locale, BMC Remedy Developer Studio displays that view. If no view that passes the step 1 test has the Locale set in Default Locale, of if the Default Locale is not set, BMC Remedy Developer Studio displays the oldest of the views that pass the step 1 test.
To set the default form view for a form

1 Open a form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. 2 Choose Form > Set Default View. 3 In the dialog box, select the correct view and click OK.
The icon for the form type appears in the view tab at the bottom of the form editor. After you change the default form view, you must reopen the form for BMC Remedy Developer Studio to display the default form view with its tab as the first form view tab at the left bottom of the form editor.
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To set or clear the Default Locale

1 Choose Window > Preferences. 2 Expand BMC Remedy Developer Studio and click Form. 3 Select a locale or blank from the Default Locale list. 4 Click OK.

Use the procedures describe here to create, modify, rename, and delete form views.
Creating form views

Use the following procedure to create a new form view. Although you can create an empty form view, it is usually more convenient to duplicate an existing view. When you duplicate a form view, you get a clone of that view. Only the label name and ID of the view are changed in the copy. After the copy is made, you can change view-specific properties without affecting other views. For information about views that are displayed in a browser, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide. To create an alternate view for a group of users that is invoked using active links, append an extension to the view label. This view label extension is then specified in user preferences to identify the extension to be appended to the view label. The primary view must be specified in the active link and use of the alternate view is controlled by user preferences. For more information about user preferences, see the Configuration Guide.
To duplicate a form view

1 Open a form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. 2 Select the appropriate form view by clicking its tab at the bottom of the form editor. 3 Choose Form > Duplicate View. 4 In the Copy View dialog box, select the View Type and click OK.
StandardA view that can be displayed in BMC Remedy User and in a browser. Web - AlternateA view that uses fixed field positioning.
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NOTE
Web - Alternate views are available for special purposes and for backward compatibility with previous releases. These views are not needed in version 6.3 and later versions. Use them for compatibility with older versions of the mid tier or for a situation where you need to create a view that is different in a browser than in BMC Remedy User. If there is a Web - Alternate, that view is selected first for a browser, unless the Standard view is the default preference set in the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Configuration Tool. See the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide and the Configuration Guide for more information.
5 Click the form view tab at the bottom of the form editor to select the new view. 6 In the Properties tab, modify the properties listed in Table 11-5, as appropriate. Table 11-5: Form view initial properties (Sheet 1 of 2) Property View ID Label Description A unique identifier for a form view. This value is automatically generated by AR System and cannot be modified. The label name for the view. The Label, Locale, and View Type fields together define a unique identifier for the view. The client uses the label name to identify the users preferred view. For more information about user preferences, see the Configuration Guide. When a view is created, a label name is assigned automatically to the new view. You can change the label name. There is no enforced convention for specifying label names, but it is helpful to make the name descriptive and indicative of the views function consistently across forms. For example, you might create a Manager view for all forms in an application. Label names can be as many as 80 characters, including spaces. Names can include double-byte characters, but avoid using numbers at the beginning of the name.
Note: If you want a specific view (other than the default set in BMC Remedy
Developer Studio) to be displayed in a browser by using a URL, make sure the label name is unique. Locale Defines the views locale. When a view is created, the Locale field is empty. If left blank, the locale of the users operating system is assumed for the view. To specify a locale for a view, click the cell for the Locale field and select the preferred locale from the list. The Locale field associates a language and country dialect with a view following the format: language_country. Selecting only the language includes all variations of that language. Conversely, selecting fr_CA (French, Canada) defines a view for Canadian French speakers, while selecting fr includes all French speaking countries. For more information about localization, Appendix H, Localizing AR System applications. Different views for different locales should have the same Label, and the correct locale for the user is automatically opened.
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Table 11-5: Form view initial properties (Sheet 2 of 2) Property View Type Description The view type that was selected from the Manage Views - Copy View To dialog box when copying the view. Choices are: Standard (Recommended) Web - Alternate (Fixed) This field cannot be modified. Master View for Server Defines if the view is used for processing to retrieve field labels and selection value Processing aliases (not database values). Certain tools (such as data dictionary menus, active links that display a list, and application commands) query the data in forms and use these labels and aliases. For example, the ODBC driver might use field labels and selection field aliases to generate reports. Similarly, report qualifiers are validated using these labels and aliases. To specify the view that should be used as the master for a particular locale, click the cell for the Master field, and select True from the list. You can set only one view per locale. It is best to specify as Master the view that contains most, if not all, of the fields and aliases required for processing. If no view is specified as the master, the default view is used. If neither a master or default view exist, the system chooses a view at random.
The Label, Locale, and View Type properties do not need to contain unique values, but the combination of the three fields must be unique to each view.
7 To set a default view, click in the form editor and choose Form > Set Default View. 8 In the Choose Default View dialog box, select a view from the View Label list, and
click OK. The default view is the view that is displayed to a user when a request for a form is made and no user preferences have been set. An exception to this rule is seen in a browser; if no user preference has been set but the configuration preference is set to a web view, the web view is chosen.
9 To open a view, click its tab at the bottom of the form editor. 10 Choose File > Save to save the form with the new form view created.
NOTE
To create a blank form view with no core fields, choose Form > Create New View instead Form > Duplicate View.
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Changing which view is displayed

Use the following procedure to change which view is currently displayed.
To change which view is displayed in the form editor

1 Open a form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
The default view of the selected form appears in the form editor.
2 Click the form view tab at the bottom of the form editor to select the appropriate
view.
Modifying form views

Use the following procedure to modify existing form views.
To modify a form view

1 Open a form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. 2 Click the form view tab of the view to modify at the bottom of the form editor.
The form view is displayed in the form editor and its properties are shown in the Properties tab. The following are examples of modifications that you can make to a form view: Modifying view properties. See Setting form view properties on page 283. Adding or modifying fields. See Chapter 5, Types of fields, and Appendix D, Field properties,. Specifying which fields to include or exclude. See Including and excluding fields from form views on page 289. Arranging fields. See Arranging fields in a form view on page 290. Modifying field properties of fields. See Appendix D, Field properties. Resizing a Web -Alternate (Fixed) view for use as a dialog window. See the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide. Localizing the view. For more information, see Appendix H, Localizing AR System applications.
3 Choose File > Save to save the form with the changes to the view.
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Renaming form views

Renaming a form view enables you to change the name of an existing form view without having to create a duplicate under a different name. The renamed view retains all of the settings of the original form view.
To rename a form view

1 Open a form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. 2 Click the form view tab of the view to modify at the bottom of the form editor.
The form view is displayed in the form editor and its properties are shown in the Properties tab.
3 In the Properties tab, enter the new name in the Name property. 4 To change the views label, enter the new name in the Label property.
NOTE
You should avoid characters in a form view label that result in an invalid URL when the form view is access using the mid tier. BMC Remedy Developer Studio warns you if you use one of the characters configured in the Form preferences page. By default, the Invalid Characters for Form Name preference is set to / &#%'".?.
5 Choose File > Save to save the form with the changes to the view.
Resizing form views

By default the form editor does not show the actual size a form view. When you add or move fields, the form view is expanded to include them.
To resize a form view

1 Choose Layout > Show Actual View Size.
A frame shows the actual view size. The form editor displays a grey background outside the form view.
2 Select the form view by clicking in its background or deselecting all the fields.
Resize handles appear on the right and bottom edges and at the bottom right corner of the form view.
3 Drag a resize handle to change the form view size.
The status bar reports the form view size as it changes.
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Setting form view properties
Deleting form views

You cannot delete all views for a form. Each form must have at least one form view. If the form view designated as the default view is deleted, the first form view in the list in the Manage Views dialog box is then designated as the default view.
To delete a form view

1 Open a form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. 2 Click the form view tab of the form view to delete at the bottom of the form editor. 3 Choose Form > Delete View. 4 Confirm the deletion. 5 Choose File > Save to save the form without the deleted view.

Set form view in the Properties tab to specify pane layout, create aliases that describe how requests are named, predefine searches that you think users might want, disable user access to selected features, and define the color of rows of a results list pane. The following categories are available in the Properties tab for Standard views: BasicDefines the variable names that uniquely identify a form view. AppearanceDefines how a view appears in BMC Remedy User and on forms viewed in a browser. AliasesDefines how form aliases and entry point labels are displayed in AR System. Defined SearchesDefines common searches for users. Menu AccessAllows you to enable or disable menu items and toolbar items in BMC Remedy User and toolbar buttons on forms viewed in a browser. Results ListDefines the color of selection field items that appear in a results list pane and special results list characteristics for BMC Remedy User.
To define form view properties

1 Open a form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. 2 Click the form view tab of the appropriate view at the bottom of the form editor.
NOTE
If you select a field in a form view, either by clicking in the form view or in the Outline tab, the Property tab shows the properties for the field. To display the properties for the form view, click the view background or deselect the field by holding down Ctrl and click it in the form editor or its name in the Outline tab.
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3 Set the properties in the Properties tab as described in the Introduction to Application

Table 11-6: Form view properties - Basic category Name Label Description Defines the label name for the view. When a view is created, a label is automatically assigned for the new view. The assigned label can be changed. There is no enforced convention for specifying labels, but it is helpful to make the label descriptive, indicative of the views function, and consistent across forms. Labels can be as many as 80 characters, including spaces. Labels can include doublebyte characters, but do not use digits at the beginning of the label.
Note: If you want a specific view (other than the default set in BMC Remedy
Developer Studio) to be displayed in a browser by using a URL, make sure the label is unique. Locale Localization Required Defines the views locale. When a view is created, the Locale field is empty. If left blank, the locale of the users operating system is assumed for the view. Specifies if the text in a view must be translated. By default, this property is set to False. When this property is set to True, attribute 287 in the view definition is set to 1. To ascertain which views must be translated, localizers can search .def files for the display-instance setting 287\6\1, where 287 is the ID of the localization indicator attribute. 6 is the data type for the attribute and can be ignored. 1 is the attribute value that indicates localization is required. Master View for Server If set to True, this view is used for processing to retrieve field labels and selection Processing value aliases (not database values). For more information, see the description for Master View for Server Processing on page 280. Name View ID View Type Defines a unique identifier for a form view. This value is initially generated by AR System, but you can modify it. This number is a unique ID generated by AR System and stored in the database, and you cannot change it. Defines the type of view associated with the selected view. You choose the view type when you create the view, and you cannot change it.
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Table 11-7: Form view properties - Appearance category (Sheet 1 of 2) Name Description
App-specific Image Use the App-specific Image Path for Mid-Tier View property for forms viewed Path for Mid-Tier View through applications in a browser. Set this property to the relative path from an application's Support Files top directory to the background image. If the file is not found in the application resource files, then the path in this field is ignored. For more information about managing resource files, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide. Background Color Background Image The color of the view background where there are no fields. The default is white. A background image (.gif, .png, .jpeg, .jpg, .bmp, or .dib format) for the view. Use the Background Image dialog box to select an image file that is saved with the form or a reference to an image object.
Note: Avoid using uncompressed .bmp and .dib bitmap files. Use images files with
lossless compression, such as .gif and .png, for images that do not use continuous tones. Use .jpg for continuous-tone images, such as photographs and graphics with gradients. Avoid using a large image file. Although view definitions are cached when initially loaded, images associated with a view must first be downloaded. Changes to a form also force the image to be downloaded again, increasing response time. If you need a large image, create an image object that is downloaded and cached separately. See Chapter 9, Working with Images. Background Image Horizontal Background Image Vertical Details Pane Banner Layout Layout Editable by User Layout Style HiddenDoes not appear when BMC Remedy User is opened. VisibleAppears when BMC Remedy User is opened. The position of the results and details panes in the view. Enables users to define the position of panes and banners in their view. If this property is False, the positions are locked, and the corresponding menu items in BMC Remedy User are disabled. XY or Fill. See Panel layout policies on page 140. Position the graphic in the view and control whether it is stretched to fill the view, tiled, or neither.
Maximize Window On Controls whether a view is maximized automatically when opened. For larger forms, Open the maximized view can free the user from having to scroll when viewing a forms contents. This option applies to a specific view of a form; each view of a form has its own maximize value. This option is ignored when the form is opened in Dialog mode. Prompt Bar Position Results Banner Right To Left The position of the prompt bar, at the top or bottom of the window. HiddenDoes not appear when BMC Remedy User is opened. VisibleAppears when BMC Remedy User is opened. Defines whether the text direction of a form view is displayed from left to right (False) or right to left (True). The default is False. For more information, seeRendering forms in right-to-left format on page 298. Title Bar Icon An icon image (.gif, .png, .jpeg, .jpg, .bmp, or .dib format) for the title bar of the form view. Use the Title Bar Icon dialog box to select an image file that is saved with the form or a reference to an image object. Images larger than 16x16 pixels are cropped.
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Table 11-7: Form view properties - Appearance category (Sheet 2 of 2) Name Web Footer Content Description HTML code to include in the footer of a Web - Alternate (Fixed) view. For more information about editing the web header and footer content, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide. HTML code to include in the header of a Web - Alternate (Fixed) view. For more information about editing the web header and footer content, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide. HiddenDoes not appear in a form opened in a browser. VisibleAppears in a form opened in a browser.
Web Header Content
Web Toolbar
Table 11-8: Form view properties - Aliases category Name Plural Request Identifier Description Defines the aliases that appear in the Results and Details banners in Search mode and the Open dialog box in BMC Remedy User and the title bar of the window. Allows a descriptive request name such as current inventory to appear instead of asset 565. The Request Identifier can be any field except diary and long character fields. The Request Identifier replaces the Request ID in the Details pane banner and the most recently used requests in the File menu in BMC Remedy User. Short Plural Defines the shortened version of the plural alias that appears when the title does not fit in the Results and Details banners. The Short Plural alias is not used in the title bar of the window. Defines the shortened version of the singular alias that appears when the title does not fit in the Details banner. The Short Singular alias is not used in the title bar of the window. The web does not use the short alias and precedence is as follows: If long and short aliases are defined, the title bar displays the long alias. If only the short alias is defined or if no aliases are defined, the title bar displays the form name. Singular Defines the alias that appears in the Details banner and the title bar of the window.
Short Singular
For each view, use the Defined Searches category to define the searches that appear in the Search menu list on the Details banner and in the Actions > Defined Searches menu in BMC Remedy User. Use this feature to create predefined searches that you think might be helpful to your users; for example, finding all open requests or entries. You can define as many as 18 searches.
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Click the ellipsis button in the Defined Searches property to open the Defined Searches dialog box.
Table 11-9: Form view properties - Defined Searches dialog box Name Name Description If you do not enter a Description, defines the name of the predefined search that users see in the Search menu in BMC Remedy User. This name appears in the Results pane banner after users perform a search.
Note: You can create parameterized searches for users who use a browser, but these
searches return an error in BMC Remedy User. To avoid this error, create parameterized searches only for the web view of the form and not the BMC Remedy User view. For more information about parameterized searches, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide. Description Defines the name of the predefined search that users see in the Search menu in BMC Remedy User. If you do not enter a Description, the text in the Name field is used. For example, if you enter Open Requests in the Name field and Search for open requests in the Description field, users see Search for open requests when they view the list of Defined Searches. Qualification Creates search criteria that you want users to access from the Search menu. Use it for any search that your users frequently perform; for example, 'Status' < "Closed by QA", to find all requests that are not closed. Right-click in the Qualification field to access a menu of fields and keywords for help in building the qualification. For information about building qualifications, see the Workflow Objects Guide. Table 11-10: Form view properties - Labels category Name Entry Point, New Mode Entry Point, Search Mode Description Defines the label of a new (submit) entry point that appears in an application list field. For more information, see Chapter 12, Defining entry points and home pages.
Note: You enable the entry point in the forms Form Properties.
Defines the label of a search (query) entry point that appears in an application list field. For more information, see Chapter 12, Defining entry points and home pages.
Note: You enable the entry point in the forms Form Properties.
For each view, use the Menu Access category to control which menu and toolbar items users can access in BMC Remedy User and which buttons appear in the toolbar of a form viewed in a browser. For example, if you do not want users to have Modify All capability, you can disable it.
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In the Menu Access category, select the Accessible Menu Items property and click the ellipsis button to open the dialog box.
Table 11-11: Form view properties - Menu Access Items dialog box (Sheet 1 of 2) Name Description BMC Remedy User menu item Browser toolbar button +
Advanced Search
If set to False, the Advanced Search capability is disabled. If workflow shows or hides an Advanced Query bar form action field (ID 1005), the toolbar button should toggle 1005 to the opposite state. (In such a case, you should remove the Advanced Search button from the toolbar for that view.)
Auto Refresh
If set to False, all user actions to invoke AutoRefresh (polling refresh) of the results list are disabled. If set to False, Clear and Clear All are disabled. If set to False, Delete is disabled. If set to False, help is disabled. If set to True and a user clicks the button in a browser, the help opens in a new window.
Clear All Delete Help
+ + +
+ + +
Home
If set to False, the menu, button, and keyboard actions for opening the home page are disabled. If set to True and a user clicks the button in a browser, the home page opens in a new window.
Logout Modify All New Request New Search Options Print
If set to False, Logout is disabled. If set to False, Modify All is disabled. If set to False, New Request is disabled. If set to False, New Search is disabled. If set to False, Options is disabled. If set to False, the ability to print the entry is disabled. This includes disabling the print option of table and results list fields on a form. If set to False, the ability to generate a report on data in this form is disabled. This includes disabling the report option of table and results list fields on a form. If set to False, the menu, button, and keyboard actions for saving a request are disabled. This is useful when users do not need to save a form, such as in control panels. This option can also force the user to save by using a button you create on your form. If set to False, Saved Searches is disabled. + + + + +
+ + + +
Reporting
Save
Saved Searches
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Including and excluding fields from form views
Table 11-11: Form view properties - Menu Access Items dialog box (Sheet 2 of 2) Name Description BMC Remedy User menu item + Browser toolbar button +
Search
If set to False, the menu and button actions for searching for requests are disabled. This is useful when users do not need to search a form, such as in control panels. This option can also force the user to search by using a button you create on your form. If set to False, Set to Defaults is disabled. If set to False, Status History is disabled. If set to True, when the user clicks the button in a form viewed in a browser, the status history opens in a new window.
Set to Default Status History
+ +
+ +
Table 11-12: Form view properties - Results category Name Initial Row Selection Description Defines the item you want selected when the results list is loaded. Select First, Fire WorkflowThe first item is shown selected and any workflow defined is activated. This is the default setting. No SelectionNo item is selected. Results Color Controls the color of requests that appear in the results list pane after a search in BMC Remedy User. In the Results Color dialog box, select a Selection Field and a color for each value. For example, you can choose to color all New requests red and all Assigned requests green. Defines how many rows of data to return at one time (or chunk) if a search yields a long list of requests in the BMC Remedy User results list pane. Buttons are provided for displaying previous and next chunks. A value greater than zero in this field enables the chunking feature. The default value is 0.
Size of Chunk
Including and excluding fields from form views

Use the Add/Remove Fields in View dialog box to specify which fields appear in a form view the Views field property to specify the form views in which a field appears. Include only fields relevant to the users of the form view. Exclude fields used for internal workflow. Fields that are not on a form view are still available for workflow.
NOTE
Any field not in the current view does not affect the change flag, even if the Disable Change Flag field property is not selected. Associate a SET-CHANGE-FLAG Run Process action with a field not in the view to set the change flag as needed. For more information, see Disable Change Flag on page 364 and the special Run Process discussion in the Workflow Objects Guide.
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To add and remove fields in a form view

1 Open a form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. 2 Click the form view tab of the appropriate view at the bottom of the form editor. 3 Choose Form > Add/Remove Fields On View. 4 In the Add/Remove Fields in View dialog box, select fields in one list and click the
arrow buttons to move them to the other list, or click the double-arrow buttons to move all the field to one of the lists.
5 Click OK to close the dialog box. 6 Choose File > Save to save your changes.
To add or remove a field from form views:

1 Open the appropriate form, and select the field. 2 In the Properties tab, select the Views value, and then click its ellipsis button.
In the Views dialog box, all views defined for the form appear in the Not In Views list and the In Views lists.
3 Use the Add and Remove buttons to move the views to the appropriate list. 4 Click OK.
NOTE
You cannot use the Views dialog box to remove a field from the current form view. To do that, see Including and excluding fields from form views on page 289.
Arranging fields in a form view

Use layout commands to arrange fields in a form view. You can specify the amount and type of spacing for fields in a form view. Carefully arranging fields can help improve the appearance and usability of a form view by providing greater consistency.
Selecting multiple fields

Select a field in a form view by clicking it in the form editor or by clicking its name in the Outline tab. The Layout operations apply to two or more fields. The last field you select is the alignment field. The alignment field has filled square handles. The other selected fields have empty squares as handles.
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Figure 11-4: Alignment field
Alignment field
Use any combination of the following three methods to select multiple fields.
To select multiple fields in the form editor

1 Click a field to select the first field. 2 Hold down SHIFT and click a field to add it to the selection. 3 Hold down CONTROL and click a fields to add it to or remove it from the
selection.
To select multiple fields using the marquee

1 With the mouse on the form view background, hold down the right mouse button.
The mouse pointer changes to a cross.

2 Drag a rectangle to enclose fields to create a selection with those fields. 3 Hold down SHIFT and drag a rectangle to enclose fields to add to the selection the
enclosed fields.
4 Hold down CONTROL and drag a rectangle to enclose fields to add to or remove
from the selection the enclosed fields.
NOTE
To use the marquee in a container field, select the Marquee tool from the Palette. The mouse pointer remains a cross until you select another tool from the Palette or close the editor.
To select multiple fields in the Outline tab

1 Click a field name to select the first field. 2 Hold down SHIFT and click another field name to add to the selection all the fields
between the last field selected and that field.

3 Hold down CONTROL and click a field name to add it to or remove it from the
selection.
NOTE
Due to a technical limitation, selecting a field in the Outline tab does not change the alignment field.
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Sizing fields
Use field handles, arrow keys, field properties, or command on the Layout menu to set the size of field labels and values.
To resize a selected field

Using the field resize handles, drag the left or right resize handle to increase or decrease the size or drag the center resize handle to set the sizes of the label and value parts. If you move the center resize handle to make the label area too small for the label, the mouse pointer becomes a circle-with-slash prohibited symbol. Using the field properties, set the Data Length and Width properties in the Properties tab. Using the arrow keys, press the period until the double-arrow resize mouse pointer shown in Figure 11-5 appears on the appropriate resize handle, press the left and right arrow keys until the field is the correct size, then press period or Enter to complete the resize or Escape to cancel it.
Figure 11-5: Resize mouse pointer
To resize two or more fields

1 Select two or more fields. 2 Use the mouse or the arrow keys to move one of the resize handles on one of the
fields. All the selected fields are resized relative to the field you operate on.
To make fields the same size using commands

1 Select two or more fields.
The other fields size are set to the size of last field you select, the alignment field.
2 To make the size of the other fields labels the same as the size of the alignment
fields label, choose Layout > Size Fields > Size Label.
3 To make the size of the other fields values the same as the size of the alignment
fields value, choose Layout > Size Fields > Size Value.
To make fields the same size using field properties

1 Select two or more fields. 2 In the Properties tab, set the Data Length, Label Width, and Width to the correct
values. The values are changed for all fields. This is an example of setting common field properties.
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NOTE
Use this method to set other common field properties that apply only to the current form view. Among these are, Label Alignment, Label Justification, and Label Location.
Aligning fields using the grid

Use a grid to align fields precisely along a network of lines. Use commands on the Layout menu to set up and display the grid and enable grid alignment. Displaying the grid and enabling grid alignment are independent operations. You can use grid alignment with no grid visible or show the grid without using it for alignment. Grid alignment is only active when you drag fields to position them in the form view. It is not active when you use the alignment commands or the other methods described in Positioning fields on page 294.
To set up the alignment grid

1 To set the spacing of the grid lines, choose Layout > Grid Size, and enter the
horizontal and vertical space in pixels between grid lines in the Set Grid Size dialog box. Valid values are 2 to 100 pixels. The default value is 25 pixels.
2 To display or hide the grid, choose Layout > Show Grid.
The grid spacing and visibility are saved in the workspace when you exit and restored when you start BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
To enable or disable grid alignment

1 To enable horizontal grid alignment, choose one of the following options from the
Layout > Align to Grid menu: NoneDisable grid alignment. LeftAlign the left edge of the field label with a vertical grid line. Value LeftAlign the left edge of the field data entry region with a vertical grid line. RightAlign the right edge of any button associated with the field with a vertical grid line. If there is no button, align the right edge of the field data entry region. Value RightAlign the right edge of the field data entry region with a vertical grid line.
2 To enable Vertical grid alignment, choose one of the following options from the
Layout > Align to Grid menu: TopAlign the top edge of the field with a horizontal grid line. BottomAlign the bottom edge of the field with a horizontal grid line.
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3 To disable grid alignment, choose Layout > Align to Grid > None.
The state of grid alignment is saved in the workspace when you exit and restored when you start BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
To align fields to the grid

Drag selected fields to the correct position in the form view. The alignment field is aligned to the grid according to the selected options. If other fields are selected, they move with the alignment field and keep their positions relative to it. They are not necessarily aligned to the grid.
Positioning fields
Position fields in a form view by dragging them, by using the arrow keys, or by setting their position properties. You might want to zoom the display to help you position fields precisely.
To zoom the display of the form view

To display the fields larger, choose Layout > Zoom In. To display the fields smaller, choose Layout > Zoom Out.
To position one field by dragging

Drag the field to appropriate position in the form view. To move the field only horizontally or only vertically, hold down SHIFT and drag. If grid alignment is enabled, the field snaps to the grid.
To position fields by dragging

1 Select two or more fields. 2 Drag the fields to appropriate position in the form view.
To move the fields only horizontally or only vertically, hold down SHIFT and drag. If grid alignment is enabled, the alignment field snaps to the grid. The other fields move with the alignment field and keep their positions relative to it.
To position fields using the arrow keys

1 Select the fields to move. 2 Press and release the period key once.
The mouse pointer changes to a four-way arrow resize mouse pointer shown in Figure 11-6.
3 Press the arrow keys to move the fields.
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4 Press and release the period or Enter to complete the move, or press Escape to
cancel the move.

Figure 11-6: Move mouse pointer
To control how far the fields move for each press of an arrow key
1 Choose Window > Preferences. 2 Expand BMC Remedy Developer Studio and click Form. 3 Type the number of pixels for the fields to move for each press of an arrow key in
the Keyboard Move Step Size field.

4 Click OK.
To get help aligning field when you position them

1 Choose Layout > Snap to Geometry. 2 Start to position fields by dragging or using the arrow keys.
As the fields move in relationship to other fields in the form view, blue lines appear when edges or centers of the fields align.
3 Position the fields when the lines indicate the relationship you want.
If both the grid alignment and Snap to Geometry are enabled, you can drag fields to field geometry positions that are not aligned with the grid lines.
4 Choose Layout > Snap to Geometry again to exit Snap to Geometry mode.
To move all fields in a form view proportionally

1 Choose Layout > Expand. 2 In the Expand dialog box, type the percentage to change the horizontal and vertical
positions of the fields.

3 Click OK
All the fields are moved with respect to the left edge and top edge of the form view by the factors you specified. A percentage less than 100 moves the fields closer together and to the left or up. A percentage greater than 100 moves the fields farther apart and to the right or down.
To position fields by setting properties

1 Select the fields to move. 2 In the Properties tab, set the X or Y property to the correct values.
The values are changed for all fields. If you set both X and Y, the fields are positioned stacked in the same location in the form view. This is an example of setting common field properties.
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Aligning fields using commands

Use Layout > Align Fields commands to align fields in a form view to the alignment field horizontally or vertically.
To align fields horizontally

The other fields size are aligned to the last field you select, the alignment field.
2 Choose the appropriate command from the Layout > Align Fields menu:
Align LeftMoves the other fields so their left edges are aligned with the left edge of the alignment field. Align RightMoves the other fields so their right edges are aligned with the right edge of the alignment field. Align Value LeftMoves the other fields so the left edges of their data entry regions are aligned with the left edge of the data entry region of the alignment field. Align Value RightMoves the other fields so the right edges of their data entry regions are aligned with the right edge of the data entry region of the alignment field.
To align fields vertically

The other fields size are aligned to the last field you select, the alignment field.
2 Choose the appropriate command from the Layout > Align Fields menu:
Align TopMoves the other fields so their top edges are aligned with the top edge of the alignment field. Align MiddleMoves the other fields so their horizontal midlines are aligned with the horizontal midline of the alignment field. Align BottomMoves the other fields so their bottom edges are aligned with the bottom edge of the alignment field.
Spacing fields
Use Layout commands to distribute three or more fields with even spacing in a form view. You can distribute the fields evenly between the top and bottom fields or the leftmost and rightmost fields or by specifying the space between the fields.
To distribute fields evenly between two fields

1 Move the top and bottom or leftmost and rightmost fields to their final positions. 2 Select all the fields to distribute.
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3 Choose the appropriate command from the Layout > Space Fields menu:
Evenly HorizontallyMoves the interior fields so there is an equal amount of space between the right edge of each field and the left edge of the field on its right. Evenly VerticallyMoves the interior fields there is an equal amount of space between the bottom edge of each field and the top edge of the field below it.
To position fields with the same spacing between them

1 Move the top or leftmost field to its final positions. 2 Select all the fields to space. 3 Type the number of pixels of spacing between the fields in the toolbar edit box.
The spacing value must be a positive integer.

4 Choose the appropriate command from the Layout > Space Fields menu:
By Length HorizontallyMoves the fields to the right of the leftmost field so the amount of space between the right edge of each field and the left edge of the field on its right is equal to the spacing value. By Length VerticallyMoves the fields below the top field so the amount of space between the bottom edge of each field and the top edge of the field below it is equal to the spacing value.
Stacking fields
You can position two or more fields in a form view so they overlap. Use the staking order commands to control which fields covers the others.
To bring fields to the front

1 Select one or more fields.
At least one of the fields must overlap a field that is not selected.
2 Choose Layout > Bring to Front.
The fields move to the top of the stacking order, covering all fields they overlap.
To send fields to the back

1 Select one or more fields.
At least one of the fields must overlap a field that is not selected.
2 Choose Layout > Send to Back.
The fields move to the bottom of the stacking order and are covered by all fields they overlap.
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Rendering forms in right-to-left format

The text direction of languages such as Arabic and Hebrew flows from right to left (RTL) instead of the Western left to right (LTR). With BMC Remedy Developer Studio, you can create form views with a RTL flow that display an RTL flow in an Internet Explorer version 6 or later browser. Other browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari browser, are not supported. (The form view does not appear or function properly in these browsers.) BMC Remedy User cannot display RTL flows. The current version of BMC Remedy Flashboards does not support RTL. For information about configuring right-to-left format in a data visualization field (DVF), see the Integration Guide.
To change a form views to right-to-left display

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the form view. 2 Click in an empty area of the form so that the view properties appear in the
Properties tab.
3 Set the value for the Right To Left property to True.
The current version BMC Remedy Developer Studio does not support what-yousee-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editing for RTL.
4 Save the form. 5 To see the form view displayed with a RTL flow, open the form view in Internet
Explorer version 6 or later.
Setting the tab order of fields in a form view

The field tab order determines which the order the fields in the form view get the input focus when the user presses the TAB key in BMC Remedy User or in a browser. If you do not define the tab order for a form view, the default tab order is based on the X and Y positions of the field in the form view and moves from left to right, then down (as you would read the form). By default, a field added to the top of a form view receives the input focus before a field added to the bottom of a form view, regardless of the order in which they were added to the form. Use the Layout > Tab Order commands to set any tab order regardless of the position of a field in the form view. For example, if the form view has columns of fields, you can set the tab order to go down the columns, top to bottom and then left to right. Or you can define a tab order that starts with all required fields, and then goes to the optional fields. Also, because different views of the same form can have different tab orders, you can define tab orders so that different groups of users are taken first to the fields that are the most important to them.
Setting the tab order of fields in a form view
You cannot use tab order control to make tabbing move from a field in one form view to a field in a different form or view. You also cannot use tab order to make tabbing move on to, off of, or between panels.
To set the tab order by editing the form view

1 Choose Layout > Tab Order > Select and Edit to enter the Select and Edit mode.
A box with the tab sequence number appears on each field in the form editor. The sequence numbers begin with zero.
2 Select a field, click a tab sequence number box, type the new number, and press
ENTER or click the outside the field. The tab sequence numbers of the other fields are adjusted.
3 Repeat step 2 until you have set the tab order. 4 Choose Layout > Tab Order > Select and Edit again to exit the Select and Edit
mode. The boxes with the tab sequence numbers are removed from the fields.
To set the tab order by clicking fields

1 Choose Layout > Tab Order > Increment on Click to enter the Increment on Click
mode. A box with the tab sequence number appears on each field in the form editor. The sequence numbers begin with zero.
2 Click the first field whose the tab order you need to change until the tab sequence
number is correct. Click once to make the field the first field (number zero), twice to make the second, and so on. The tab sequence numbers of the other fields are adjusted as you click.
3 Click the next field whose the tab order you need to change until the tab sequence
number is correct. Click once to make the field the next in the tab order, twice to make the next plus one, and so on. The tab sequence numbers of the other fields are adjusted as you click.
4 Repeat step 3 until you have set the tab order. 5 Choose Layout > Tab Order > Increment on Click again to exit the Increment on
Click mode. The boxes with the tab sequence numbers are removed from the fields. To use Increment on Click mode to set the tab order for the initial fields in the order (or all fields), click each field once in order. You can switch between Select and Edit mode and Increment on Click mode without exiting both modes by choosing the appropriate Layout > Tab Order command.
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To set the tab order to the default

Choose Layout > Tab Order > Set Default. You can set the tab order to the default when you are in either of the tab order editing modes or in neither mode.
NOTE
Fields that are on panels appear as nested under the panel on the Set Tab Order window. Shared fields on panels appear under each panel on which it is shared. You can set the tab order differently on different panels. See Shared fields in panel holders on page 176.
Tips for aligning and resizing fields

Use the following tips for aligning and resizing fields in a form: Use the grid. Setting the grid width and height to 10 should allow you enough control to align the fields in your form precisely. Keep the grid on for accurate alignment of your fields. Align the field labels before you align the data entry regions, as shown in Figure 11-7. To help with alignment, set the Align to Grid option to Left. If you select multiple fields, the fields are grouped and cannot be modified individually. After you align the field labels, click anywhere in the form. Then select the field and resize its data region individually. After selecting a field, the resize handles appear for the field, as shown in Figure 11-7. Select the resize handle for the data region and stretch it to the appropriate alignment and size. For example, you can stretch data regions so that the fields align. Then you can stretch the data region again so that the menu boxes align.
Figure 11-7: Aligning data regions
Align here. Align here.
Stretch data region here to align under Short Description field.
Then, stretch data region to align the end of the field and the menu boxes.
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Defining entry points and home pages

This section describes how to use BMC Remedy Developer Studio to create and modify entry points for use in home pages. The following topics are provided: Overview of home pages and entry points (page 302) Using entry points (page 303) Using a home page (page 305) Creating form entry points (page 307) Creating entry point guides (page 308) Entry points in applications (page 310) Modifying or creating a home page (page 311) Using style sheets with application list and navigation fields (page 312) Viewing a subset of entry points (page 314) Home page navigation aids (page 316) Configuring home page preferences (page 317)
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Overview of home pages and entry points

The home page lets you turn a form into a single point of access for users into AR System. A home page contains the following characteristics: Is any form that contains an Application List field Appears automatically (unless you disable it) when users log in to BMC Remedy User or when users access the home page URL from a browser (http://hostName/arsys/home) Is designated by user preferences, server, or mid tier configuration settings to function as a portal into AR System Contains a list of entry points inside the Application List field Figure 12-1 illustrates a sample home page form that contains an Application List field with multiple entry points.
Figure 12-1: Sample home page
Application List field with entry points
When users open the Object List in a browser or BMC Remedy User, the Object List contains every form, application, and guide on the server that they have permission to access. Not all of these forms are intended to be starting points. A home page form makes access to AR System much less complicated. Users do not need to scroll through a long list to find the particular form they are looking for. They also do not need to know which server and form to open to perform a given task. (For web users, see Using home pages in a browser on page 306.)
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Using entry points
Using entry points

Entry points are links that users click to open forms and applications, such as a search window for a Help Desk application. Entry points simplify how different groups of usersfor example, application designers, administrators, users interact with applications, forms, and entry point guides. Application designers Entry points allow application designers to package common starting points that all users can easily access. Application designers are responsible for: Designing the application. Defining the entry points used to interact with the application. Setting the correct permissions within the application so that the appropriate users see the appropriate entry points. Performing localization tasks, if any. On the other hand, application designers do not need to have knowledge of the actual home page form that the entry points are displayed on.
TIP
You do not need to make entry points for every starting point, only for those most frequently used. If you have a large number of entry points (for example, over 30), consider using the subset mechanism (see Viewing a subset of entry points on page 314) to limit the number of entry points displayed. Administrators Entry points make access to tasks easier to control, maintain, and distribute for administrators who buy and install BMC Remedy applications. Administrators are responsible for: Installing the application. Configuring the server and mid tier to use the correct home page form. Specifying user preferences (or BMC Remedy User options) to behave correctly for each user. (BMC Remedy User only) (Optional) Specifying a home page form for each user. (Optional) Designing a custom home page form if the default Home Page form is insufficient for their needs. (Optional) Changing the Home Page settings in the mid tier Configuration Tool or the Configuration tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form to specify the server and form for the home page. AR System installs a default Home Page form automatically. However, administrators can create a customized home page by inserting an Application List field on to the form. Users Entry points simplify how users interact with AR System forms and applications. Entry points also make it easier for web users to keep track of multiple servers and URLs.
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Types of entry points

AR System provides three types of entry points: Default new entry points to open a form in New mode. Default search entry points to open a form in Search mode. Entry point guides that allow you to use all the functionality of a guide. For example, you can use an entry point guide to run reports or Modify or Display windows, or to run AR System workflow. This guide functionality is hidden from users. They do not know the entry point is a guide; they simply see this advanced functionality as another entry point.
Figure 12-2: Entry points in the default AR system Home Page form
Detailed procedures for creating entry points are described in Creating form entry points on page 307 and Creating entry point guides on page 308. BMC Remedy User and the mid tier differ slightly in how entry point guides behave: In BMC Remedy User, you can access an application without knowing which form performs which task, but you must know which servers to log in to. In a browser, you can access an application without having to log in to a particular server, or without knowing which form performs which task.
NOTE
Initially, the browser displays entry points differently than BMC Remedy User does. For more information, see Understanding how a home page appears in a browser on page 319. Entry points are designed to hide underlying forms, applications, and guides and give users one point of access. In BMC Remedy User, the home page functions like a control panel and opens automatically after you log in (unless you disable it).
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Using a home page
Users can still access the classic Open dialog box by choosing File > Open > Object List. In addition, BMC Remedy User lists the most recently accessed entry points by choosing File > Recent Entry Points. For more information, see Understanding how a home page appears in BMC Remedy User on page 317. Finally, you can localize entry points just like other AR System components. For more information, see Appendix H, Localizing AR System applications.
Using a home page

When using a home page, keep the following terminology in mind: The Home Page display-only form is installed with AR System, as a convenient starting point for administrators. You can customize the content and the look and feel of this form. A home page is any form that contains an Application List field. In both cases, your home page functions as a console that opens by default when users log in to BMC Remedy User or when they access the home page URL (http://hostName/arsys/home). In both cases, the common element is the Application List field on a form. This field is a list of exposed entry points that are dynamically generated from AR System, for example, when the cache of the browser is updated and a new copy of the home page form is displayed. Finally, you can suppress the automatic opening of the home page in BMC Remedy User as needed. For more information, see Suppressing automatic opening of home pages in BMC Remedy User on page 323.
Home page components

The home page lets all users access multiple entry points in a single list. Figure 123 shows the default Home Page form that comes installed with AR System and some sample entry points.
Figure 12-3: Default Home Page form in BMC Remedy User
System-generated heading that lists the user logged in to AR System.
Password management entry point Deployable application label Search window entry point New window entry point
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The default Home Page form displayed in BMC Remedy User contains the following components: System-generated headingShows the default Home Page title and name of user logged in to AR System. Application list field, which consists of the following items: Application headingWhen you create a deployable application and include any forms with entry points, the application name appears as the heading in the home page by default. If you add a label to your application, the label appears as its heading. Entry point for a New (Submit) windowWhen you create a form, you can specify an entry point that opens a New window. Entry point for a Search windowWhen you create a form, you can specify an entry point that opens a Search window. Entry point guidesWhen you create an active link guide, you can specify an entry point that opens the guide. This guide functions exclusively as an entry point. Users do not know that this link actually points to a guide. For them, it is simply an entry point. You should customize the labels of the entry points to make them task-specific and easily identifiable, for example, Generate a New Request or New Employee Set Up. The following table outlines where labels for each item in the application list are derived from.
Table 12-1: Labels in an application list Label on application list Applications heading Form entry points Where the label is derived from The label of the application (deployable applications only) The following form view properties in the Properties tab: Entry Point, New Mode Entry Point, Search Mode Entry point guides The label of the active link guide
Using home pages in a browser

When a user uses the home page URL in a browser and logs in, the home page appears automatically. The home page is published as a simple URL:
http://hostName/arsys/home
For example:
http://server1/arsys/home
For more information about the mid tier Object List, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
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Creating form entry points

This section describes how application designers can define a form entry point. These steps are the minimum for displaying entry points in the home page to open New or Search windows. You can mix and match entry points on your form as needed. For example, you might need only a Search entry point but not a New entry point. To create form entry points, enable entry points for the form, and then create custom labels for each view of the form, as described in the following procedures.
NOTE
Based on user preferences for locale and default view, different views of a form might be selected as entry points for each user login. For more information about how views are selected for users, see How a form view is selected for the user on page 272.
To create form entry points

1 Create a form (for example, Customer Order Form). 2 Choose Form > Form Properties. 3 In the Form Properties dialog box, select the Entry Points page. 4 Enable the modes for the entry points:
For a New Mode entry point, select Enable Entry Point. For a Search Mode entry point, select the Enable Entry Point check box.
5 In the Application List Display Order field for each mode you selected, enter a
value to order the mode entry point in the application list. The value must be greater than or equal to 1. It determines the order of entries in the application list. For example, an entry point with a value of 101 appears in the list after an entry point with value of 100. If the entry point orders are the same for multiple entry points, the order they appear in the Application List field is random. Plan the order of your entry points carefully. You can have gaps in the numbering.
6 Click OK, and save the form. 7 Make sure that your form and its fields have adequate permissions for users to
view the correct information. Users see only the entry points that they have permission to access.
8 (Optional) Add a Home Page form action button to your forms so that users can
easily return to the home page with one click. See Home page navigation aids on page 316.
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To configure custom view labels for entry points

1 Select a view of the form. 2 Click in an empty area on the form so that the Properties tab displays the form
views properties.
3 In the Properties tab, set the following values to define the label that you want to
appear for the forms entry points in the application list: Entry Point, New Mode Entry Point, Search Mode
4 Repeat step 1 and step 3 for each view of the form.
If you do not define a label string, the Application List field displays the entry points by their form name.
Creating entry point guides

The following section describes how to define entry point guides. You use them to run complex workflow, for example, to open a Report window. An entry point guide is an active link guide that belongs to the form being opened and the starting active link that opens the form. If you do not plan your active links carefully, unexpected behavior might occur. For other considerations when creating workflow, see Workflow issues with active links and entry point guides on page 309.
To create an entry point guide

1 Create an Open Window active link that will open the entry points form and start
the entry point guide. You can include additional actions, but you must create at least one Open Window action to open the forms window from your entry point. For information about creating active links and active link guides, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
2 Create an active link guide. a Specify the information required in the Associated Forms, Display, and Entry
Point panels. Here you specify the active link that opens the form (which you created in step 1). For more information, see the Workflow Objects Guide. In the Application List Label field, enter a descriptive label; otherwise, the home page displays the guide name.
b Define your permissions.
Permissions are crucial for determining what groups of users can access your guide.
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Creating entry point guides
c Add any other active links you want to use that run after the form is opened
with the Open Window action you created in step 1. These active links run in the window you are opening with the starting active link. Therefore, these active links in their Form Name list must contain all the names of the forms that can be opened in the starting active link action.
Workflow issues with active links and entry point guides

Be aware of the following issues regarding how active links run inside entry point guides: When you specify the starting active link inside the entry point guide, remember that both the Run If qualification and the If and Else actions of the active link are run inside the home page form. You might not expect this behavior in the active link. To test this, create an active link that sets a field value to use inside the guide (for example, setting the Short Description field with Hello World!). Also, make the Short Description field visible on the home page form. After you run the entry point guide, you see that Hello World! appears in the home page form, not the primary form that owns the active link. As a result, while you can use any type of active link action inside the starting active link, not all operations make sense. Also, make sure your active link guide Run If qualification is valid inside every home page form that it can be run in. After the starting active link is run on the home page, the active links specified in the entry point guide are run automatically for you. As a result, you do not need to create a Call Guide action to run these active links. The active links run as defined in the context of the form opened in the starting active link of the guide. To avoid unexpected behavior, define the starting active link only with an Open Window action. Then, add other active links in the Active Links and Labels panel of the entry point guide. Alternatively, you can design your application to perform tasks like opening a URL. For example, you can create a starting active link with a Run Process action, as in the following example:
PERFORM-ACTION-OPEN-URL http://www.google.com
This active link opens the Google search engine after the user clicks the link in the Application List field.
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Entry points in applications

When you create entry points in applications, plan all your permissions carefully. The entry points that a user can see in an application depend on the following factors: The Application List field displays only those applications to which a user has a license. The Application List field displays only those deployable applications to which a user has state permissions. You should also factor in the permissions associated with Groups/Roles. If users have permissions to the application but not to its underlying objects (for example, a form), they do not see the entry points. For more information about permissions, see Chapter 1, Defining access control.
To create application entry points

1 Create form entry points and entry point guides for the application. 2 Create an application that requires entry points, or open an existing application.
See Creating and defining deployable applications on page 72.

a (Optional) In the General panel, enter a descriptive header in the Label field.
For deployable applications, this label text appears in the home page as the application heading for your entry points. Otherwise, the application name appears by default as the heading.
Descriptive heading created from Label field.
You do not need to create a deployable application for the entry points of an application to appear in the home page. However, putting your forms into a deployable application lets you include a descriptive heading to categorize the entry points. For local applications, no headings appear. Only the list of entry points is displayed in the application list.
b On the Forms panel, add your forms to the application.
For deployable applications, make sure you use the Standard form view, unless you have must use a web view, for example, backward-compatibility with old applications and forms. See Chapter 11, Creating and managing form views.
3 Create as many applications with their forms and entry points as needed.
Applications appear in the home page in alphabetic order.
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Modifying or creating a home page
Modifying or creating a home page

You can modify the default Home Page form or create you own home page.
To modify the default Home Page form

1 Open the default Home Page form. 2 Select the Application List field. 3 In the Properties tab, set the values to define how you want the Application Field
to appear, for example, if you want a border or scroll bars to be displayed.

4 In the Properties tab, set the Permissions value to define which groups should have
access to the Home Page form.

5 Choose Form > Form Properties, and change the permissions of the Home Page
form as needed.
To create a new home page form

1 Open or create the form you want to use as your alternate home page form. 2 Add an Application List field to display your entry points.
You can include an Application List field in any AR System form.

3 Set your preferences to configure which entry points appear in the Application List
field on your home page form.

a Open the AR System User Preference form in a browser or BMC Remedy User,
and click the Home Page tab. You can also use define BMC Remedy User settings by choosing Tools > Options to open the Options dialog box.
b Specify the server that the home page form resides on. c Specify the default Home Page form. d (For BMC Remedy User only) In the Object List field, select how you want users
to interact with the home page. For example, if you select Disable, the Object List menu item and icon is disabled, and users must use the Home Page to access forms and applications. For more information, see: Understanding how a home page appears in BMC Remedy User on page 317 Understanding how a home page appears in a browser on page 319
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4 Display the home page.
For BMC Remedy User, log out and log back in. To display the home page after you close it, choose File > Open > Home. In a browser, enter the following URL:
http://hostName/arsys/home
For example:
http://server1/arsys/home
Using style sheets with application list and navigation fields

You can use style sheets to customize the appearance of the Application List and navigation fields in a browser or BMC Remedy User. A style sheet named arsystem.css is located in the BMC Remedy User installation folder. Each user using that installation folder has the styles in the style sheet. For the Web, another arsystem.css style sheet determines the appearance of all fields (not only the Application List and navigation fields). This file is in the midTierInstallDir\resources\ folder.
NOTE
You should be familiar with HTML and Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) files before editing style sheets. An excellent background resource is the MSDN Library website at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp. See especially the sections on HTML, Dynamic HTML, and CSS Attributes. Also, while browser attributes are similar, they are not exactly the same. Not all attributes work with every browser.
Using style sheets with BMC Remedy User

Users can edit the arsystem.css style sheet in their installation folder to change fonts, colors, attributes, and other properties of the Application List field.
NOTE
The arsystem.css file has replaced the appfield.css (or ARSystemApplist.css) file, which was used prior to version 7.0. If you have made customizations in the appfield.css file, copy these customizations to the arsystem.css file after you upgrade BMC Remedy User. After users save their changes to the style sheet, they do not see changes to the Application List field immediately because it is generated at runtime. The next time they open the home page, the edited style sheet is applied to the Application List field. Users do not have to log out and log back in to see the change.
Using style sheets with application list and navigation fields
NOTE
Do not rename the style sheet. BMC Remedy User expects the arsystem.css file to be present in the installation folder. The style sheet is updated with every installation of BMC Remedy User. If you customize the file, you must reapply your changes after an upgrade of BMC Remedy User. The installer creates a backup of your previous style sheet, so the customizations are not lost.
To use style sheets in BMC Remedy User

1 Open the home page in BMC Remedy User to view the default settings of the style
sheet.
2 Open the arsystem.css style sheet in a text editor.
The arsystem.css file for each user is located in your BMC Remedy User installation directory folder.
3 Edit any of the attributes as needed.
You must use the defined style classes (for example, .HomeListAppFirstStyle). You can add any available style to these classes. Make sure you use the correct syntax, adding semicolons after an attribute, valid font families, correct color or RGB settings, and so on. Edit the font family, font size, and add a color to the style, for example:
.HomeListAppFirstStyle {font-family:Century Gothic; fontsize:10pt; font-weight:bold; color: red;} 4 Save your changes. 5 Close your home page (or the form containing the Application List field). 6 Open the home page.
The new attributes you defined appear in the Application List field.
Using style sheets with a browser

Most of the common styles displayed in the browser are defined in
midTierInstallDir\resources\standard\stylesheets\ARSystem.css. AR System provides individual arsystem.css style sheets for the MS Internet Explorer (..\resources\stylesheets\resources\ie\stylesheets) and Mozilla (..\resources\stylesheets\resources\moz\stylesheets) browsers if there are browser-specific styles to define. When you edit these style sheets, you are making changes to the entire mid tier, not only to a particular application.
When you open the home page in a browser, the browser automatically applies the appropriate style sheet. Users can then edit this style sheet to change fonts, colors, attributes, and so on. For more information about ARSystem.css for the mid tier, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
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To use style sheets with application list fields for a browser

1 Open the home page in your browser. 2 Open the ARSystem.css style sheet for browsers in a text editor. 3 Edit any of the attributes as needed.
You must use the defined style classes (for example, td.FIRSTAPPNAME). You can add any available style to these classes. Make sure you use the correct syntax, adding a semicolon after an attribute, valid font families, correct color or RGB settings, and so on. Edit the font family, font size, and add a color to the style, for example:
td.FIRSTAPPNAME { font-family:'Century Gothic'; font-size:10pt; font-weight:bold; color:deeppink; } 4 Save your changes. 5 Refresh your home page in the browser.
The new attributes you defined appear in the Application List field.
Viewing a subset of entry points

For deployable applications, you can display a subset of applications and entry points to users by creating workflow that uses a reserved field ID.
NOTE
In the default Home Page form installed with AR System, there is a hidden reserved field named AppSubset (field ID 1576). You only need to add the necessary workflow to use it. You might want to hide the reserved field on most form views. If you set its field values with the Window Loaded execute condition, the Application List field is populated automatically with the subset of entry points when the window becomes loaded. The following procedure adds a special character field (the reserved field used to configure the list of entry points) and a button to a form. It then uses Run Process workflow to dynamically display a subset of servers and applications. To test this functionality, create multiple applications and entry points, or use multiple AR System servers.
NOTE
If you use multiple servers on the Web, add servers using the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Configuration Tool. See Specifying a server for the mid tier on page 322.
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Viewing a subset of entry points
To create sample workflow to view a subset of entry points

1 Add a character field to your home page and name it AppSubSet. 2 In the Properties tab, enter 1576 as the value for the ID property.
This value creates a special reserved field ID. If this field contains a value, only the entry points for these applications and servers are displayed. Most likely, you will want to set this value dynamically through workflow.
3 Add a button field to your form and name it Show All Entry Points. 4 Save your changes to the form. 5 Create an active link with the following conditions:
Associated Forms panel: Add your home page form. Execute Options panel: Enter Show All Entry Points in the Button/Menu field.
6 Create a Run Process If action with the following Run Process syntax: PERFORM-ACTION-HOME-FIELD-REFRESH 7 Save your active link. 8 Display your home page form.
All the entry points in the Application List field are displayed. But when you enter a value into the Configuration Field and click the Show All Entry Points button, you see a subset of entry points. For this example, two servers were used (polycarp and mirepoix). The Application List field on this sample home page contains a list of all the entry points this user can see that are available on these two servers.
Figure 12-4: Complete list of entry points
9 Enter the following syntax into the AppSubSet field to display a subset of servers
and applications. Separate applications and servers by commas.

serverName.applicationName, serverName.applicationName
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Enter a backslash (\) escape sequence in the syntax if the application name uses a comma or period. For example, if the application is named Help.Desk on server polycarp, the escape sequence is as follows:
polycarp.Help\.Desk
Enter serverName to display all the entry points and applications that the user has permissions to access on serverName. Or, enter serverName.applicationName to display a subset of applications on a specific server. For example, if you entered the following text and clicked Show All Entry Points:
polycarp.MusicManager Application
The Application List field is redisplayed with only the entry points from the MusicManager application on the server polycarp.
Figure 12-5: Subset of entry points
Home page navigation aids

You can use the following functionality to allows users to navigate their way back to their home page: Add a home page form action field to the form Create run process workflow that returns to the home page
BMC Remedy Useradding a home page form action field to a form

The easiest way to navigate users back to the home page from a form is by adding a Home Page form action button to the form. Forms displayed in a browser include the Home button as a required form action field in the toolbar. (For more information about form action fields, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide guide.) When a user clicks the home page button in BMC Remedy User,the home page window is brought to the front if that window is already open. In a browser, the home page always opens in a new window.
To add a Home Page form action field to a form

1 Open the form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio. 2 Choose Form > Add Form Action Fields. 3 From the list of Form Action Fields, select Home Page.
The Home button appears on your form.

Configuring home page preferences
4 Position the Home button as needed. 5 Save the form.
Creating run process workflow that returns to the home page

Adding a Run Process command to workflow provides more flexibility than simply adding a Home Page form action button to a form. For example, you can create an entry point guide that opens a form and lets users perform specific tasks. The last action in the guide can be a Run Process action that returns the user to the home page. The following procedure illustrates the Run Process workflow by creating your own home button.
To create run process workflow that returns to the home page

1 Add a button field to your form and name it Go Home. 2 Save the form. 3 Create an active link that executes on the Go Home button. 4 Create a Run Process If action with the following Run Process syntax: PERFORM-ACTION-GO-HOME 5 Save the active link.
For more information about workflow, see the Workflow Objects Guide.

The following sections describe configuration settings for using a home page. This information is important to understanding which form is displayed as a home page.
TIP
Both BMC Remedy User and the mid tier use a hierarchy of values to resolve which home page form to open on what server. As a rule of thumb, the particular settings specified in the AR System User Preference form always override the global server and configuration settings.
Understanding how a home page appears in BMC Remedy User

When you log in to AR System, BMC Remedy User uses the following sequence to determine which home page form is displayed. Suppose that the AR System User Preference form is configured to use the server1 server and the HelpDesk form as the home page form.
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Step 1 If you are accessing BMC Remedy User with a preference server, BMC Remedy
User checks the server that is defined as a user preference on the Home Page tab of the AR System User Preference form. If you are using a preference server and you configured a home page server, BMC Remedy User uses this setting to search for a home page form. With BMC Remedy User, the user preference is optional. For more information, see Specifying a server and home page in the AR System User Preference form on page 321.
Step 2 If you did not define any user preferences, BMC Remedy User checks for the home
page options defined in the Options dialog box (Tools > Options).
Step 3 If no options are defined in the Options dialog box, BMC Remedy User checks for
the preference server specified in the Login dialog box.

Step 4 If no preference server is defined, BMC Remedy User uses the first server in the
login list as an alternative. In this example, suppose the server found server1 in step 1. The server then checks server1 for available home page forms.
Step 5 If the server locates a home page form defined in your user preferences,
BMC Remedy User opens and displays it as your home page. In this example, the user preference was not the default Home Page form installed with AR System, but HelpDesk, an alternate home page form. BMC Remedy User opens and displays HelpDesk as your home page.
Step 6 If you did not specify a home page in your user preferences, BMC Remedy User
uses the Default Home Form defined on the Configuration tab in the AR System Administration: Server Information form. For more information, see Specifying a home page on the server on page 321.
Step 7 If you did not configure a home page form on your server, BMC Remedy User
searches for the first form it can find that has an Application List field.
Step 8 If such a form cannot be found, BMC Remedy User checks the next server in your
login list, then repeats step 6 and step 7.

Step 9 If BMC Remedy User checks all the servers in your login list and cannot find any
home page form, no form is opened in BMC Remedy User and a warning is returned (ARWARN 1898). For BMC Remedy User, the server compiles a list of entry points from all the servers in your login list and displays them in the home pages Application List field. If two applications have the same name, BMC Remedy User displays their server name as well, as shown in Figure 12-7.
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Figure 12-6: Application list field displaying applications with same name
For more information about configuring a home page server, see the Configuration Guide.
Understanding how a home page appears in a browser

When you enter the home page URL (http://hostName/arsys/home) and then log in to AR System, the mid tier uses the following sequence to determine which home page form is displayed in the browser. Remember that on the Web, the mid tier can be configured to have multiple preference servers. Suppose that the AR System User Preference form is configured to use the server1 server and the HelpDesk form as the home page form.
Step 1 The mid tier checks the home page server that is defined on the Home Page tab of
the AR System User Preference form. If you defined a home page server in user preferences, the mid tier uses this setting to search for a home page form. For more information, see Specifying a server and home page in the AR System User Preference form on page 321.
NOTE
If you do not create an entry in the AR System User Preference form, the mid tier creates a default record for you, but it does not populate the fields relevant to the home page settings. These are left blank by default.
Step 2 If no user preference is defined, the mid tier checks the home page server setting
in the Configuration Tool. If there is no configuration setting, the mid tier displays an error. In this example, the mid tier found the server server1 in step 1. The mid tier then checks for available home page forms. You define preference servers by clicking Home Page Settings in the Configuration Tool. For more information, see Specifying a server for the mid tier on page 322.
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Step 3 If the mid tier locates a home page form defined in your user preferences, the
browser displays it as your home page. In this example, the user preference was not the default Home Page form installed with AR System, but HelpDesk, an alternate home page form. The browser opens and display HelpDesk as the home page.
Step 4 If you did not specify a home page in your user preferences, the mid tier searches
for a home page form on the server defined in step 1 and step 2. When a home page is found and opened, the mid tier has compiled a list of entry points from all the servers listed in the AR Server Settings in the Configuration Tool and displays them in the home pages Application List field. If two applications have the same name, the mid tier displays their server name as well, as shown in Figure 12-7.
Figure 12-7: Application list field displaying applications with same name
If such a form cannot be found, the mid tier displays an error and no form is opened in the browser.
NOTE
The entry point labels that appear in the application list field are also determined by the form views. You must set the correct view label to expose, for example, a web view of the forms entry points. Otherwise, you might define an entry point that is not displayed properly in your web view. The system displays views based first on the view label and then the locale. For more information, see How a form view is selected for the user on page 272. For more information about configuring home page servers, see the Configuration Guide.
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Specifying a server and home page in the AR System User Preference form
Although a default Home Page form comes installed with the AR System, you can define a different home page. Your user preferences override both the global server settings and mid tier configuration options. These user preferences allow you to define a customized home page form for particular groups of users (for example, Marketing and Engineering). You can also specify one home page for each user. For example, people working primarily in Marketing can see one home page. But if they communicate frequently with Engineering, they can have access to engineering applications, and the home page they see can be appropriately customized.
NOTE
With BMC Remedy User, user preferences are optional. With the mid tier, if you do not set any user preferences, you do not return any default value from your server or form. However, you do have a server defined in the mid tier configuration, as well as a setting for the home page form for the server.
To specify a server and home page in the AR System User Preference form
1 Open the AR System User Preference form in BMC Remedy User or a browser.
NOTE
You can also define these preference settings through the Options dialog box. Choose Tools > Options, and click the Home Page tab.
2 Click the Home Page tab. 3 Specify the server the home page form resides on. 4 Specify the default Home Page form. 5 Select how you want users to interact with the home page.
For example, selecting Disable in the Object List field hides the menu item to access the Object List. For backward compatibility, the Object List familiar to those who know BMC Remedy User is still available by choosing File > Open > Object List. You can also choose to show or hide this dialog box through these user preference settings.
6 Click Save.
Specifying a home page on the server

This global setting lets you easily specify which form to display as home page, if this server is specified for its home page. If a different server is designated, for example, in user preferences, this setting is ignored.
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This setting allows you to define a home page form for particular groups of users, and customize the content and look of the form. For example, you can add a character field that displays the applications and servers in the Application List field.
To specify a home page in the AR System Administration: Server Information form

1 From the BMC Remedy AR System Administration Console, open the AR System
Administration: Server Information form.

2 Select the Configuration tab. 3 In the Default Home Page field, select the home page that you want to use system-
wide. The default setting is the default installed Home Page form. If you designate a different home page, make sure it includes an Application List field. For more information, see Entry points in applications on page 310.
4 Click OK.
Specifying a server for the mid tier

If you are using a home page in a browser, this global setting lets administrators configure the mid tier with the AR System server that contains the home page form.
To specify a server for the mid tier

1 Open the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Configuration Tool from the following URL: http://hostName/arsys/shared/config/config.jsp 2 Click the General Settings link. 3 From the Homepage Server menu, select the AR System server that you want to
run against the mid tier.

4 If you use the subset reserved field (ID 1576) in your workflow and you use a
combination of fully qualified domain names and relative host names, add all the variations of server names to AR Server Settings. For example, add the server names arserver, arserver.staff.acme.com, arserver.acme.com, and arserver.acme2.com. For more information about the subset field, see Viewing a subset of entry points on page 314.
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Suppressing automatic opening of home pages in BMC Remedy User

You can suppress the home page automatically opening in BMC Remedy User in two different ways: Using the AR System User Preference form Using the Options dialog box If you use the Options dialog box, these changes are automatically saved in an entry in the AR System User Preference form.
To suppress home pages through user preferences

1 Log in to BMC Remedy User. 2 Open the AR System User Preference form. 3 Perform a search for the preference entry of a login name. 4 Click the Home Page tab. 5 In the Open Home Page Automatically field, click No to disable the home page.
The default setting is Yes.

You must log in again to see your changes take effect. The server on which the AR System User Preference form resides must be specified as the preference server when you log in.
To suppress home pages through the Options dialog box

1 Log in to BMC Remedy User.
Observe how the home page automatically opens.

2 Open the Options dialog box. 3 Click the Home Page tab. 4 In the Open Home Page Automatically field, clear the Open Home Page
Automatically check box. The default setting is Yes.

You must log in again to see your changes take effect.
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Chapter
Defining packing lists
Packing lists are functional units that contain an administrator-defined grouping of information. For example, if an application contains ten forms, each form and its related workflow can be organized in its own functional unit, or packing list. Each of these units can be added to the applications packing list. Another application can add these packing lists to reuse functional units from the preceding application. Packing lists offer the administrator a method of grouping and organizing large amounts of information to make development simpler and ease the transition from development to production. The following topics are provided: Using packing lists (page 326) Creating packing lists (page 326) Saving packing lists as XML import/export command files (page 329)
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Using packing lists

You can construct a packing list to create and apply external utilities, such as installation utilities or external object browsers. In addition, you can use packing lists to gather information about specified objects and manipulate those objects. If you use the Distributed Server Option (DSO), you cannot track DSO mappings that have been renamed. Packing lists can track only server objects with database IDs. DSO mappings are not server objects, so they are not tracked by their database ID, but by their actual names. Therefore, if you change a DSO mappings name and then open a packing list that contained that mapping, the DSO mapping is missing from the packing list.
Creating packing lists

Use the following procedure to create a packing list.
To create packing lists

1 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > Packing Lists. 2 Right-click Packing Lists, and choose New Packing List.
A new packing list opens.

Figure 13-1: Packing List
3 Enter a Label and Description for the packing list.
You cannot enter more than 255 characters in the Label field or more than 2000 characters in the Description field.
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Creating packing lists
4 Add the packing list objects. a Click Add. b In the Add Items dialog box, select the objects you want to add.
To view from more than one object category, click Select All in the Filtering Options area. Use the CTRL and SHIFT keys to select more than one item from the Available Objects list.
Figure 13-2: Adding items to a packing list
c From the Add Items with Related Property list, select the appropriate option for
your packing list: Object OnlyAdd only the selected objects (and not their related objects). Directly Related ObjectsLimits the scope of server objects when shared workflow is added to the packing list. See the table in Directly related objects that are added to a packing lists on page 328. All Related ObjectsAdds all selected objects and their related objects.
d Click OK.
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5 In the Properties tab, set the values for the following properties, as needed:
Help Text New Description (a description for Change History) Owner Permissions Subadministrator Permissions
6 Choose File > Save. 7 In the Save Packing List As dialog box, enter a name.
Packing list names must be unique on each AR System server. Although there are no naming conventions, create names that provide meaningful descriptions of the packing list. Names can be a maximum of 80 characters, including spaces. Names can include double-byte characters, but avoid using numbers at the beginning of the name. Names are shared across packing lists, active link guides, filter guides, web services, and applications, so each name must be unique.
Directly related objects that are added to a packing lists

If you select Directly Related Objects when adding objects to a packing list, the packing list includes related objects as described in the following table.
Table 13-1: Related objects in a packing list (Sheet 1 of 2) For: Forms Packing list includes: All related menus, active links, filters, escalations, active link guides, filter guides, web services, and distributed mapping definitions. In addition, menus from the Change Field action of the active links are included. Any other forms referenced in workflow actions, guides, and menus are not associated as related objects. All forms that were used to create these join forms as well as their related items (as defined in the operations included in the Forms above). All menus that are referenced in the Change Field actions, and all guides that are referenced in the Call Guide action. The guides should see the same form to which the active link refers. The active links that are referenced in the guide also fall within the same scope; therefore, the associated objects of those active links are included. This cycle continues until it reaches a form. All filter guides referenced in a Call Guide action and all DSO mapping definitions referenced in a DSO action. Filters that are referenced in the guide also fall within the same scope; therefore, the associated objects of those filters are included. The guides should see the same form to which the filter refers. Escalations do not have any of the above actions, so there are no associations for escalations. All active links referenced in the guide as well as all associated objects for those active links.
Join forms
Active links
Filters
Active link guides
328
Saving packing lists as XML import/export command files
Table 13-1: Related objects in a packing list (Sheet 2 of 2) For: Filter guides Applications Web Services Menus Groups Flashboards Images Packing list includes: All filters referenced in the guide as well as all associated objects for those filters. All associated forms and the list of related objects associated with those forms. Included as an independent object. No related items included. Included as an independent object. Included as an independent object. Included as an independent object.
Saving packing lists as XML import/export command files

In addition to exporting a packing list like any AR System server object, you can save a packing list to an XML import/export command file. You can use the XML file with the import and export command line interfaces to import or export the objects in the packing list.
To save a packing list as import/export commands

1 In the Packing Lists branch of the server branch in the AR System Navigator, right-
click the name of the list and choose Save as Import/Export Commands
2 In the Save as Import/Export Commands dialog box, select or enter a file to write
the import/export commands.

3 Click Save to create the file.
For the use of this XML file, see the information about the import/export CLIs in the Integration Guide.
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330
Appendix
Core fields
This section describes the AR System core fields and their uses. The following topic is provided: Core fields (page 332)
Appendix A Core fields
331
Core fields
AR System core fields are a set of fields that every regular form must have. You can include these fields in other forms; if present, the fields follow the same rules and have the same meanings. The commonality gained by such a convention is useful for conceptual consistency, sharing definitions, and exchanging and merging databases. Additional limits are placed on the core fields, including the fact that some fields are required, others are maintained by the system, and others have fixed or maximum sizes. Core fields generally appear on every regular form to make sure that all forms share a common set of concepts. AR System automatically includes core fields on all regular forms. Because display-only forms and joins do not directly store data in the database, core fields are not required for these types of forms. Core fields are also not required for view and vendor forms because they map to external data sources, which might not have these fields. Core fields help provide consistency when merging and sharing data. Core fields significantly aid in the construction of solutions based on AR System. You cannot delete core fields from regular forms although you can modify their appearance by altering labels, adding or changing menus, altering the display type, altering their location, or hiding them from view. The following table lists the AR System core fields.
Table A-1: AR System core fields (Sheet 1 of 2) ID 1 Field name Request ID Description A unique identification value for each request in the system. Groups that have neither Change nor View access to the Request ID field do not have access to any other form information, regardless of the permission settings of the other fields. Data Type: Character Length: 515 For join forms, there is no limit to the number of layers of joins that AR System supports, so the Request ID field of a join form contains more than 15 characters. See Joining three or more forms on page 104 for more information.
Note: Do not change the QBE Match setting to Equal for the Request
ID field. Because AR System adds a prefix and a series of zeros to Request IDs before it begins a search, users cannot run valid QBE searches against Request ID numbers if you set the QBE Match setting to Equal or Leading.
332
Core fields
Table A-1: AR System core fields (Sheet 2 of 2) ID 2 Field name Submitter Description The name of the AR System user who was logged in and submitted the request. This field is tied to the Submitter group when defining row-level security. For more information about row-level security, see Controlling access by using implicit groupsRow-level security on page 34. Submitter is a required field. Data Type: Character Length: 254 3 Create Date The date and time at which the request was created in the system. The AR System server sets this field, and it cannot be modified. Data Type: Timestamp 4 Assigned To The user who has been assigned responsibility for the request. This field is tied to the Assignee group when defining row-level security. For more information, see Controlling access by using implicit groupsRow-level security on page 34. Data Type: Character Length: 254 5 Last Modified The name of the user who last altered the request. AR System sets By this field to the login name of the user who last changed the request. It cannot be modified. Data Type: Character Length: 254 6 Modified Date The date the field was last modified. The AR System server sets this field to the time the last change to this request was made. It cannot be modified. Data Type: Timestamp 7 Status Indicates the current state of the request. Users have control over this field. It must have a value at all times; there must be a default value in the event that the user does not specify a value when the request is created. The actual names and values of the status field can be customized. Status is a required field. Data Type: Selection 8 Short Description A brief description of the request. A size limit forces the submitter to be concise. Short Description is a required field. Data Type: Character Maximum Length: 254 15 Status History The user who last made a change, and the time the change was made to each of the states identified by the Status field. AR System sets and maintains this field, and it cannot be modified. If status history recording and reporting is disabled, the status history is cleared and not updated. Data Type: Character
333
Core field characteristics

The following core fields have special characteristics that you should consider when defining a new form.
Request ID field
AR System uses the Request ID field (Field ID 1) to provide a unique identification value for each request entering the system. It is created and maintained by the system. To improve the usability of the Request ID field, you can add a prefix to the field to make it more descriptive to your users. For example, in a distributed server environment where you transfer requests from Los Angeles to Chicago, the system can add the prefix LA to requests generated on the Los Angeles server and CHI to requests from Chicago. For more information about adding prefixes to the Request ID field and about changing its length, see the Configuration Guide. The Request ID field is fundamental to access control in AR System. Without access to this field, users have no access to the request, even if they belong to groups with access to other fields on the form. Groups that have neither Change nor View access to the Request ID field do not have access to any other form information, regardless of the permission settings of the other fields. For more information, see Using the Request ID field with implicit groups on page 36.
Submitter field
The Submitter field (field ID 2) defines which user created a request. The user who create a request is automatically a member to the Submitter implicit group. See Submitter and Assignee access on page 35. For information about preventing changes to this field, see the discussion of Submitter mode in the Configuration Guide.
Short Description field

The Short Description field (field ID 8) provides a common place for users to summarize a request. By default, the Short Description field contents appear in the results pane of a form whenever a search is performed. You might want to include a menu of possible problem and request types for the Short Description field to make request submissions easier and reporting more efficient. For more information, see Chapter 8, Creating menus.
334
Core fields
Status field
Your application can use the Status field (field ID 7) to track the different states a request moves through in its life cycle. The meaning of each individual state helps define the workflow process and you can define any number of states. In addition to keeping track of each state of a request, AR System keeps additional information with the Status field called status history. Status history includes the user name of the person who last changed the state of the request and the date and time that the change occurred. If status history recording and reporting is disabled, the status history is cleared and not updated. Define states carefully. The Status field is the key field that represents the problem resolution process. The states must capture the important steps in the process, although not all states might be used during the life cycle of a single request. A good process is often represented by four or five states. It is difficult to modify the Status field choices after users have begun to use the form, because the data for a selection field is stored in the database as an integer that relates to the order of the choices. For more information about selection fields, see Selection fields on page 130.
Assigned To field
The Assigned To field (field ID 4) enables ownership of each request to be tracked. If requests are designed to pass ownership from one user to another, create workflow that uses the Assigned To field. Users who are assigned ownership to a request are automatically assigned membership in the Assignee group. For more information about the role of the Assignee group in AR System, see Special groups in AR System on page 21.
335
336
Appendix
Reserved fields
AR System reserved fields are special-purpose data fields. Some of these fields are used in the User or Group forms. Others are used for assignee group access, the Distributed Server Option, web applications, or localization. You can use certain reserved fields in your forms. When these fields are used in your forms, they retain the special meaning and use as defined in this section. AR System contains fields that are reserved for system use. If you create fields with these IDs, certain actions automatically take place.
WARNING
When a form contains one of a number of combinations of reserved fields, the AR System server identifies it as a key form. For example, a form that contains fields with IDs 101, 102, and 103 is identified as the User form. You must avoid these special combinations of reserved fields to make sure the server does not identify a form incorrectly. For details, go to the Support page on the BMC website at http://www.bmc.com/ support_home and see Knowledge Base Self Help Document ID 200003599. This section lists the ranges of reserved fields and a description of the fields. The following topics are provided: Reserved field ranges (page 338) Reserved IDs used as placeholders in definitions (page 339) Reserved fields in access control (page 340) Localization reserved field (page 343) DSO reserved fields (page 344) Form action reserved fields (page 346)
Appendix B
Reserved fields
337
Reserved field ranges

AR System has special ranges of field IDs. Numbers 199 are reserved for core fields. Numbers 100536870911 are reserved for registered fields. The following table lists reserved field ranges that forms and applications use in AR System.
Table B-1: Reserved field ranges ID range 199 101149 150159 200399 450469 600699 700750 800810 820880 900999 10001100 11011399 1500-1525 17001799 20002299 23002699 1000014999 1500015999 1700017399 2000039999 4000040499 6000060999 10000001999999 30000003999999 Type of fields, forms, or applications that use the field IDs Core fields Access control fields AR System Message Catalog Distributed Server Option forms Audit fields Business Time forms Alert forms Server Events form Business Time forms Server Statistics form Form Action fields Application Statistics forms Currency forms Roles form Application States Business Time forms Approval Server Option Enterprise Integration Engine Reporting forms Preference forms Flashboards Dynamic group fields Global fields Window-scoped global fields
338
Reserved IDs used as placeholders in definitions
Reserved IDs used as placeholders in definitions

Many workflow definitions reference field IDs. In several places, a special reserved ID is used to request a special operation. These fields are described in the following table.
Table B-2: Reserved IDs for special operations ID 97 Field name Description
Set to Defaults Used in Open Windows action to indicate that fields on the opened form should be set to their default settings. Data type: Not applicable Like ID Used in Push Fields and Set Fields actions to indicate mapping of like IDs. Data type: Character Number between 1 and100 indicating the quality of a match. The closer to 100, the better the match. Data type: Integer Used to display a subset of entry points. This field is hidden on the default Home Page form installed with the AR System. Create this field as necessary on your own home page form. Data type: Character
98
99
Weight
1576
AppSubset
Appendix B
Reserved fields
339
Reserved fields in access control

The User, Group, and Roles forms contain the reserved fields shown in the following table. These fields are involved in access control. The table lists the form on which the field is defined, but you can add these fields to any form by creating the field and specifying its reserved ID. See Chapter 1, Defining access control, for more information about access control.
Table B-3: Reserved fields for access control (Sheet 1 of 4) ID 101 Field name Login Name Form User Description The name the user enters in the User Name field of the Login dialog box when logging in to the system. Data type: Character Length: 254 102 Password User The password that the user enters when logging in to the system. When a user enters information into this field, the text appears as asterisks (*). Data type: Character Length: 27 103 Email Address User The email address of the user. Data type: Character Maximum length: 255 104 Group List User The list of access control groups to which the user belongs. Group names are separated by spaces. Although you make entries to the Group list by using the alias (name for a group), the group IDs are stored as integer values separated by semicolons. Data type: Character Maximum length: 4000 105 Group Name Group The alias by which the access control group is known. This is the name used in the Group list field of the User form and in the Group Permissions list of each form field. Data type: Character Length: 30 106 Group ID Group The ID of the group named in the Group name field. This ID should be greater than 10 for groups that you create. Data type: Integer Range: 0100 (can be expanded)
340
Reserved fields in access control
Table B-3: Reserved fields for access control (Sheet 2 of 4) ID 107 Field name Group Type Form Group Description The maximum permission type intended for the group named in the Group name field. Data type: Selection (None, View, Change) 108 Default Notification Mechanism License Type Full Text License Type User The notification method used if the user specifies the default mechanism. Data type: Selection (None, Alert, Email) User User The type of license that the user has. Data type: Selection (Read, Fixed, Floating) 110 The type of full text search license that the user has. Data type: Selection (None, Fixed, Floating) 112 Assignee Group any The groups or users assigned responsibility for the request. This field is tied to the Assignee Group group when defining rowlevel security. For more information about this type of security, see Controlling access by using implicit groupsRow-level security on page 34. Data type: Character Maximum length: 255 115 Write License Pool User The license pool from which floating write licenses are taken. Data type: Character Maximum length: 30 116 FTS License Pool User The license pool from which floating full text search licenses are taken. Data type: Character Maximum length: 30 117 Authentication Login Name User This field is used for external authentication under certain conditions. For more information, see the Configuration Guide. Data type: Character Maximum length: 254 118 Authentication String User This field is used for external authentication under certain conditions. For more information, see the Configuration Guide. Data type: Character Maximum length: 255 119 Computed Group List User After a search, displays the computed groups the user is associated with. Data type: Character Maximum length: 255
109
Appendix B
Reserved fields
341
Table B-3: Reserved fields for access control (Sheet 3 of 4) ID 120 Field name Form Description The group category, such as Regular, Dynamic, or Computed. Data type: Selection 121 Computed Group Definition Group Boolean statement that defines a computed group. For information about computed groups, see Groups you createRegular, computed, and dynamic on page 23. Data type: Character 122 Application License User For users of licensed applications, the name of the application and the type of license. For more information about licensing applications, see the Integration Guide. Data type: Character 123 Encrypted String any This field encrypts input text. The resulting encrypted string is 120 characters long. Data type: Character Minimum length: 120 179 Unique Identifier User and Group This field is used internally by applications installed on top of AR System. It replaces field ID 490000000 (Instance ID) in version 6.x. See your product documentation for more information. Data type: Character Maximum length: 38 1700 Application Name Roles Name of the application for which the role is defined. Data type: Character Maximum length: 250 1701 Role Name Roles Name by which the role is known. Data type: Character Maximum length: 255 1702 Role ID Roles Integer ID that is the recognized identity of the role. The ID must be a negative number, such as -10001. Data type: Integer 2001 Test Roles The regular or computed group to which you want to map the role for the Test application state. Data type: Character Maximum length: 255
Group Category Group
342
Localization reserved field
Table B-3: Reserved fields for access control (Sheet 4 of 4) ID 2002 Field name Production Form Roles Description The regular or computed group to which you want to map the role for the Production application state. Data type: Character Maximum length: 255 60000 60999 Dynamic groups any The roles, groups, or users assigned responsibility for the request. This field is tied to a dynamic group when defining row-level security. For more information about this type of security, see Controlling access by using implicit groupsRow-level security on page 34. Data type: Character Maximum length: 255 490000000 Instance ID User and Group Replaced by field ID 179 (Unique Identifier) in version 6.x. This field is used internally by applications installed on top of AR System. See your product documentation for more information. Data type: Character Maximum length: 38 490000100 Object ID User and Group This field is used internally by applications installed on top of AR System. See your product documentation for more information. Data type: Character Maximum length: 38
Localization reserved field

The following reserved field is used for localization.
Table B-4: Localization reserved field ID 160 Field name Locale Description Add this field to a form to localize search menus. The system uses this field to search for requests matching the users locale. For more information, see Chapter H, Localizing AR System applications. Data type: Character Length: 255
Appendix B
Reserved fields
343
DSO reserved fields

Distributed Server Option can add one or more of the reserved fields shown in the following table.
Table B-5: DSO reserved fields (Sheet 1 of 2) ID 300 Field name To Mapping Description The name of the mapping to use when transferring a request. Data type: Character Length: 254 301 302 Transfer Status The status of a distributed transfer operation. Data type: Selection (Success, Retry, Failure, Timeout, Canceled) Data type: Selection (Success, Waiting, Retry, Failure, Timeout, Canceled) 303 Master Flag A flag indicating whether a request holds ownership (that is, is the master copy). Data type: Selection (No, Yes) 304 Current Form The form in which the master copy of the request resides. Data type: Character Length: 254 305 Current Server The server on which the form with the master copy of the request resides. Data type: Character Maximum length: 64 306 From Mapping From Request ID The name of the mapping used to transfer this request. Data type: Character Length: 254 307 The ID of the request from which this copy was transferred. Data type: Character Length: 15 308 To Request ID The ID of the request to which the data was transferred. Data type: Character Length: 15 309 Mapping History Transfer history informationthe date and time of transfer, source request ID, source form, source server, and the name of the specific mapping used (created at transfer time). Data type: Character Length: Unlimited 310 From Form The form from which a request was transferred. Data type: Character Length: 254
Update Status The status of a distributed update or return operation.
344
DSO reserved fields
Table B-5: DSO reserved fields (Sheet 2 of 2) ID 311 Field name From Server Description The server from which a request was transferred. Data type: Character Length: 64 312 To Form The form to which a request should be transferred. Data type: Character Length: 254 313 To Server The server to which a request should be transferred. Data type: Character Length: 64 314 When to Update The frequency with which to update the original request if a transferred copy is updated. Data type: Selection (Daily, Hourly, Immediately, No Update, On Return) 315 Transfer Mode The type of transfer to perform. Data type: Selection (Copy + Delete, Data + Ownership, Data Only, Independent Copy) 316 Duplicate Entry ID Action Max Time to Retry From Pool The action that occurs if you transfer a request and a request with the same ID already exists in the form specified in the To Form field. Data type: Selection (Create New, Error, Overwrite) 317 The maximum time (in seconds) that the system should retry a distributed operation before canceling the operation. Data type: Integer 318 DSO pool on the source server that processed the distributed operation. Data type: Character Length: 254 319 Enforce Pattern Matching Require Required Fields Matching Qualification Flag indicating whether to enforce patterns defined in fields on the target form during distributed operations. Date Type: Selection (No, Yes) Flag indicating whether to require values in fields defined as required fields on the target form. Use this field to enable transfer of an entry with a NULL value in a required field. Date Type: Selection (No, Yes) 321 The qualification used to match a source request with a request in the target form. Data Type: Character Length: 0
320
Appendix B
Reserved fields
345
Form action reserved fields

The following fields are used in web applications to help users perform actions. For more information about form action fields, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
Table B-6: Form action reserved fields ID 706 1001 1002 1003 1004 Field name Alert List Submit Search Modify Modify All Description Displays the alert list. Data type: Table Performs a save operation in New mode to create a record. Data type: Button Performs a search operation. Data type: Button Performs a save operation in Modify mode to save a record. Data type: Button Performs a save operation in Modify mode to save all selected records. Data type: Button 1005 Query Bar Contains the contents of the Advanced Search Bar. Data type: Character Length: Unlimited 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 Clear Set to Default Help New Search New Request Show Status History Home Results List Clears all data in fields on the screen. Data type: Button Sets the form to the default settings. Data type: Button Opens help for the form. Data type: Button Changes the form to Search mode. Data type: Button Changes the form to Create mode. Data type: Button Displays the progress that has been made on an AR System request. Data type: Button 1012 1020 Displays the form you have configured as your home page. Data type: Button Displays results of a search. Data type: Button
346
Appendix
Special forms
This section describes the system-defined forms that are loaded during AR System installation. See the Installation Guide for the locations of these forms. Some of these forms are required for baseline AR System functionality. The following topic is provided: AR System installed forms (page 348)
Appendix C
Special forms
347
AR System installed forms

The following table describes forms loaded as part of the installation of the AR System server. Those forms that have web views are saved with the locale of en_US. If you need a web view of the form in another locale, open the web view of the form on a computer set to the locale you require, and save it. Some of these forms, called system forms, that are required for baseline AR System functionality are maintained by the AR System server. If a system form does not exist when the server starts, it restores the form from a file. System forms are marked in the table.
Table C-1: AR System installed forms (Sheet 1 of 10) Form name Application forms: Application Pending
+
System Description Used for queuing processes and requests. This form works with the Dispatcher thread, which routes requests to the appropriate queues. The Dispatcher wakes up the process that the Application Pending request indicates requires execution. For more information about the Dispatcher thread, see the Concepts Guide. Used to monitor and analyze the performance of your deployable applications and forms. For deployable applications, logs entry, filter, and escalation statistics for all forms participating in the application statistics. Also logs application licensing statistics. For forms, logs entry, filter, and escalation statistics. See the Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide for how to use this form.
Application Statistics
Application Statistics Configuration
Verifies or changes application and form statistics logging settings. See the Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide for how to use this form.
348
Table C-1: AR System installed forms (Sheet 2 of 10) Form name Application forms (continued): AR System Application State
+
System Description
Defines the development state (such as Test or Production) for a deployable application. You can edit the entries in this form in the user client or create workflow that acts on this form to change the applications state. Changing the state changes the access permissions to the application (and to objects owned by the application) according to the role-group mappings defined for each state in the Roles form. See Working with deployable application states on page 76 for more information about application states.
SHARE:Application_Interface
Required by the following applications (and their previous versions) to load their systems, sub-systems, and help: ITSM 7.0 suite (AM, CM, IM, PM and DSL) SLM 7.0 Approval Server 7.0 Assignment Engine 7.0 (Assignment Engine has a load dependency order on other applications that load this form.) Also required by the following applications: Customer Support 6.0 Quality Management applications.
SHARE:Application_ Properties
Required by applications to register their versions and other necessary information, and get the unique identification (GUID) on that server at the time of installation. This information is used by other applications for communication. Enables you to view and modify the AR System server information. For more information, see the Configuration Guide.
AR System Administration Console and related forms
AR System Message Catalog
Enables administrators to provide localized versions of error messages, help text, menus, and other text strings displayed to users in applications that are customized by locale. The use of this form can be enabled or disabled. See Appendix H, Localizing AR System applications, for how to use this form.
Appendix C
Special forms
349
Table C-1: AR System installed forms (Sheet 3 of 10) Form name AR System Object Relationships System Description
+
View forms providing access to the object relationship data recorded when Record Object Relationship is selected on the Configuration tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form. For more information, see the Configuration Guide.
AR System Orchestrator Configuration
Used by administrators to configure the integration between AR System and BMC Atrium Orchestrator. For more information, see the Integration Guide.
AR System Resource Definitions AR System Searches Preference
Used to define templates. For more information, see the Form and Application Objects Guide. Stores searches that users can create and save for a form. Each search is an entry in this form. For more information, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
AR System Server Group Operation Ranking
Stores the ranking of servers for operation ownership within a server group. This form is loaded only when the AR System server is configured to be a member of a server group. For more information, see the Configuration Guide.
Assignment Engine forms: ASE:Assignment Association ASE:ProcessRuleForm Assignment Engine Administration Assignment Forms Assignment Processes Assignment Rules Search Rules BMC Atrium Web Services Registry integration forms: AR System Web Services Registry AR System Web Services Registry Pending Delete
+ +
Used to run the Assignment Engine. For more information, see the Configuration Guide.
Used by the integration between AR System and the BMC Atrium Web Services Registry. For more information, see the Integration Guide.
350
Table C-1: AR System installed forms (Sheet 4 of 10) Form name BMC Remedy Alert forms: Alert Events
+
System Description Contains alerts that are sent to users. If a notify action of a filter or escalation sends an alert, the alert text and reference is stored in this form. See the Configuration Guide for how to use this form.
Alert List
Provides a web view with an alert list field already created. You can add this form to your web-based applications for viewing lists of alerts in a browser.
+ + + + + + + +
Business Time forms: Business Segment-Entity Association Business Segment-Entity Association_Join Business Time Holidays Business Time Segment Business Time Shared Entity Business Time Shared EntityEntity Association_Join_Join Business Time Workdays Currency forms: AR System Currency Codes Holds the currency codes that are available on a server. Each code can be activated or inactivated by checking the Active field on the form. Activating a currency code makes it available to the clients. Contains localized labels that override the currency codes in the menus associated with currency fields in BMC Remedy User and browsers. Queried by clients to retrieve overridden currency labels. There is no interaction with this join form. Holds the ratios for converting one currency to another. This form can include ratios for both conversion directions (for example, from USD to Euro and from Euro to USD) because these conversion rates are sometimes different. This form can store current and historical conversion rates. Used to define periods of availability and unavailability, workdays, and holidays to calculate business schedules. For more information, see the Configuration Guide.
AR System Currency Label Catalog
AR System Currency Localized Labels AR System Currency Ratios
Appendix C
Special forms
351
Table C-1: AR System installed forms (Sheet 5 of 10) Form name Data visualization forms: Data Visualization Definition Data Visualization Module Data Visualization System Files Database search forms: object_search_admin object_search_details object_search_ref Used to set up the search database, which you can use to see which workflow is related to fields in a form. For more information, see the Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide. DSO forms: Distributed Mapping
+
System Description Used to set up a data visualization module to display graphical data in a field on a form. For more information, see the Integration
Guide.
Defines and maintains parameter and data control values for a specific distributed mapping. Maintains a queue of pending distributed transfers, updates, returns, and deletes. Maintains a queue of failed pending distributed operations. Includes information about the error that caused the failure. Defines and maintains definitions of specific distributed pools. Used to create and add flashboards to a form and to handle them at run time. For more information, see the BMC Remedy Flashboards Guide.
Distributed Pending Distributed Pending Errors
+ +
Distributed Pool Flashboards forms: FB:Alarm Events FB:Alarm Monitor FB:CumulativeServerStatistics FB:Datasource FB:DataSourceVariables FB:Flashboards FB:History FB:History Summary FB:NonCumulativeServerStatistics FB:Variable FB:Variable Attributes FB:User Privilege Flashboard Server Statistics Sample Group
Used to create access control groups to which you grant or deny access to AR System objects. There must be exactly one Group form defined on a server. See Creating groups on page 43 for how to use this form.
352
Table C-1: AR System installed forms (Sheet 6 of 10) Form name Home Page System Description Used as a convenient starting point for administrators and site managers to display entry points. This default form is automatically installed with AR System. Provided as an example form based on an industry standard directory service user schema. Each field on the form references an attribute defined by the inetorgperson object class. Enables administrator to view and modify configuration parameters for the ARDBC and AREA LDAP plug-ins that are stored in the ar.cfg (or ar.conf) file. Requires the Configuration ARDBC plug-in. For more information about ARDBC, see the Integration Guide as well as the C API Reference guide. AREA LDAP Configuration Enables administrators to view and modify the parameters for the AREA LDAP plug-in. The parameters are used to query the LDAPenabled directory service for authentication purposes and user information. Enables administrators to view and modify the parameters for the ARDBC LDAP plug-in. The parameters are used to establish connections with LDAP-enabled directory services. + Used to add, activate, modify, deactivate, and remove licenses for the AR System server, server components, and applications based on AR System. See the Configuration Guide for how to use this form. AR System Current License Usage Tracks all licenses currently in use on the server when the Enable License Tracking option is selected in the AR System Administration: Server Information form. You can use the data in the AR System Current License Usage form to generate flashboards that show current license usage. For more information, see the Configuration Guide.
inetorgperson
LDAP forms: Configuration ARDBC
ARDBC LDAP Configuration
Licensing forms: AR System Administration: Add and Remove Licenses
Appendix C
Special forms
353
Table C-1: AR System installed forms (Sheet 7 of 10) Form name AR System Historical License Usage System Description Tracks information about licenses that are released while the Enable License Tracking option is selected in the AR System Administration: Server Information form. You can use this data to generate flashboards that show the following information for specified time periods: License usage for a single user, including each time that the user acquired or released a particular license type Number of licenses used by all users for a specified application, license type, or license pool For more information, see the Configuration Guide. AR System Licenses AR System Tags AR System Tags Log forms: AR System Log: Alert AR System Log: ALL AR System Log: API AR System Log: Escalation AR System Log: Filter AR System Log: FullText Index AR System Log: SQL AR System Log: Server Group AR System Log: Thread AR System Log: User Metadata forms
+ + + + + + + + + + + +
Internal supporting forms for licensing.
+ + Receives log information when a log mode is configured to log to a form. For more information on log forms, see the Configuration Guide.
View forms used by AR System client programs to access server objects. These forms are not designed for access using BMC Remedy User or the browser.
354
Table C-1: AR System installed forms (Sheet 8 of 10) Form name Preference forms AR System User Preference AR System User Central File AR System Administrator Preference System Description Store user preferences centrally, providing roaming profiles for any AR System user. These forms are loaded when they are selected in the Select Action Request System Components dialog box during installation of the AR System server. Users can access these forms in BMC Remedy User or in a browser to view and set their preferences. In BMC Remedy User, choose Tools > Options to set preferences. In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, choose Window > Preferences to set preferences. See the Configuration Guide for information about how to use these forms. Reporting forms: Report Links reports to forms on the same AR System server that hosts the Report Form, and provides the structures needed for granting permissions to run a report for specified groups. Administrators and individual users can submit entries to this form. See the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide for how to use this form. ReportCreator Provides the interface to create and maintain AR System native report definition files. This form is a vendor form using an ARDBC plugin. The data is actually stored in the Report form as attachments. See the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide for how to use this form. For more information about ARDBC, see the C API Reference guide. ReportToFile ReportType Records report file names. Specifies how each type of report (for example, Crystal or user-defined) is created, edited, and run. Generally, only administrators can submit or modify entries in this form, but users must be able to view the entries. See the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide for how to use this form. ReportSelection Used in workflow to prompt users to select a report to run. This form has no entries. See the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide for how to use this form.
Appendix C
Special forms
355
Table C-1: AR System installed forms (Sheet 9 of 10) Form name Roles System Description
+
Defines roles for each deployable application, and maps the roles to explicit groups on the server. You must map roles to groups for each application development state, such as Test or Production. See Creating and mapping roles on page 47 for how to use this form. There must be exactly one Roles form defined in a server.
Server Events
Contains a record of internal events for a particular server. Event types that can be recorded include server structure changes, user and group changes, and server setting changes. Set options for recording server events using the AR System Administration: Server Information form of the AR System Administration Console. See the Configuration Guide for how to use this form.
Server Statistics
Enables the server to automatically store server statistics. These statistics can then be graphically displayed by client programs such as Flashboards and used to analyze server performance. See the Optimizing and Troubleshooting Guide and the C API Reference guide for how to use this form.
User
Used to define users, their characteristics, and their access rights within AR System. There must be exactly one User form defined on a server. See the Configuration Guide for how to use this form.
User Password Change
Used by users to change their passwords. See the Configuration Guide for how to use this form.
Version control forms: AR System Version Control: Object Modification Log AR System Version Control: Object Reservation AR System Version Control: Task
+ + +
See Chapter 2, Using version control, for the features that use these forms. Records changes to server objects. Records object reservations. Reserved for future development.
356
Table C-1: AR System installed forms (Sheet 10 of 10) Form name View selection forms: AR System Actor View Stores actor definitions for actor-based view selection. Each actor is an entry in this form. For more information, see the Form and Application Objects Guide. AR System User Application Actor Stores information that links actors to views for actor-based view selection. For more information, see the Form and Application Objects Guide. Visualizer forms: Visualizer Module Images Visualizer Module Registration Visualizer Type Information Visualizer Type Object Props Visualizer Type Style Info Store Visualizer configuration. System Description
Appendix C
Special forms
357
358
D
Property Active Link(s)
Appendix
Field properties
For each field on a form, you use the Properties tab in BMC Remedy Developer Studio to set properties that determine how the field looks and acts during operations performed in a browser and in BMC Remedy User. The properties listed in the Properties tab vary depending on the type of field you are creating or modifying. The following table lists the field properties in alphabetical order.
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 1 of 30) Field type Button Navigation field menu item Add Label Add New Panels Allow any user to submit Alternative Text Attach Name Label Attach Orphaned Items Attachment Fields Attachment Pool List Audit Log Key Attachment pool Panel holder (all) Attachment Data (all) Button Attachment pool Navigation (all) Attachment pool Attachment Attachment Data (all) Description See To create a button field on page 164. See To create a navigation field on page 162. See To create an attachment pool on page 156. See To create a panel holder on page 167. See Special submit setting on page 32. See To add an image to a button on page 165. See To create an attachment pool on page 156. See To create a navigation field on page 162. See To create an attachment pool on page 156. See To move an attachment field from one attachment pool to another on page 158. See Specifying fields to be audited on page 407.
Appendix D
Field properties
359
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 2 of 30) Property Audit Option Field type Attachment Data (all) Description Select one of these options: NoneChanges to the field are not recorded by any audits. AuditChanges to this field trigger an audit. New values are recorded in the audit form or log form, depending on the audit style set at the form level. CopyChanges to this field are recorded during an audit, but they do not trigger an audit. Audit and CopyChanges to this field trigger an audit if the field is changed, but if it is not changed, it is still copied (that is, behaves like a copy field). See Appendix F, Audit. Auto Complete Auto Complete Match By Auto Fit Columns Character Character Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Alert list Cell-based table Panel Trim box Trim text See To enable or disable auto-complete on page 253. To configure auto-complete to match by label on page 253 See To add a table field to a form on page 205.
Auto Refresh String Background Color
See To customize table labels on page 211. Specifies the background color:
1 Select the appropriate field. 2 (Panels and trim fields) In the Properties tab, set
Background Mode to Opaque.

3 Select custom from the Background Color drop-down list. 4 Choose a color from the color palette, and click OK.
The selected color is displayed in the Background cell. Background Image Cell-based table Panel For cell-based tables, specifies the background image in all cells in the table. For panels, specifies the image that appears in the background of the panel, and whether the image is embedded in the panel or inserted by reference. Background Image Horizontal Cell-based table Panel For cell-based tables, specifies the position of the image in the cells from side to side. For panels, specifies the position of the image in the panel from side to side. Background Image Vertical Cell-based table Panel For cell-based tables, specifies the position of the image in the cells from top to bottom. For panels, specifies the position of the image in the panel from top to bottom.
360
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 3 of 30) Property Background Mode Field type Panel Trim box Trim text Panel holder (all) Description Specifies whether the background is opaque or transparent. For text fields in a browser, the opaque background is white. Specifies whether the background image for the view shows through the panel holder and all panels. Opaque (default)Fields on the form behind the panel in the stacking order are not visible. TransparentIn a browser, fields on the form behind the panel holder in the stacking order are visible unless covered by a panel with a Background Color or Background Image set. For more information about background images and colors in views, see Setting form view properties on page 283. Border Application list Data visualization View Specifies how borders are shown: DefaultThe field border is displayed only when the content of the view field is a URL. This option works only with a browser. Selecting this option for BMC Remedy User is equivalent to selecting the Show option. HideThe field border is not displayed. ShowThe field border is displayed. See Panel Border Color on page 208.
Border Color
Panel
Border Thickness
Panel
See Panel Border Thickness on page 209.
Borderless
Panel holder (accordion, splitter, collapsible) Button All
Specifies whether a border appears around the panel holder. The default is True (border does not appear). See To create a button field on page 164. AR System automatically records the owner of a field, the user who last modified the field, and the date of the modification. To display or add to this information, use the Change History properties. For more information about building and using change history, see the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
Button Label Change History
Appendix D
Field properties
361
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 4 of 30) Property CLOB Storage Field type Character Description Controls the creation of CLOB (character large object) storage: DefaultUse the value of the Store CLOB In-Row field of the AR System Administration: Server Information form Database tab. See the Configuration Guide. In Row If the length of the character data, including the LOB locator, is less than or equal to 4000 bytes, store the data in row. If the length of the character data, including the LOB locator, is greater than 4000 bytes, store the LOB locator in row and the data out row. Out RowStore the data out row.
Note: This property only applies to an Oracle database.
Column
All (view and vendor Specifies the name of the database table column associated forms only) with the field. This field is read-only. For more information about view and vendor forms, see the
Integration Guide.
Column Width Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Tree view table Currency All See To set column properties on page 213.
Currency Types Custom CSS Style
See To create a currency field on page 150. Specifies a custom CSS style for the field. For more information about CSS styles in AR System, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
Custom Properties Data Font
Data visualization Data (all)
For more information, see the Integration Guide. Specifies a font type for the data that users enter into the field. To change the data font, select a different font type in the drop-down list. For information about the font family, style, and size of each option, see form font preferences in the Introduction to

Data Length Data (all) Specifies the width of the fields data entry region in pixels. This often differs from the maximum length for data entered in the field (see Input Length * on page 372). If users enter more characters than can be displayed, the text scrolls off the end of the field, provided the internal field length can accommodate the input.
362
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 5 of 30) Property Data Type Field type All Description Specifies the type of information that the field is designed to contain, for example, character or trim. This property is read-only. See Chapter 5, Types of fields. Definition Name Default Value Data visualization Character For more information, see the Integration Guide. Specifies the value that appears in the field when users initially open the form to perform a search or to submit a new request in BMC Remedy User. Default values can improve application usability. For example, creating a default value as a prompt in a required field (Enter your name here) informs users what information must be entered in the field. You can use keywords to define a default value. Keyword values that are unlikely to change, such as $USER$, expand to a value when defaults are first set. Other keywords (such as $TIME$) expand to a value as late as possible when defaults are loaded. For more information about keywords, see the Workflow Objects Guide. To add a default value, select the Default Value property, click its ellipsis button, enter the default value, and click OK. Date Date/Time Decimal Diary Integer Real Time Specifies the value that appears in the field whenever users load default values before performing a search or submitting a new request. (Date and time fields) This value can be a static value or one of these keywords: $TIME$, $DATE$, or $TIMESTAMP$. (Diary fields) You can use keywords. For information about keywords, see the Workflow Objects Guide. To add a default value, select the Default Value property, click its ellipsis button, enter the default value, and click OK. Currency Delete Button Delete Label Depth Effect Alert list Results list Attachment pool Horizontal line Trim box Vertical line See To create a currency field on page 150. See To customize table labels on page 211. See To create an attachment pool on page 156. For a box or line, specifies the appearance of depth: None Raised Sunken Etched (default) For examples, see Figure 5-14 on page 143. Deselect All Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list See To customize table labels on page 211.
Appendix D
Field properties
363
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 6 of 30) Property Deselect Label Disable Change Flag Field type Attachment pool Data (all) Application list Attachment Data visualization View Description See To create an attachment pool on page 156. Specifies whether the change flag (dirty bit) is affected by the field you are creating. When this property is set to True, the field does not affect the change field status of the form. This can be helpful when you have calculations that use hidden fields. See GET-CHANGE-FLAG and SET-CHANGE-FLAG in the
Workflow Objects Guide.

Note: Any field not in the users current view does not affect
the change flag, even if the Disable Change Flag property is set to False. You can associate a SET-CHANGE-FLAG Run Process action with a field not in the view to set the change flag as needed. See Including and excluding fields from form views on page 289 and information about special run processes and $PROCESS$ in the Workflow Objects Guide. Display as Flat Image Display As Text Button Data (all) See To add an image to a button on page 165. When set to True, displays the contents of the field as plain text without a border or background. You might want to set an default value for the field (see the Default Value description in this table). See To create an attachment pool on page 156. See To add a table field to a form on page 205.
Display Label Display NULL value As
Attachment pool Tree view table
364
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 7 of 30) Property Display Type Field type Button Character Description See To create a button field on page 164. Drop-Down ListUsers can select a value from a dropdown list. Values available in the list are from a menu attached to the character field. This option is available only if the character field has a menu attached to it. This option is different from the drop-down list for a selection field although they look similar. In non-Search modes, such as New and Modify, users can select a value from the list but cannot type directly in the field. In Search mode, users can either select a value from the list or type directly in the field. Users can also enter partial list values, such as Business instead of Business Services, to find all requests whose value in the field includes the word Business. EditUsers can type values directly into the field. Edit MaskedUsers can type values directly into the field, but the values are displayed as asterisks. This display type offers no special security. For example, the values are not stored in the database as encrypted values. Edit masked values are exported, imported and transmitted from client to server in clear text. FileUsers can browse network file systems for a file path, which is added to the character field. See Adding a file system browser to character fields on page 147.
Appendix D
Field properties
365
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 8 of 30) Property Display Type (continued) Field type Date and time Description Date and TimeUsers can click a calendar to enter dates and times into the field. Users can also directly edit dates and times. Just DateUsers can click a calendar to enter dates into the field. Users can also directly edit dates. Just TimeUsers can click increment and decrement arrows ( and ) to enter times into the field. Users can also directly edit times. EditUsers can type values directly into the field. EditUsers can type values directly into the field. Numeric SpinnerFor BMC Remedy User and Internet Explorer browsers only. Users can click increment and decrement arrows ( and ) to increase or decrease the number in a field. Users can also directly edit numbers. Horizontal Nav Bar The field is a horizontal navigation field. Vertical Nav Bar The field is a vertical navigation field. This property cannot be changed, so it is not possible to convert one type of navigation field to the other. Panel holders Tabbed One panel is displayed at a time. Multiple panels are indicated by tabs. Collapsible (Stacked) Multiple panels are displayed either horizontally or vertically. Splitter Multiple panels are displayed either horizontally or a vertically. A splitter control can be dragged to change the size of adjacent panels. Accordion One panel is displayed at a time; only headers of the remaining panels appear. When the header of another panel is selected, that panel is opened to display its contents. Drop-DownUsers can select from a list of choices. Radio ButtonUsers can select from a visible set of choices. Check BoxUsers can select only one choice. See To set column properties on page 213. See To add a table field to a form on page 205. See To create a navigation field on page 162.
Diary Integer
Navigation
Selection
Table columns Table fields Edit Navigation Items Navigation
366
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 9 of 30) Property Enable Clear Field type Character Description Specifies whether a (clear) item appears on character field drop-down lists. AlwaysA (clear) item appears in all modes. This is the default setting. Search OnlyA (clear) item appears in Search mode only. This property is appears in the Properties tab only when a menu is attached to the character field and the Display Type field property of the character field is set to Drop-Down List. See Adding (clear) to drop-down lists on page 251. Enabled Data (all) (Web only) Specifies whether a field is highlighted when a value is changed through a Set Fields action, and the color of the highlight. When set to True, you can specify a highlight start color and a highlight end color. The default value is false (highlight not enabled). End Color Data (all) (Web only) When the Enabled property is set to True, this property enables a smooth visual transition following a system action. For best results, choose a color that matches the background color of the element on which the field resides, whether it is a panel or the form. The default color is white. For display as text fields, the default color is the background color of the form.
Appendix D
Field properties
367
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 10 of 30) Property Entry Mode Field type Data (all) Attachment Description Select one of these options (available options depend on field type): SystemThe field is populated by AR System. Certain core fields such as Request ID and Last Modified By are system fields. RequiredField requires a valuedefault, user-entered, or from workflowwhen a user submits a request. Required fields have a bold label. A form has at least three required fields: Submitter, Short Description, and Status. Make a field required only if it must be filled in for every new request. OptionalUsers can enter information in the field or leave it empty. If you have optional fields that must be filled in under certain circumstances, you can create filters and active links that force the user to fill in the field when specified conditions are met. DisplayThe field is used as a temporary field. No space is allocated for a display-only field in the database, so a display-only field value can never be recorded in the database. For this reason, display-only fields have a value of NULL when a request is retrieved. In all other ways, a display-only field can be used in the same way as any other field (for example, you can reference it in workflow). You can select this option only when you create a field. After you save a form, the following changes occur: For a required or optional field, the Display option is no longer available. For a display-only field, the Entry Mode property is disabled and cannot be changed. To improve system performance, use display-only fields to store temporary values or to perform calculations. Global fields (field IDs 10000012000000) must be displayonly.
368
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 11 of 30) Property Expand Box Field type Character Currency Date Date/Time Diary Time Description Specifies whether an expand button that opens a text dialog box appears next to the field: DefaultHides the expand button for character fields if the field length is less than 70. Displays the expand button for currency, date, date/time, diary, and time fields regardless of field length. HideAlways hides the expand button. ShowAlways displays the expand button. The expand button opens the dialog box required to set the data for the field type and has a button that show the type of data. If you set the Display As Text property to True, you might want to hide the expand button.
Note: When a character field has an expand button, the field
displays whole words only. To see the text beyond the words displayed in the field, open the text dialog box. Field Access Alert list Button Cell-based table Horizontal line List view table Navigation (all) Results list Tree view table Trim text Trim box Vertical line Data (all) Specifies how the field is initially displayed: Enabled (default)Results in an active field. DisabledResults in an inactive (grayed out) field.
Specifies how users initially access a field in the current view: Read OnlyUsers can read or access field information, but they cannot edit it. Read/Write (default)Users can read, access (for example, copy), and edit field information. DisabledUsers can read field information, but they cannot access or edit it.
Field ID
All (join forms only) Specifies the integer that identifies the field internally throughout AR System. This field is read-only. See Working with fields in join forms on page 186. All (join forms only) Specifies the fields database name. This field is read-only. See Working with fields in join forms on page 186. Navigation (all) Attachment pool Attachment pool See To create a navigation field on page 162. See To create an attachment pool on page 156. See To create an attachment pool on page 156. Appendix D Field properties 369
Field Name Fire workflow again on selected item File Name Label File Size Label
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 12 of 30) Property Fixed Headers Field type Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Description See To add a table field to a form on page 205.
Form Name
All (join forms only) Specifies the name of the underlying form (primary or secondary) in which the field resides. This field is read-only. See Working with fields in join forms on page 186. Panel holder (accordion, splitter, collapsible) Panel holder (splitter, stacked) Specifies the background color for the header in a panel holder.
Header Background Color
Header State
Specifies if the panel header is visible or hidden. The default is Visible.
Height Help Text
All All
Specifies the height of the field in pixels. Specifies the Help text for a field. To enter Help text, select this property, click its ellipsis button, enter text in the Help Text dialog box, and click OK. For information about creating help text, see the

Horizontal Space Cell-based table See Horizontal Space on page 208.
370
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 13 of 30) Property ID Field type All Description Identifies the field internally throughout AR System. Every field in a form must have an integer field ID that is unique in that form. If you leave the ID field empty or set it to zero, AR System automatically assigns a number from the unrestricted number set. Restrictions on field ID numbers are as follows: Numbers 199 are reserved for core fields. You cannot assign an ID in this range unless you are modifying core fields. See Appendix A, Core fields. Numbers 100536870912 are reserved. If you use an ID in this range, you receive a warning. Numbers 1000000 1999999 and 30000003999999 are reserved for regular global fields and window-scoped global fields, respectively. For information about global fields, see page 180. Numbers 5368709132147483647 are administratordefined. There are no restrictions on assigning numbers in this range. If you choose to assign field IDs instead of letting AR System do it automatically, be aware that view IDs are also drawn from the low end of this range. Columns in table fields and panels in panel holders also have an ID. To assign order in workflow, you can assign the ID yourself or let AR System assign the number for you. The field ID remains constant even if the database name or display label changes. You cannot modify the field ID after it is saved to the database. If you define fields that serve the same purpose in more than one form, assign identical IDs to the identical fields in the different forms. You can then write workflow once for that field (with minor edits to AR System field definition) and reuse the field in multiple forms. Reusing the ID provides a consistent definition for the field across forms. Image Image Position Index For FTS Button Button Attachment Character Diary Currency Panel holder (accordion) Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Tree view table See To add an image to a button on page 165. See To add an image to a button on page 165. If you are licensed for full text search, specifies whether to index a character, diary, or attachment field for FTS. See To create a currency field on page 150. Specifies the first panel displayed in an accordion panel holder. To select the initial panel, click to display a dropdown list of the panels, and select a panel. See To add a table field to a form on page 205.
Initial Currency Type Initial Panel
Initial Row Selection
Appendix D
Field properties
371
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 14 of 30) Property Initial Size Field type Description
Panel in panel holder The initial size of the panel when it is created in a collapsible (splitter, collapsible) or splitter panel holder. Cell-based table List view table Results list Tree view table Character See To set column properties on page 213.
Initial Value
Input Length *
Specifies the maximum number of bytes or characters, depending on the value of Length Units property, that the field can contain. Leaving this property empty or setting it to 0 specifies an unlimited length. To use database storage most efficiently, set the Input Length of a character field so that it will be created as a varchar database table row. Storage for a varchar is allocated dynamically to the length of the actual field contents, not the input length. See Character fields on page 122 for the maximum values for varchar storage for each database. If you set the Input Length to more than the maximum for varchar, the character field is created as a clob database table column and storage is allocated in blocks that average between 1K to 2K bytes (depending on the database). A full block is allocated for the first byte. When that block is filled with the field contents, another full block is allocated. To control CLOB storage in an Oracle database, see CLOB Storage on page 362. For more information about database structure in AR System, see the Database Reference. Do not use more space than you need to store the intended field contents. If you allocate more space for storage than your system needs, more space is searched during queries. If the Expand Box property is set to Default and the field length is 70 or more bytes, AR System automatically inserts an expand button to the right of the field that users can click to open a text dialog box. This can conserve space on the users view of the form by making the fields Data Length smaller than its Input Length property.
372
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 15 of 30) Property Input Length (continued) Field type Description The default maximum input length for character fields is different for each of these databases: Sybase/MS SQL Server and Informix databases: 2 GB DB2 databases: 10 MB Oracle databases: 4 GB For scalability reasons, limit the number of long character fields in a form.
Note: To configure a different maximum input length for
Oracle and MS SQL Server databases, use the Db-MaxText-Size option in the AR System configuration files. See the Configuration Guide. You cannot use the Indexes form property to create an index for a long or character field with an Input Length over 255 bytes. But if you are licensed for full text search, you can use the Index for FTS field property to create a search index for the field. For more information about FTS, see the Configuration Guide. For some databases, you cannot search fields that are over 255 bytes. See your database reference guides and information in the AR System release notes and Installation Guide. Label Application list Attachment Composite (all) Data (all) Data visualization Navigation (all) View Specifies a label for the field in the current form view. You can enter a label with as many as 80 characters that describes the meaning and purpose of the field. The label can include spaces and double-byte characters. Avoid using spaces at the beginning of field labels; such spaces do not appear in some browsers. If you leave this property empty, the field appears on the screen with no label. For tree view table fields, if this property has text, it becomes the root of the tree. The label need not be unique. However, if duplicate field labels exist in a form, AR System issues a warning message every time you apply changes to the form unless you disable the BMC Remedy Developer Studio preferences for duplicate blank and nonblank field label warnings (see the
Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio).

You can use single quotation marks in field labels; however, when performing searches, users must enter two single quotation marks when specifying the quotation mark in the label. This is required because field labels that contain special characters must be enclosed in single quotation marks in searches, and a single quotation mark in the label is otherwise interpreted as the end of the field label. Users with Customize permissions can define labels in their personalized views in BMC Remedy User. Appendix D Field properties 373
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 16 of 30) Property Label Align Field type Data (all) Description Aligns labels to the top, center, or bottom of the region available for the label. The default is Top for labels located to the left of the field. The default is Bottom for labels located above the field. See Arranging fields in a form view on page 290. For text fields with one row, when this property is set to Top, labels appear in the center in BMC Remedy User and in a browser. See Rows on page 385. Label Font Data (all) Panel holder panel (all) Specifies a font type for the field label. For information about the font family, style, and size of each type, see form font preferences in the Introduction to

In a default regular form, each label style identifies a different field behavior: ItalicField is maintained and automatically updated by AR System. BoldField requires a value. PlainField value is optional. As the administrator, you can override the properties of the default font types, but do so cautiously to avoid confusing users. In addition, users can use preferences to change the fonts assigned to font types. All fields with the same type remain consistent. To change a label font:
1 Select the field. 2 In the Properties tab, select a new font type in the Label
Font drop-down list. 3 In the Data Font drop-down list, select a font type for data entered into the field if applicable. Label Justify Button (URL style) Data (all) Trim text Data (all) Button Data (all) Trim text Specifies where label text is positioned relative to the left and right edges of the text box: Left, Center, or Right. Specifies where a data fields label appears in relation to the field: Top (above the field) or Left (default). For a data field, the field label is the text that appears to the left of a field or above it. For a button field, the field label consists of the text that appears on the button. Colors are set one field at a time. To change label or text color:
1 Select the appropriate field. 2 In the Properties tab, select Custom in the Label/Text
Label Location Label/Text Color
Color drop-down list.

3 Choose a color from the color palette, and click OK.
374
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 17 of 30) Property Last Changed By Last Changed Time Layout Style Field type All All Cell-based table Panel Description Specifies the user name of the last person who modified the field. This read-only field is automatically set. Specifies the date and time that the field was last modified. This read-only field is automatically set. XYSpecifies that field locations in the cell or panel are set by X and Y coordinates and size by width and height. FillSpecifies that fields are dynamically resized within the cell or panel. See Panel layout policies on page 140.
Appendix D
Field properties
375
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 18 of 30) Property Length Units Field type Character Description In Regular forms, this property specifies whether the Input Length of a character field is calculated in Bytes or Characters. The default is Bytes, which is the Input Length unit for all character fields in AR System release 7.1.00 and earlier. Because character sets use varying numbers of bytes to represent a single character, setting the Length Units property to Characters allows better control of character field sizes in the database. When creating or resizing a database column corresponding to a field with a Length Units value of Characters, AR System applies a multiplier to calculate the column size for the field. The multiplier is determined by the server character set and the database code unit. The server uses the following multiplier values: 1WESTERN character set. 2UTF-8 with SQL server, GB2312, Big-5, EUC-CN, Shift-JIS, KSC-5601, and EUC-KR character sets. 3EUC-JP character set. 4UTF-8 (except SQL server), EUC-TW. For example, when you create a character field with a Length Units value of Characters and an Input Length of 100 on a UTF-8 platform, the corresponding column is 200 nvarchar in an SQL server database (multiplier value of 2), or 400 char in other databases (multiplier value of 4).
Note: For the core fields Request ID, Submitter, Assigned To,
and Last Modified By, you can only set Length Units to Bytes. The Short Description field can use either Bytes or Characters. For Bytes, it is limited to an Input Length of 255; for Characters it is limited to Input Length 63. BMC Remedy Developer Studio does not display the Length Units property if the AR System server is release 7.1.00 or earlier. To configure the default value of this property, in BMC Remedy Developer Studio, select Window > Preferences > Form.and set the Input Length Units value. In Display Only and Vendor forms, this property works with the Data Length field to restrict the length of the information to display. In Join forms and View forms, this property reflects the setting for the mapped field in the underlying form or database table. Literal FTS Index Character Specifies whether the FTS engine should use the literal method to search the contents of all requests indexed for the field. See the Configuration Guide. This property is enabled when the Index For FTS property is set to True.
376
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 19 of 30) Property Line Color Field type Horizontal line Panel Trim box Vertical line All Description Specifies the color of the line:
1 Select the appropriate field. 2 In the Properties tab, set Depth Effect to None. 3 Select Custom in the Line Color drop-down list. 4 Choose a color from the color palette, and click OK.
Localization Required
Specifies whether a field label must be translated. By default, this property is set to False. When this property is set to True, attribute 287 in the field definition is set to 1. To ascertain which fields must be translated, localizers can search .def files for the display-instance setting 287\6\1, where 287 is the ID of the localization indicator attribute. 6 is the data type for the attribute and can be ignored. 1 is the attribute value that indicates localization is required.
Maintain Aspect Ratio Margin Bottom
Button Cell-based table Panel holder (accordion, splitter, collapsible)
See To add an image to a button on page 165. For cell-based tables, specifies the space between the bottom of the cell-based table field and the last row of cells. Specify in points. For panel holders, specifies the amount of space between the bottom border of the panel holder and the bottom edge of the panels in it. If the bottom margin size is too large to allow all of the panels to be displayed, a vertical scroll bar appears. For cell-based tables, specifies the space between the left side of the cell-based table field and the first column of cells. Specify in points. For panel holders, specifies the amount of space between the left border of the panel holder and the left edge of the panels in it. For cell-based tables, specifies the space between the right side of the cell-based table field and the last column of cells. Specify in points. For panel holders, specifies the amount of space between the right border of the panel holder and the right edge of the panels in it. For cell-based tables, specifies the space between the top of the cell-based table field and the first row of cells. Specify in points. For panel holders, specifies the amount of space between the top border of the panel holder and the top edge of the panels in it. If the top margin size is too large to allow all of the panels to be displayed, a vertical scroll bar appears.
Margin Left
Cell-based table Panel holder (accordion, splitter, collapsible)
Margin Right
Margin Top
Appendix D
Field properties
377
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 20 of 30) Property Max Rows Field type Alert list List view table Cell-based table Results list Tree view table Attachment Integer Description See To add a table field to a form on page 205.
Max Size Maximum
See To create an attachment pool on page 156. Integer fields accept integer values between 2147483647 and 2147483647. Specify values in the Minimum and Maximum properties to limit the range for a field. During data submission and modification, users are restricted to entering values within the specified range. Specifies the highest value that the field can have during data submission and modification. This setting is required. The maximum size allowed for a panel in a splitter panel holder. Attaches a character menu to a character field and inserts a menu button to the right of the field. Character menus provide users with a fill-in aid that can help standardize the text contents and thereby improve the accuracy of searches. Unless you specify a pattern match (see Pattern on page 381) or change the display type to Drop-Down List (see Display Type on page 365), users can enter their own text even when a character menu is attached to the field. To attach a menu, select it in the propertys drop-down list. The $NULL$ option allocates space for the menu button, but hides the button in the users client. When you use the Change Field action to associate a menu, the menu button appears without disrupting form layout. See the Workflow Objects Guide. For information about designing and creating a character menu, see Chapter 8, Creating menus.
Currency Decimal Real Maximum Size Panel in a splitter panel holder Character
Menu Name
Menu Style
Character
Specifies how menu text is added to the field when users selects an item from a character menu: AppendText is added to any text already in the field. If text is in the field, a blank space is inserted before the menu text value is appended. OverwriteText replaces any text already in the field.
378
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 21 of 30) Property Minimum Field type Integer Description Integer fields accept integer values between 2147483647 and 2147483647. Specify values in the Minimum and Maximum properties to limit the range for a field. During data submission and modification, users are restricted to entering values within the specified range. Specifies the lowest value that the field can have during data submission and modification. This setting is required. The minimum size allowed for a panel in a a splitter panel holder. For more information, see the Integration Guide. Identifies the field in the database. Every field in a form must have an alphanumeric field name that is unique in that form. Names can have up to 80 characters, including spaces. They can include double-byte characters, but avoid using numbers at the beginning of a name. If you leave this property empty, BMC Remedy Developer Studio generates a name based on the field type and appends a number to the name to make it unique. For example, if the form has a field named Column1, BMC Remedy Developer Studio names the next field of the same type Column2. Do not use the keyword FUNCTION as a field name; if you do, the system generates an error, and the underlying database view is not created.
Note: If you create a field with a dollar sign ($) or an
Currency Decimal Real Minimum Size Panel in a splitter panel holder Data visualization All
Module Type Name
apostrophe (') in the database name, you must double the dollar sign or the apostrophe when using the field in workflow in addition to adding the surrounding characters. For example, a field named MyMoney$ must be entered in workflow as $MyMoney$$$, and a field named John's Money must be 'John''s Money'. The field name is easier to use than the field ID when you create workflow such as active links and filters. Unlike the field label, the field name is not specific to a view of the form. Do not confuse the field Name with the field Label (see page 373), especially when creating workflow. To avoid naming conflicts with the database server, do not use a word reserved by the database server software as a field name. See your database documentation for a list of reserved words. Navigation Initial State Navigation (all) See To create a navigation field on page 162.
Appendix D
Field properties
379
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 22 of 30) Property New Description Field type All Description Use this property to record information about a field change. To create a change description, select the New Description property, click its ellipsis button, and enter a description into the New Description dialog box. When you next save the field, your entry is moved to the Change History property, where it is stored in read-only diary format. Next Label Cell-based table List view table Results list Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Horizontal line Vertical line Panel holder (accordion, splitter, collapsible) All See To add a table field to a form on page 205 and Size of Chunk on page 210. See To customize table labels on page 211.
Number of Entries Returned
Orientation
Specifies the orientation of a line: Vertical or Horizontal. For panel holders, specifies the orientation of the panel headers: Vertical or Horizontal.
Owner Panel State
Identifies the author of each entry in the Change History property.
Panel in panel holder Whether the panels in a collapsible panel holder are (collapsible) expanded or collapsed. The default is Expand. Panel holder (all) Cell-based table Panel Cell-based table Panel See To create a panel holder on page 167. See Panel Border Color on page 208.
Panels Panel Border Color
Panel Border Thickness
See Panel Border Thickness on page 209.
Panel Height
Cell-based table
See Panel Height on page 209.
Panel Width
Cell-based table
See Panel Width on page 209.
380
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 23 of 30) Property Pattern Field type Character Description Restricts what users can enter into the field. You can specify two types of character patterns: Specify a character pattern that the value must match. It is similar to that used in the LIKE operator and can include any of the same wildcard characters (see information about operators in the Workflow Objects Guide). Use a keyword to specify a style for a character field. You can specify only one of the following keywords for a pattern, and it cannot be combined with a pattern of characters and wildcards: $ALNUM$The value must be alphabetic characters and digits (and blank space). $ALPHA$The value must be alphabetic characters (and blank space). $DIGIT$The value must be digits. $LOWER$The value can be any character except uppercase letters. This includes special characters, digits, and blank spaces. $MENU$The value must match an item defined in the default menu attached to the field. Do not use $MENU$ together with a Change Field workflow action that attaches a new menu (with new values) to the field. You cannot use the $MENU$ keyword with a file menu or a data dictionary menu. You cannot use the $MENU$ keyword with a search menu if the search menu qualification includes a field value from the current screen or with an SQL menu if the WHERE clause of the query includes a field value from the current screen. $PRINT$The value must be printable characters. $UPPER$The value can be any character except lowercase letters. This includes special characters, digits, and blank spaces.
Note: The way that keywords are interpreted is language-
dependent. For example, $LOWER$ is not valid in Japanese, and $MENU$ is not valid in a multilingual environment. Permissions All Specifies which users have access to the field. To assign field permissions, select the Permissions property, click its ellipsis button, and use the Permissions dialog box. For more detail, see Field permissions on page 28. Precision Decimal Specifies the number of decimal places displayed in the users view. The default setting is 2 and the maximum value of precision in AR System is 9. Specifies the number of decimal places displayed in the users view. The displayed number is rounded off, but the value stored in the database is not changed.
Real
Appendix D
Field properties
381
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 24 of 30) Property Preferences Field type Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Cell-based table List view table Results list Description See To customize table labels on page 211.
Previous Label
See To add a table field to a form on page 205 and Size of Chunk on page 210.
382
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 25 of 30) Property QBE Match Field type Character Description Specifies how a match is determined when a user performs a query-by-example (QBE) in BMC Remedy User: Anywhere (default)Finds a match if the entered value occurs anywhere in the corresponding field. For example, if a user enters Bob in the Submitter field, the search returns all requests submitted by Bobby Jones, Bob Smith, and Jill Bobbington. LeadingFinds a match only if the entered value occurs at the beginning of the corresponding field. For example, if a user enters Bob in the Submitter field, the search returns all requests submitted by Bob Smith and Bobby Jones but not those submitted by Jill Bobbington. EqualFinds a match only if the entered value matches the value in the corresponding field exactly. For example, to find requests submitted by Bob Smith, the user must enter Bob Smith, with exact spelling and capitalization, in the Submitter field. However, for some databases (such as Sybase or MS SQL Server), case-sensitivity depends on the underlying DBMS settings, regardless of the specified QBE Match. Equal and Leading generally provide better performance than Anywhere. Use them wherever they are appropriate. You can use the Preferences dialog box (Window > Preferences) to set a default QBE match type for all new character fields that are not core fields. See information about form preferences in the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio. A search on a character field with the QBE match type Anywhere performs a full table scan of the database, reading every record in a form and ignoring any indexes for the field. Searches on fields with the QBE match type Leading or Equal are typically faster than searches on fields with the match type Anywhere, especially if the field is indexed. See Defining indexes on page 118. Some relational operators and wildcards work during a QBE regardless of the QBE Match setting. This means that users can specify an exact match in a field with the QBE Match setting Anywhere by using the equal sign (=) relational operator. Users can also use the percent sign (%) wildcard at the beginning of the search string (%abcd) to override the QBE Match setting Leading or Equal. Using the % wildcard anywhere else in a string (abcd%) does not override the Equal setting. Overriding the Leading or Equal settings overrides the performance benefits of using those settings. Read Button Alert list See To customize table labels on page 211.
Appendix D
Field properties
383
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 26 of 30) Property Refresh Button Field type Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Tree view table Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Tree view table Cell-based table Description See To customize table labels on page 211.
Refresh on Entry Change
See To add a table field to a form on page 205.
Refresh Row Selection
Remote/Local Fields
Opens a dialog box used to add columns to tables. See To add a table field to a form on page 205.
Report Button
Cell-based table List view table Results list Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Tree view table Panel
See To customize table labels on page 211.
Results Color
See To set row colors on page 218.
Rounded Corners
Specifies the radius of roundness for the corners of a panel. The default is blank (no rounded corners).
Note: Rounded corners are not shown in BMC Remedy
Developer Studio. Row Header Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list See To customize table labels on page 211.
Row Selection
384
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 27 of 30) Property Rows Field type Character Diary Check box Drop-down Radio Description Specifies the number of rows of text that are displayed. For radio buttons, specifies the number of rows used for selection options. A setting of 1 produces one horizontal row. A setting of 2 divides the options into two horizontal rows, and so on. For other types of selection fields, this property cannot be changed. Save Label Scale Image To Fit Scroll Bar Attachment pool Button Application list Data visualization View See To create an attachment pool on page 156. See To add an image to a button on page 165. Specifies how scroll bars are displayed: DefaultDisplays scroll bars only when the field content does not fit completely within the field. ShowAlways displays scroll bars. HideAlways hides scroll bars.
Note: If the content of a field (such as an AR System form) has
its own scroll bars, they appear even if you hide scroll bars for the field itself. If you can hide the scroll bars of the content, you can remove all scroll bars from the field. Select All Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Navigation (all) Check box Drop-down Radio Data visualization Panel holder (all) Cell-based table List view table Results list Cell-based table Alert list List view table Results list Tree view table See To customize table labels on page 211.
Select Column Label
Select item on click Selections
See To create a navigation field on page 162. See To add selection items on page 154.
Server Shared Fields Size of Chunk
For more information, see the Integration Guide. See Shared fields in panel holders on page 176. See To add a table field to a form on page 205 and Size of Chunk on page 210. See To set sort order and visible levels on page 216. See To set sort order and visible levels on page 216.
Sort Sort/Levels
Appendix D
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385
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 28 of 30) Property Splitter State Field type Panel holder (splitter) Description Whether or not the splitter bars between panels are visible in a splitter panel holder. The default is Visible.
Start Color
Data (all)
(Web only) When the Enabled property is set to True, this property enables selection of a color for the highlight
based on the theme of the form, background color, and other factors. If no highlight start color is specified, the mid tier uses the default color of yellow.
Tab Order Application list Button Composite (all) Data (all) Data visualization Navigation (all) Trim text View Specifies the order in which the field is selected when users press the TAB key. See Setting the tab order of fields in a form view on page 298.
Table
All (view and vendor Specifies the name of the database table associated with the forms only) field. This field is read-only. For more information about view and vendor forms, see the
Integration Guide.
Table Drill Down Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Tree view table Cell-based table List view table Panel holder (tabbed) Trim text View Text Align Text Style Tree/Table Property Trim text Trim text Alert list List view table Results list Tree view table Horizontal line Panel Trim box Vertical line Alert list Form and Application Objects Guide See To add a table field to a form on page 205.
Table Not Loaded String Tabless Borderless Text
See To customize table labels on page 211. See To create a panel holder on page 167. See To create trim fields on page 178. See To create a view field on page 159. See To create trim fields on page 178. See To create trim fields on page 178. Opens a dialog box used to add columns to tables. See To add a table field to a form on page 205.
Thickness
Specifies a line width of 1 to 9 pixels. The default is 2. Thickness cannot be changed if the Depth Effect is Etched.
Unread 386
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 29 of 30) Property URL Color Use Locale Field type Button Trim text Alert list Cell-based table List view table Results list Tree view table All (vendor form only) Cell-based table Description See To create a button field on page 164. See To add a URL to a trim text field on page 179. See Locale-specific refresh on page 229.
Vendor
For fields on vendor forms, specifies the vendor name. For more information about vendor forms, see the
Integration Guide.
Vertical Space See Vertical Space on page 210.
Views
All except table columns
Specifies the form views in which a field appears. See To add or remove a field from form views: on page 290. New fields are automatically added to the current view. Depending on how your preferences are set, new fields might also be added to all other views of the form (see the
Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio).

Some field properties affect all form views while other field properties do not. All display property settings apply to only the form view in which they are set. For example, in one view a field might be visible while in another view the field might be hidden or located elsewhere in the form. See Chapter 11, Creating and managing form views,and the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide. Visible All Specifies whether the field is visible in the current view. When this property is set to False, the field cannot be seen in the view, although users with Customize permissions can make a hidden field visible. A hidden field remains in the database and can be accessed by workflow. You can create active links to dynamically hide and unhide all fields except tree view table column fields. Visible Columns Cell-based table See Visible Columns on page 210.
Width Wrap Text
All Alert list List view table Results list Tree view table
Defines the width of the field in pixels. See To set column properties on page 213.
Appendix D
Field properties
387
Table D-1: Field properties (Sheet 30 of 30) Property X Field type All Description Defines the horizontal position of the left edge of the field in the form. The X and Y settings are relative to the top left corner of the form. For example, X=0 and Y=0 is the top left corner of the form. Y All Defines the vertical position of the left edge of the field in the form. The X and Y settings are relative to the top left corner of the form. For example, X=0 and Y=0 is the top left corner of the form. If you have a series of data fields on the same line, these fields must have the same Y coordinate for tabbing between fields to work from left-to-right, top-to-bottom unless you define a tab order of fields in the form. See Setting the tab order of fields in a form view on page 298.
388
Appendix
Archiving data
Use data archiving to make archive copies of data on a specified form. The following topics are provided: Understanding data archiving (page 390) Configuring data archiving for a form (page 390) Deleting an archive form (page 392) AR_ARCHIVER user (page 393) How changes to the main form affect the archive form (page 393) Characteristics of archive forms (page 394) Configuring data archiving for a server (page 396)
Appendix E
Archiving data
389
Understanding data archiving

The archive feature of AR System provides a convenient way to periodically store data (not definitions) from a form to an archive form; this reduces the amount of data accessed during searches on the main form thus improving system performance. Archiving applies to all types of forms, except display-only forms. The main form is the form on which archive is set (data is read from this form), and the archive form is the form to which data is copied. The archive form is a regular form with special behaviors. It must be on the same server as the main form. When configuring a form for archiving, you can designate an existing form as the archive form if it has the characteristics of an archive form. (See Characteristics of archive forms on page 394.) If you do not enter the name of an existing form, AR System creates the form. The following archive types are available: Copy to Archive and Delete from SourceThe entries you choose from the main form are copied to the archive form and deleted from the main form. Copy to ArchiveThe entries you choose from the main form are copied to the archive form; the data remains on the main form. (For vendor forms, this is the only archive type that is available.) Delete from SourceThe entries you choose from the main form are deleted; no archive form is involved. NoneSelect this option to delete the archive settings for the form. The form is not archived.
Configuring data archiving for a form

You can use the data archiving feature to back up and delete data from forms.
NOTE
Do not archive system forms (such as User, Group, Server Statistics, and Server Events) because these forms use reserved fields that should exist only on the one form in AR System.
To configure data archiving for a form

1 Open the form to configure it for data archiving. 2 Choose Form > Form Properties. and select the Archive page.
390
Configuring data archiving for a form
Figure E-1: Form Properties dialog boxArchive page
3 Select an Archive Type option:
Copy to Archive and Delete from Source Copy to Archive Delete from Source None
4 Select the Enable option to enable archiving of the form. 5 If you selected Copy to Archive and Delete from Source or Copy to Archive, enter
a name for the archive form. For example, if you are archiving data on the Application Statistics form, you might name the archive form Application Statistics - Archive. If the form that you entered does not exist, AR System creates the form. If the form exists, it must have these required properties of an archive form, as described in Characteristics of archive forms on page 394.
6 (Optional) If you selected Copy to Archive and Delete from Source or Copy to
Archive, select the following options to exclude them from the archive form: No Attachments No Diary Fields
Appendix E
Archiving data
391
Selecting these options saves space in the archive form if the main form has large attachments or a large amount of data in diary fields.
WARNING
If you select Copy to Archive and Delete from Source, and select the No Attachments and No Diary Fields options, the data in the attachments and diary fields are deleted from the main form and are not copied to the archive form.
7 In the Times Selected area, set the time when you want the archiving process to
occur. You cannot set the interval time between each archiving process for less than 1 hour.
8 Enter a qualification if you want to specify a limited amount of data on the form to
archive. For example, to archive statistics older than thirty days in the Application Statistics form, enter:
Time Stamp < ($TIMESTAMP$ - 2592000) 9 Click OK. 10 Choose File > Save Form.
After the data is archived according to your qualification criteria at the time specified, you can open your archive form and view archived data using BMC Remedy User or a browser.
IMPORTANT
When a view form, join form, or vendor form is archived, the archive form is created as a regular form containing core fields that are not in the source form. You must supply default values for the required Submitter and Short Description core fields in the archive form.
Deleting an archive form

You can delete an archive form using BMC Remedy Developer Studio or by using an API call. When an archive form is deleted, archive settings are cleared for the main form. The Archive Type field is reset to None in the Archive page of the Form Properties dialog box.
To delete an archive form using BMC Remedy Developer Studio

1 Make sure that the main form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio is closed.
If the main form is not closed, your archive form might be regenerated and the archive settings might not be cleared.
2 In AR System Navigator, expand serverName > All Objects.
392
AR_ARCHIVER user
3 Double-click Forms. 4 In the Forms list, right-click the form name, and choose Delete. 5 In the Confirm Deletion dialog box, click OK. 6 In the Confirm dialog box, click OK.
Deleting an archive form using an API call

To delete an archive form regardless of whether the main form has archiving turned off or on, or when deleting an archive form that is part of a lock block, use the AR_SCHEMA_SHADOW_DELETE option with the ARDeleteSchema API call. If the archive form has data, use the ARDeleteSchema API call with both AR_SCHEMA_DATA_DELETE and AR_SCHEMA_SHADOW_DELETE options. This deletes the archive form with data.
AR_ARCHIVER user
The AR System server has a special user called AR_ARCHIVER to perform data operations such as copying data to the Archive form and deleting data from the source form. If you run a filter log file, you can see this entry in the log file. The AR System server also reserves an internal thread for archiving.
How changes to the main form affect the archive form

Saving the main form to a different form name
If you save a main form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio using the Save As function, the archived settings are not saved to your new form.
Configuring the Archive Type

On the Archive page of the Form Properties dialog box of the main form, if you select None from the Archive Type list, the connection between the archive form and the main form is broken. All archive information is lost, and the archive form is treated as a regular form. Instead of losing the archive information, clear the Enable check box, and the archiving information is preserved. To resume archiving, select Enable again.
Using qualifications
You can select the data to be archived based on a qualification. If you do not specify a qualification, all the data in the form is archived. Consider the effect on performance when using this option.
Appendix E
Archiving data
393
Licensing
When you license an application and license the main form, the archive form is also licensed.
Changing field properties on the main form

When you modify the following properties of character fields on the main form, the AR System server updates the archive form: Attributes Entry mode Field limits Help text When you modify the following properties, the archive form is unchanged: Display properties Index for FTS Permissions Fields on archive forms are always read-only.
Deleting archive fields from the main form

When you delete multiple fields from the main form, the AR System server attempts to delete those fields from the archive form. If any of those fields contain data, then none of the fields are deleted from the archive form. However, if the fields are deleted one by one from the main form, then the fields that do not contain data are deleted from the archive form.
Characteristics of archive forms

The following sections describe characteristics of archive forms.
All archive forms

All archive forms have the following characteristics.
General
The form is a regular form. The detail view in the BMC Remedy Developer Studio forms list shows its Type as Archive. Any changes to the definitions in the main form (such as adding or deleting a field) are also applied to the archive form. But if there is any data in the form, no fields are deleted from the archive form. You can change the form and view properties of the archive form explicitly. If the main form belongs to a deployable application, the archive form also belongs to the same application.
Characteristics of archive forms
If the main form is made licensable, then the archive form is also made licensable. The archive form cannot be audited or further archived.
Fields
When the AR System creates a new archive form, the following two fields are included in the form: Original Request ID (ID 450) Original Create Date (ID 451) These fields contain the Request ID and Create Date from the main form. These fields are not placed in the view. To add them, open the archive form in BMC Remedy Developer Studio, and choose Form > Add/Remove Fields On View. Then, move the fields to the Fields in View table. The Create Date of the archive form can be used as the archive date. The remaining core fields on the archive form contain the same values as the main form. Data fields, attachment pools, and panel holder cannot be modified or added to an archive form. All other field types, such as trim or table, can be added or modified. The data fields in the main and archive form have identical field limits. The permissions on archive forms are always read access.
Workflow
Workflow from the main form is not attached to the archive form when it is created. You can add workflow to an archive form, but workflow cannot modify data in an archive form. Filters that execute on Delete execute when archiving deletes data.
Import and export

Data can be exported from an archive form and imported into an archive form, but existing entries in an archive form cannot be overwritten. During import, if only the main form is present, archiving is disabled for that form, and a warning is returned. When archive is enabled for that form, AR System checks to see if the archive form is present. If no form is found, AR System creates the archive form. If the archive form is found, it is used only if it is a valid archive form. If the main form is part of a lock block from an exported definition, the archive form is part of the same lock block.
Appendix E
Archiving data
395
Archive forms created by the AR System

When AR System creates archive forms, they have the following characteristics in addition to those listed in All archive forms on page 394: Any uniqueness constraints (indexes) on the main form are removed from the archive form. You can add indexes to the archive form. When an archive form is created, the entry points are cleared, but you can add entry points. All other form properties are copied from the main form to the archive form. However, after the archive form is created, subsequent changes to the main form properties are not copied to the archive form. The owner of the non-core fields on the archive form is set to the owner of the archive form, not the original form.
Distributed Server Option (DSO) and archive forms

When a form used in a distributed operation is archived, the distributed fields are copied to the archive form but are not updated. You cannot add distributed fields to an archive form.
Configuring data archiving for a server

The data archiving feature is enabled by default on an AR System server. To disable archiving for all forms on a server, select the Disable Archive option on the Configuration tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form. If multiple AR System servers use a single database, you can disable archiving on all the servers except one if you want archiving to take place on only one server. If the server is a member of a server group, configure the server group in the AR System Server Group Operation Ranking form to make sure that only one server performs the archiving operation. See the Configuration Guide for more information about how to configure server groups. Errors are logged in the arerror.log file. Because there is no API, there is no entry in the API log file.
Server events and logging

To create an entry for archiving in the Server Events form, select the Archive option on the Server Events tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form.
396
Configuring data archiving for a server
Figure E-2: Server Events tab in the AR System Administration: Server Information form
Select the Archive check box.
If you select the Archive check box, every archive event is logged into the Server Events form.
Figure E-3: Server Events form
The entries are as follows: Event Type: (14) AR_SVR_EVENT_ARCHIVE_DONE. Event Cause: One of the following entries: (1) AR_SVR_EVENT_ARCHIVE_FORM (Copy to archive only). (2) AR_SVR_EVENT_ARCHIVE_DELETE (Delete from source only). (3) AR_SVR_EVENT_ARCHIVE_FORM_DELETE (Copy to archive and delete from source).
Appendix E
Archiving data
397
Event Date: Date and time of the end of the archive operation. Event Details 1: Source form name. Event Details 2: One of the following entries: Copy to archive and Copy to archive and delete from source
numberOfRecordsTransferred : totalNumberOfEntriesAttempted
Delete from source

numberOfRecordsDeleted : totalNumberOfEntriesAttempted
Event Details 3: Destination form name.
398
Appendix
Audit
This section discusses auditing, which enables you keep track of changes to data in a form. The following topics are provided: Understanding auditing (page 400) Audit styles (page 400) Configuring auditing (page 405) Considerations for forms (page 409) Assignee Group and other dynamic group fields (page 411) Using flag fields to view changes to an individual field (page 411) Audit processing and filters (page 412)
Appendix F
Audit
399
Understanding auditing
Through auditing, you can keep track of changes to data in any form (except display-only forms). If you have at least one field configured for auditing on a form, data in a main form can be recorded in an audit form or log form when any of the following actions occur: A new entry is created on the form. An entry is deleted on the form. Any audit field on the form is modified. Data is merged into a form. Auditing requires configuration at the following levels: Form levelEnable auditing for a form, specify an audit style, and specify the name of the form that will contain the audited data. If the audit form does not exist, AR System creates it. Field levelSpecify whether a field should be: AuditedA change to this field triggers audit processing. CopiedThe field value is copied to the corresponding field in audit form if the audit field is triggered. Audit fields that have not changed are not copied. Audited and copiedThe field triggers an audit if the field is changed. If it is not changed, it is still copied. You can selectively audit entries by providing an audit qualification. If the audit qualification fails, then the audit does not occur (even if the values of audit fields have changed).
Audit styles
When you configure a main form for auditing, you specify whether to perform a form-style audit or a log-style audit. Since AR System updates the audit forms for both styles, a special user named AR_AUDITOR performs the audits. This name is displayed in the Last Modified By field for all audits.
400
Audit styles
Form-style audits
A form-style audit records data from the main form to an audit form. The audit form: Is a regular form that serves as the destination for data audited in the main form. Resides on the same server as the main form. Contains the same fields as the main form. Contains several audit-specific fields. See Audit form fields on page 401. When you configure a main form for a form-style audit, you specify a name for the audit form. When the form is audited, data from the main-form fields configured for auditing is copied to corresponding fields on the audit form. If there are fields in the main form not configured for auditing, the corresponding fields on the audit form are left blank.
Audit form fields

The data fields in the main form and the audit form have identical field permissions and field limits. However, you cannot modify field permissions and limits on the audit form.
IMPORTANT
When you delete multiple fields from the main form, AR System attempts to delete those fields from the audit form as well. If any of those fields contain data, then none of the fields are deleted from the audit form. If the fields are deleted one by one from the main form, then the fields that do not contain data are deleted from the audit form. Each audit form contains the following audit-specific fields.
Table F-1: Audit form fields (Sheet 1 of 2) Field name Action Description The actions that triggered the audit. The options are: 2Set 4Create 8Delete 16Merge Fields Changed User Original Request ID Audit Date The database names of the audit fields that changed. The syntax for the list is as follows: ;databaseName;databaseName;databaseName; The user that modified the entry in the main form. The Request ID of the entry being audited. The date and time when the audit occurred.
Appendix F
Audit
401
Table F-1: Audit form fields (Sheet 2 of 2) Field name Description
Last Modified The user who created the entry in the audit form last. (AR_AUDITOR is By always the user who creates the entries.) Audit Join Key Used for join form auditing. AR System maintains this field.
AR System does not create these fields as part of any view in the audit form, so you must add them to the view to use them. (In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the audit form, and choose Form > Add/Remove Fields On View.)
NOTE
The owner of the non-core fields on the audit form (form style) is set to the owner of the audit form, not the original form.
Audit form characteristics

Audit forms have the following characteristics
General
Any changes to the definitions in the main form (such as adding or deleting a data field) are applied to the audit form. You can change the form and view properties of the audit form. Only an administrator can delete entries. If the main form belongs to a deployable application, the audit form also belongs to the same application. If the main form is made licensable, then the audit form is also made licensable. An audit form cannot be further audited, but it can be archived. Archive forms cannot be audited.
Fields
Data fields, attachment pools, and panel holders cannot be modified or added to an audit form. All other field types, such as trim, or table, can be added or modified. Limit information of the fields must be the same as the corresponding fields in the main form. The permissions for fields on the Audit forms is read access.
Workflow
When an audit form is created, the workflow from the main form is not copied to the audit form. You can add workflow to an audit form, but workflow cannot modify data in an audit form.
402
Audit styles
Import and export

Data can be exported from an audit form, and data can be imported into an audit form, but existing entries in an audit form cannot be overwritten. While importing main forms that are audited, if the main form is audited Copy style and the audit form is not found, then audit for the main form is disabled and a warning (Form not Found. ARError 303) is returned. During an import in place, if the main form has fields added or deleted, those fields are also added to the audit form. If the main form is part of a lock block from an exported definition, the audit form is part of the same lock block. If a field in the main form is audited after locking the form, the corresponding flag field is not created. (For more information, see Using flag fields to view changes to an individual field on page 411.)
Audit forms created by the AR System

If AR System creates an audit form, it has the following additional characteristics: Any uniqueness constraints (indexes) that exist on the main form are removed from the audit form. You can add indexes to the audit form. When the audit form is created, the entry points are cleared. The administrator can add entry points. When the audit form is created, the disable status history form property is not copied from the main form to the audit form. The audit form has status history disabled by default. All other form properties are copied from the main form to the audit form. However, after the audit form is created, subsequent changes to the main form properties are not copied to it. The audit form by itself cannot be imported. Either the main form by itself or both the main and audit forms can be imported. When the audit form is created for the first time, all fields (including non-data fields) are created. After that, if non-data fields are added to the main form, they are not added to the audit form.
Deleting an audit form using an API call

To delete an audit form regardless of whether the main form has auditing turned off or on, or when deleting an audit form that is part of a Lock block, use the AR_SCHEMA_SHADOW_DELETE option with the ARDeleteSchema API call. If the audit form has data, use the ARDeleteSchema API call with both AR_SCHEMA_DATA_DELETE and AR_SCHEMA_SHADOW_DELETE options. This deletes the audit form with data.
Appendix F
Audit
403
Log-style audits
A log-style audit records data from the main form into a log form. The log form: Is a regular form that serves as the destination for data audited in the main form. Resides on the same server as the main form. Contains only audit-specific fields. (See Log form fields on page 404.) When you configure a main form for a log-style audit, you specify a name for the log form. When a main form is audited, AR System copies values from the main form to a text field in the log form.
IMPORTANT
A log-style audit form can contain data from multiple main forms.
Log form fields

The log form does not contain the same fields as the main form. In addition to the core fields, the log form contains the following fields:
Table F-2: Log form fields Field name Action Description The actions that triggered the audit. The options are: 2Set 4Create 8Delete 16Merge Fields Changed User Original Request ID GUID Log The database names of the audit fields that changed. The syntax for the list is as follows: ;databaseName;databaseName;databaseName; The user that modified the entry in the main form. The Request ID of the form being audited. This field is set if the main form contains a field with ID 179. A list of field-value pairs that represent the changes to the main form. The syntax is as follows: fieldName1:fieldValue1 fieldName2:fieldValue2 Form name Log Key 1 Log Key 2 Log Key 3 Audit Date The date and time when the audit occurred. Last Modified The user who created the entry in the audit form last. (AR_AUDITOR is By always be the user who creates the entries.) The name of the main form. Fields that help in searching of log entries. See Log keys for more information.
404
Configuring auditing
Log keys
When a log form is created, it contains special character fields named Log Key 1, Log Key 2, and Log Key 3. These fields can help in searching of log entries. In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, you can set a field to any of these Log Key fields. During an audit, the value of this field goes to the key that was selected. Only three keys are available, and you cannot set two fields to the same log key. Also, you cannot set log keys for diary and attachment fields.
Log form characteristics

Log forms have the following characteristics: Have a fixed set of fields. (See Log form fields on page 404.) Do not belong to any application when they are created. Do not belong to any lock block when they are created. While importing main forms that are audited, if the main form is audited Log style and the Log form is not found, then audit for the main form is turned off and a warning (Form not Found. ARError 303) is returned.
Configuring auditing is a two-step process:
Step 1 Configuring a form for auditing (page 405) Step 2 Specifying fields to be audited (page 407)
Configuring a form for auditing

The following procedure describes how to enable auditing for a form.
NOTE
Do not audit system forms (such as User, Group, Server Statistics, and Server Events) because these forms use reserved fields that should exist only on the one form in AR System.
To enable auditing for a form

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the form you want to audit. 2 Choose Form > Form Properties and select the Audit page.
Appendix F
Audit
405
Figure F-1: Form Properties dialog boxAudit page
3 From the Audit Style list, select the type of audit you want to perform:
NoneNo auditing is performed. FormA snapshot of the audited form is saved to the audit form you specify. Only the audit and copy fields in the audit form contain values. LogWhenever a form is saved after an audit field or set of fields changes values, an entry is created in the log form you specify.
4 From the Audit state field, select Enable.
You can select Disable to disable audit functionality temporarily. Any other audit configuration values you have specified remain intact.
5 From the Audit Only Changed Fields field, select how the audit function operates
when no field is changed: DefaultUse the setting defined in the Configuration tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form. See the Configuration Guide. YesAuditing occurs only when at least one field value changes as the result of an operation. NoAuditing occurs whenever there is an operation on the form. Prior to AR System 7.5.00, the server always audited every operation.
6 If you specified a form audit, enter an audit form name in the Audit Form field. 7 If you specified a log audit, enter a log form name in the Log Form field.
The audit or log form you specify is created when you save the main form.
406
8 (Optional) Specify a qualification.
The incoming entry is audited only if it satisfies this qualification.

9 Click OK.
In the audit forms Audit page of the Form Properties dialog box, the name of the main form is displayed next to the Audit From Form label. In the log forms Audit page of the Form Properties dialog box, the number of forms using the log form is displayed next to the Audit From Ref Count label.
Specifying fields to be audited

On a form configured for auditing, you specify which fields should be audit fields, which should be copy fields, and which should be audit and copy. Audit field values and copy field values are copied from the main form to the audit or log form, but only changes to audit fields trigger audit processing. Audit fields are copied only if their value changes. For copy fields, either the value in the current transaction is taken (if present) or the value is taken from the database. If creating an entry and no value is entered for a copy field, then nothing is copied. Fields specified as audit and copy trigger an audit and are copied if changed. If not changed, they behave like copy fields.
NOTE
System fields, including Create Date and Last Modified by, cannot be audited.
To specify fields to be audited

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open a form for which auditing has been
enabled. See Configuring a form for auditing on page 405 for more information.
2 Select the fields you want to audit. 3 In the Properties tab, set the value for the Audit Option property.
The options are: NoneChanges to this field are not recorded by any audit processing. AuditChanges to this field trigger audit processing and its new value is recorded in the audit form or log form, depending on the audit style you specified at the form level. If the value does not change, its value is not recorded. CopyEither the database value or the value in the current transaction if present is recorded during an audit, but does not trigger audit processing. Audit and CopyChanges to this field trigger audit processing. If the value has not changed, then the value from the database is recorded (similar to the behavior of the Copy option).
Appendix F
Audit
407
4 (For log-form audits only) In the Properties tab, set the values for the Audit Log
Key property: Key 1The value of this field appears in the Log Key 1 field in the log form. Key 2The value of this field appears in the Log Key 2 field in the log form. Key 3The value of this field appears in the Log Key 3 field in the log form.
5 Save the form.
Table fields in audit forms

If a form is enabled but has auditing disabled and has no audit form, the AR System server tries to create an audit form for it. If the main form has a table field, then the AR System server tries to create the table field in the audit form while creating it. If the table fields form is missing, then the audit form is not created, and you receive the following errors:
Could not create the Archive or Audit Form specified. Archive/ Audit for this form has been disabled. (ARWARN 8992) Form does not exist on server Form1: (ARWARN 303).
The problem is that the AR System server is attempting to create the table field in the audit form, but since the table fields form is missing, it cannot pass the validation. To resolve this problem, create the table fields form, or delete the table field from the main form.

When you modify the following properties of character fields on the main form, the AR System server updates the audit form: Attributes Field limits Help text When you modify the following properties, the audit form is unchanged: Entry mode Display properties Index for FTS Permissions Fields on audit forms are always read-only.
408
Considerations for forms
Considerations for forms

View and vendor forms
When vendor or view forms have form-style auditing, the audit form created is a regular form, which includes core fields. Therefore, you might have to provide default values for the Short Description and Submitter fields because they are required fields (for example, if you have workflow configured for the audit form).
Join forms
Both form-style and log-style auditing are available for join forms. An audit of a join form is triggered if the join form contains audit fields from the base forms and the audit qualification (if present) is TRUE.
Form style
For a form-style audit, the join forms underlying forms must also be configured for form-style audit and must be enabled. AR System creates the join forms audit form as a join form of the underlying forms audit forms and use the Audit Join Key fields in the join criteria, as shown in Figure F-2.
Figure F-2: How a join audit form is created
Audit Join Key for A = Audit Join Key for B Join Form Audit Join Form
Form A
Form B
Audit Form A
Audit Form B
After AR System creates the audit join form, you can modify the join criteria for the audit form if you want to add more qualifications. Figure F-3 illustrates how join-form audits work in join forms. If Join Form 2 satisfies the join audit criteria, then an audit occurs for Forms A, B, and C (irrespective of A, B, and Cs audit qualification), and audit records are visible by way of Audit Join Form 2. If Join Form 2 fails the join audit criteria but Join Form 1 satisfies the audit criteria, then an audit occurs for Forms A and B, and audit records are visible by way of Audit Join Form 1, but not Audit Join Form 2. If Form C has audit enabled, then Form C is audited, and Audit Form C has entries, but audit data cannot be viewed from Audit Join Form 2.
Appendix F Audit 409
In summary, for the first audited join form that passes the join audit criteria, AR System generates a unique GUID and uses this GUID to update the Audit Join Key fields in this join forms underlying audit forms. Since the audit join form has a join criteria based on the Audit Join Key, the audit join form displays only data entered or modified in the corresponding audited join form. If the base forms of the join are modified directly, then these base forms are audited, but the audit join form does not display the modifications because the value of the Audit Join Key fields is empty.
Figure F-3: How a join form audit-style works with joins
Join Form 2 Audit Join Form 2
Join Form 1
Form C
Audit Join Form 1
Audit Form C
Form A
Form B
Audit Form A
Audit Form B
Log style
For a log-style audit, a regular form is created and contains the special log-style audit fields.
IMPORTANT
Data entered in the join form is copied to the log form regardless of whether any of that data is pushed to the underlying base forms. This means that the data captured in a log-style audit form might not reflect the content of the main form or its underlying base forms.

When you modify the following properties of character fields on the main form, the AR System server updates the audit form: Attributes Field limits Help text
410
Assignee Group and other dynamic group fields
When you modify the following properties, the audit form is unchanged: Entry mode Display properties Index for FTS Permissions Fields on audit forms are always read-only.
Distributed Server Option and audit forms

Distributed Server Option (DSO) works on audit and log forms, but the Transfer and Update flags are not updated.
Assignee Group and other dynamic group fields

For a form-style audit, if the audited form contains an Assignee Group (ID 112) field or any other dynamic group fields (IDs 60000 to 60999), the server creates these fields on the audit form. The values of these fields are always copied to the audit form, even if the Audit Option for the field is set to None. For a log-style audit, if the audited form contains an Assignee Group field or any other dynamic group fields, the server does not create these fields on the log form. If you add these fields to the log form, the values of the fields are always copied to the log form, even if the Audit Option for the field is set to None.
Using flag fields to view changes to an individual field

For every audit field in a form, AR System creates a flag field on the audit form. This field contains the database name and remains on the audit form until the main field is deleted. (If a field in the main form is not audited or is a copy field, then the flag field is not created.) Flag fields are not in any view, and they are created with the field ID in the name, for example, F_fieldID_C, where fieldID is the field ID of the audited field. (If a join form is audited, fieldID is the field ID of the audit field in the join form.)
NOTE
In the base form of a join, if a field is set to audit after the audit join form is created, the flag field is created in the base forms audit form and in the audit join form.
Appendix F
Audit
411
When auditing is triggered, and if the audit field changes value, the corresponding flag field contains a 1 to indicate that the field changed; otherwise, it remains empty. By using a flag field, you can refine your search and view changes to an individual field.
To view changes to an individual field

1 Enable form-style auditing on a form. 2 Select the fields for which you want auditing, and set the audit attribute to Audit
or Audit and Copy for those fields.

3 Perform a search on the audit form with the following qualification included: F_fieldID_C
where fieldID is the ID of the field for which you want to view the audit. This field must be one of the fields that have the Audit or Audit and Copy attribute enabled. For example, Form A has fields A, B and C, and audit is turned on for A and B. To view the changes to A, search Form A with the following qualification:
'F_536870913_C' = "1"
where 536870913 is the field ID of field A. This query displays all of the records where field A has changed.
Audit processing and filters

Both audit forms and main forms can have filters; however, filters cannot modify data on the audit form. For all forms that are audited (either by Form Style or Log Style), auditing occurs at the end of Filter Phase 2. For example, if Form A has Set Fields and Push Fields filter actions, and Form A has auditing enabled, then the audit occurs after the Set Fields and Push Fields actions have been executed. The exception is a join form that is audited by Log Style. For these forms, auditing occurs at the end of Filter Phase 1. For example, if Join Form AB has Set Fields filter actions and has auditing enabled, then the audit occurs after all the Set Field actions have been executed. If an error occurs in the transaction (including errors while auditing), then the entire transaction is rolled back.
NOTE
Phase 3 filter actions (such as Run Process, Notify, and DSO) are not audited. For information about filter processing, see the Workflow Objects Guide.
412
Appendix
Importing and exporting object definitions, views, and applications

This section describes the administrative tasks involved in managing AR System form objects, views, and applications. The following topics are provided: AR System definitions (page 414) Exporting and importing definitions (page 415) Exporting and importing deployable applications (page 427) Locking objects (page 429)
NOTE
Exporting and importing definitions (.def or .xml) files is not the same task as exporting and importing data (.arx, .asc, .csv, or .xml), although you can export data as part of a deployable application. Use BMC Remedy User to export data in a form to a file, as described in BMC Remedy User help and in the Configuration Guide. To import data into a form, use BMC Remedy Data Import.
Appendix G Importing and exporting object definitions, views, and applications
413
AR System definitions
A definition is the description of the structure in which objects, views, and applications in AR System are organized, identified, and manipulated in the AR System server. Object definitions contain no user data or entries. You can use two methods for exporting and importing definitions: You can move AR System objects from one server to another by exporting object definitions to a file, and importing the definition file to a server on the same or a different computer. Exported objects can be locked to prevent them from being modified or viewed. For more information, see Locking objects on page 429. You can export object definitions by type (for example, all menus), or those for a specific server. You can export and import deployable applications from one server to another. Exporting and importing a deployable application automatically includes all the forms, workflow, menus, web services, packing lists, localized messages, reports, application roles, support files, and the form data (if specified) that are referenced by the application. For more information, see Exporting and importing deployable applications on page 427. To learn about exporting and importing data, see the Configuration Guide.
NOTE
BMC Remedy Developer Studio 7.5.00 cannot import object definitions and deployable applications exported using BMC Remedy Administrator 6.3.00 or a previous version. You must export using version 7.0.01 or later. When you export object definitions to a file, you choose a file typeeither AR System definition or AR System XML.
The AR System definition (*.def) file type

The AR System definition type is the default for exporting object definitions. It is a proprietary format for storing the definitions of AR System structures. You can include several applications within the same .def file.
The AR System XML (*.xml) file type

The AR System XML type for exported objects produces an XML document that is comparable to the AR System definition file format. It follows the syntax of the XML specification 1.0. Specifically, every AR System object type has an associated structure definition in XML, which is specified by the XML Schema Definition (*.xsd) file. The *.xsd files reside on the AR System server and are used to validate the AR System object definitions as valid XML.
414
Exporting and importing definitions
Exported objects in XML format comprise an XML document, which might also be referred to as an instance of a particular XML schema definition for that object. If the XML schema definitions are loaded into an XML editor, someone who is knowledgeable about AR System objects and XML can edit the XML document. The XML schema definitions are designed to be similar to the definitions in the *.def files. You can include only one application inside an .xml file. See the data structure information in the C API Reference guide for more information about the XML Schema definitions of AR System objects.
WARNING
If you are exporting an object that contains XML text (for example, a form with a data visualization field that holds a flashboard), you must use a .def file. Because of an XML parsing limitation, exporting and importing XML text in AR System XML files is not supported.

Use the Export and Import menu selections in BMC Remedy Developer Studio to export and import definitions. Export provides a wizard from which you can export structure definitions to a file. If you are licensed for the Distributed Server Option, you can also export distributed mapping and pool definitions. You can also create mail template files with the Export Mail Templates tool. You can also export definitions into source control. Import imports structure definitions to a server. If you are licensed for the Distributed Server Option, you can import distributed mapping and pool definitions. You can also import definitions from source control.
Exporting object definitions, views, and applications

Exporting definitions to a file is the first step in moving object definitions from one server to another. You can export multiple object types at a time.
To export object definitions

1 Choose File > Export.
415
Figure G-1: Export wizard
2 Expand BMC Remedy Developer Studio in the tree. 3 Select Object Definitions, and click Next. 4 Select the server from which to export objects, and click Next. 5 In the Export Objects dialog box, click Add to open the Add Items dialog box.
416
Figure G-2: Add Items dialog box
6 Perform the following actions: a (Optional) In the Filtering Options area, use any of these methods to narrow the
list of objects in the list: To find an object, enter the first few characters of its name in the Name field. For example, to find a form called Class Cost, enter cla or class. To show only the objects for a specific application, select an application from the Applications drop-down list. To display specific types of objects, Use the Object Category check boxes to select categories. To select all categories, click Select All.
b To find a specific object once you have filtered the list, enter the first few
characters of an object name in the Locate field above the object list. You can sort the list of objects by name or type by clicking a column header. For example, to sort the objects by name, click the Name column header. By default, items are sorted in ascending order. To sort by descending order, click the column heading again.
7 Click the objects you want to export.
417
8 From the Add Items with Related Properties drop-down list, select an option:
Object Only, Directly Related, All Related, or Content. The Directly Related option limits the scope of server objects when exporting shared workflow to a definition file. This option defines new rules for each workflow object, establishing parameters that restrict the objects that are related to include only the associations defined by the new rules for each type of workflow. The Content option is applicable only to container objects: applications, guides, and packing lists. If you select only Container object types in the Filtering Options, the Content option is displayed in the list. Selecting Content exports only the object in the container. The container and related objects are not exported.
NOTE
You can change the Related property for an object after you add it to the Export wizard page. Table G-1 outlines how each object definition is exported with the Directly Related option.
Table G-1: Items exported with Directly Related option (Sheet 1 of 2) Object type Forms Items exported with Directly Related option All related menus, active links, filters, escalations, active link guides, filter guides, web services, and distributed mapping definitions. Menus from the Change Field action of the active links are also included. Any other forms referenced in workflow actions, guides, and menus are not associated as related objects. Join forms Active links All forms used to create join forms and their related items (as defined in the operations included in the Forms above). All menus referenced in the Change Field actions, and all guides referenced in the Call Guide action. The guides should see the same form to which the active link refers. The active links referenced in the guide also fall within the same scope; therefore, the associated objects of those active links are included. This cycle continues until it reaches a form. Filters All filter guides referenced in a Call Guide action and all DSO mapping definitions referenced in a DSO action. Filters referenced in the guide also fall within the same scope; therefore, the associated objects of those filters are included. The guides should see the same form to which the filter refers. Escalations do not have any of the above actions, so there are no associations for escalations. Active link guides Filter guides Applications Packing lists 418 All active links referenced in the guide and all associated objects for those active links. All filters referenced in the guide and all associated objects for those filters. All associated forms and the list of related objects associated with those forms. All contents of the packing list and all related objects for those contents.
Table G-1: Items exported with Directly Related option (Sheet 2 of 2) Object type Menus Web Services Flashboards Items exported with Directly Related option No related items exported. Exports as an independent object. Exports as an independent object.
The All Related option moves an object and any objects that are related to it. Table G-2 outlines how object definitions are exported with the All Related option.
Table G-2: Items exported with All Related option Object type Forms Items exported with All Related option All related menus, active links, filters, escalations, active link guides, filter guides, web services, and distributed mapping definitions. Forms associated with distributed mapping definitions are exported with all related forms and workflow on the current server. Join forms Filters, active links, and escalations Guides Applications Packing lists All related forms and their form-related items All related forms and their form-related items
All related forms and their form-related items. All related forms and their form-related items. List of all objects in the packing list and the related items of each object, including list of objects in an embedded packing list.
Note: Exporting embedded objects can be time consuming.
Menus Web Services Flashboards
No related items are exported. All related forms and their form-related items Exports as an independent object.
NOTE
If you have enabled Record Object Relationship on the Configuration tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form, BMC Remedy Developer Studio uses that data to find the related objects. See the Configuration Guide for details.
TIP
When you export a large number of forms with many related objects, the export operation might time out and return an error. To avoid the time-out, export the forms and objects in two or more operations.
9 Click Next to continue with exporting.
419
Figure G-3: Selected objects for exporting
10 To add more objects, click Add, and repeat steps 5 through 8. 11 To remove objects from the list or to change the Related property for objects, select
the objects in the list and use the command buttons.

12 When the list is correct, click Next. 13 In the Save As dialog box, select a destination directory and a file name for the
object or objects being exported. All selected definitions are stored in a single file (with a .def or .xml extension). If you specify an existing file name and location for the definition file, a dialog box appears so that you can select the appropriate option: OverwriteOverwrites the object definition of an existing file. This option is useful when you are re-exporting definitions that have changed. AppendAppends the object definition to an existing file. This option is useful when you are compiling definitions from several different servers in a single location.
14 Click Save.
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Figure G-4: Export options
15 In the To File field of the Options page, verify the directory and file name for the
object or objects being exported. Make any corrections necessary.

16 (Optional) Check either of the following check boxes to lock exported objects or
save the definitions as a user list. Lock Exported ObjectsSelect the check box to enable protection of the exported objects from unwanted modifications. For more information, see Locking objects on page 429. Save as Related User ListSelect the check box and enter a name for the user list to be created. Related lists can be created from AR System Navigator by right-clicking the User Lists node and selecting New Related List from the context menu. For more information about user lists, see the Getting Started guide.
17 Click Finish.
The export begins. A progress bar appears as objects are exported. When the export is finished, the Progress tab displays an Export Complete message.
NOTE
Exporting .def files cleans up only known names on the AR System server. For example, if you log in to ServerA, the export cleans up all names found with ServerA. Your computer might not know ServerA and ServerA.domain.com are the same, so it does not clean up the fully qualified name or an alias name. Also, table fields and active links can point to other servers to gather data. Exporting with server independent does not clean up those names.
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To export view definitions

1 Choose File > Export. 2 Expand BMC Remedy Developer Studio in the tree. 3 Click View Definitions, and click Next. 4 Select the server containing the view or views you want to export, and click Next. 5 In the Export Views dialog box, click Add to select views to export. Figure G-5: Export Views dialog box
6 In the View Selector dialog box, click Add to display a list of available views.
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Figure G-6: View Selector dialog box
7 (Optional) Perform any of the following actions to filter the list of views available
for exporting: To find a view in the list, enter the first few characters of its name in the Name field. For example, to find a form called Application View, enter app or application in the Name field. To show only views for a specific form, select a form from the Forms drop-down list. To find a specific view once you have filtered the list, enter the first few characters of its name in the Name field above the view list. You can sort the views in the list by name or type by clicking a column header. For example, to sort the views by name, click the Name column header.
8 Click the views you want to export. 9 In the To File field of the Export Views dialog box, enter the path for the directory
to which you want to export the view.

10 Click Finish. 11 To export more views, click Add, and repeat steps 6 through 9. Otherwise, click
Next. The export starts and a progress bar appears. When the export is finished, a Completed message appears.
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To export applications
1 Select File > Export. 2 Expand BMC Remedy Developer Studio in the tree. 3 Select Application, and click Next. 4 Select the server that contains the application or applications you want to export,
and click Next.

Figure G-7: Export Application dialog box
The Application Selection page lists the applications available for export from the selected server. You can sort the list by clicking a column header. For example, to sort applications by type, click the Type column heading. By default, items are sorted in ascending order. To sort by descending order, click the column header again.
5 Select the application or applications to export. 6 In the To File field, enter a path for the directory to which you want to export the
application, and click Next.

7 In the Save As dialog box, choose a destination directory and enter a file name for
the application being exported, and click Finish.
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Importing object definitions

This section describes how to import object definitions to a server. You can overwrite existing forms without deleting existing data or breaking links to workflow and you can import; you can also data along with a specified form. When importing object definitions from files, remember the following points: You must already have created a file that contains the object definitions that you want to import by using the procedure described in Exporting object definitions, views, and applications on page 415. Before you begin importing, make sure that your database has adequate resources. Perform large imports during hours when users do not require access to the system. You cannot have two objects with the same name on a server. If an object in the import file has the same name as an object on the destination server: Remove the object with the same name from the destination server, or Rename the object with the same name on the destination server.
To import object definitions from definition files

1 Choose File > Import. 2 Expand BMC Remedy Developer Studio in the tree. 3 Select Object Definitions, and click Next. 4 Select the server to which you want to import definitions. 5 Select the file (with a .def or .xml extension) that contains the definitions that you
want to import, and then click Open.

6 Click Next. 7 (Optional) If the object being imported is already on the destination server, click
the Replace Objects on the Destination server check box, which enables you to overwrite existing form definitions without deleting data or breaking workflow.
a Select any of the following options:
Delete Excess Fields deletes fields on the server that are not present in the file. Delete Excess Viewsdeletes views on the server that are not present in the file. Replace Application Owner
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Figure G-8: Selecting objects to import
WARNING
If you delete excess fields on the server, the associated data is deleted and any workflow might be broken.
b Select a Handle Conflicting Types option.
This option lets you decide on what path to take if field IDs are the same on the server and in the file, but the data types are different. Display Conflict Error (default)Check for conflicting data types and report errors. The import not performed. Take No ActionLeave the field as it is on the server. Data is not overwritten during import. Replace with New TypeReplace the field with the new type during import.
WARNING
If you replace the field with the new data type, the original data stored in the field is deleted and workflow might not work.
8 Click Finish.
If you attempt to import an application that is reserved by another user, the import operation fails with an error message. When you import objects that are reserved by another user, the reserved objects are skipped. When the import is completed, an Import Complete message appears.
9 Click OK. 426 Form and Application Objects Guide

When you export or import a deployable application, all the forms, workflow, menus, web services, packing lists, localized messages, reports, application roles, support files, form data (if specified), and so on, are automatically exported or imported together with the application. You do not need to select individual objects. The application owner and all permissions are included with the import or export.
NOTE
All menus referenced by the application are exported. A menu is referenced by the application if a form in the application has a field that references the menu or if an active link in the application includes a Change Fields reference to the menu. You can also export data stored in AR System forms. During the export, the data export entries in the application object are examined and the appropriate form data is exported into the .def file. When you export an application, the server exports role information. The server gathers all the roles corresponding to the deployable application and exports them. However, the role mappings themselves are not exported from the source server. When you import a deployable application, every object owned by the application and any relevant form data are imported. When the application data is imported, each entry is inserted into the target form with a merge entry operation. Therefore, if an entry already exists, the new entry is merged with the existing entry.
WARNING
If the AR System server has Record Object Relationships enable, the relationships are recorded as the objects are created during import. If you import a large application or many object definitions, the server might become highly loaded and unresponsive for a period of time.
Exporting and importing data with deployable applications

Deployable applications are designed to be portable, easily exported from one server to another. All the objects owned by the application are included in the application export. You can also define data to include in an export. With deployable applications, you can include configuration data to export or import in a definition file. This data can include back-end data that users might need to enable or disable workflow. Use the Data tab in the Application window to create the settings that are used when you create your definition file.
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When exporting form data, select from a list of available forms, then specify what configuration data to include by defining an export qualification. These queries become part of the application in the definition file and are stored as external references. For more information, see Including form data when exporting definitions on page 428. You can mix and match how to export and import configuration data with a deployable application. For example, if you select a form and do not define an export qualification nor any import options, all data from the form is exported and all data from the form is imported into the target server. Or, you can define an export qualification but not choose any import options.
NOTE
Role information is automatically included when you export a deployable application, but none of the mappings from roles to groups are exported. If you add a custom state to an application, the custom state is a server-specific configuration setting, not a configuration setting of the application. As a result, any information related to application states on application export is not automatically exported.
Including form data when exporting definitions

The following section describes how to include form data from a deployable application for use when you export definitions. You can bundle form data from one application (such as entries from the Group form) to use with a different application.You do not need to include the Group form itself in the application. This section also describes how to handle exported data during an import operation.
To include form data when exporting definitions

1 Open a deployable application. 2 Click the Data tab. 3 Use the Add button to add forms to the list in the Form Selector dialog box.
These forms contain the data you want to export.

4 In the Export Qualification field, specify a query to narrow the amount of data
included when you export the application. If you do not specify a query, all of the forms underlying data is included. Using an unqualified query can result in a huge .def file.
5 In the Fields to Match on Import table, select which fields to map against the target
server when you import data. Use the Add button to add fields to the list.
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Locking objects
Figure G-9: Selecting fields to map against target server
6 From the Handle Duplicate Request IDs By list, select how to resolve duplicate
request IDs when data conflicts are found: Reject Duplicate RecordsEntries are imported using their existing IDs. If an ID is already in use, an error is generated. (Default) Generate New ID for Duplicate RecordsEntries are imported using their existing IDs. If a record with the same ID already exists in the database, a new ID is generated for the imported record with the duplicate ID. Replace Old Record with New RecordEntries are imported using their existing IDs. If a duplicate ID exists, the entire database record is overwritten with the record being imported. You must map the required core fields with this option. If required core fields are not mapped, the server rejects the records. Update Old Record with New RecordEntries are imported using their existing IDs. If a duplicate ID exists, only the fields being imported are replaced, merging the record. This setting also makes all required fields that are not core fields optional. Generate New ID for All Records New request IDs are assigned to all requests in the data file, regardless of whether any IDs are duplicates.
7 Save your changes. 8 Use the procedure described in Exporting object definitions, views, and
applications on page 415 to create a definition file. The form data is exported along with the object definition files.
Locking objects
Object locking allows application developers to protect AR System server objects. Locking objects prevents the modification and optionally the viewing of server objects that are neither intended nor designed to be customized. AR System developers who resell their applications will find this feature especially helpful. (For more information, see Levels of object locking on page 430.) To create a locked object, you use the export definition mechanism, not the export deployable application mechanism. For more information, see Locking objects when exporting on page 433.
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WARNING
After you lock an object, it cannot be unlocked, even if you know its lock key. Keep unlocked, backup copies of your objects. In general, it is best to lock objects when you are ready to release your application. This practice prevents customers, but not fellow developers, from modifying or viewing the workflow. However, distributing locked objects prevents other developers from modifying or viewing them.
Modifying locked objects

To modify a locked object
1 Have the following items ready so that you can use Import in Place to replace the
locked object: An unlocked copy of the object A lock key to recreate the locked object
2 Modify the unlocked object and export it with the same lock key used for the
locked object. This newly locked object can overwrite an existing locked object on a server when you use Import in Place. For information about importing definitions in place, see Importing locked objects on page 435.
NOTE
All objects locked with the same key on a server become one block of locked objects on that server. You cannot remove an object from a lock block without deleting the entire lock block. You can overwrite any locked object, but you cannot individual objects.
Levels of object locking

You can apply either of two lock levels to objects: Read-OnlyPrevents users from modifying an object. Access to object properties differ from object to object. When you open a read-only object in an editor in BMC Remedy Developer Studio, you receive a warning. For a workflow object, you can add associated forms or modify permissions. For other objects, you cannot make any changes. If you make a disallowed change, BMC Remedy Developer Studio prevents you from saving the object. HiddenA more restrictive lock that prevents users from viewing details of a locked server-side workflow object. You can see some details, such as the name and execution order of the workflow object, but you cannot open the server object to view Run If qualifications, If or Else actions, change history, or help text.
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Locking objects
Hiding server-side workflow (filters, filter guides, and escalations) is intended to protect the intellectual property of those objects. Hidden locks (hiding the object details) apply only to filters or escalations. Table G-3 describes tasks you can perform with locked objects and how each task applies to lock levels.
Table G-3: Object tasks and lock levels (Sheet 1 of 3) Object task Unlock objects Read-only lock You cannot unlock objects with a read-only lock; however, you can uninstall and upgrade them. You can open the object details window for objects with a readonly lock. However, most of the details cannot be modified. Hidden lock You cannot unlock objects with a hidden lock; however, you can uninstall and upgrade them. You can view only limited details (name or execution order) of workflow objects with a hidden lock.
View details of locked objects
Modify locked forms
You cannot modify forms that You cannot modify forms with have a read-only lock, but you a hidden lock. can edit display, permissions, and VUI information. On a form with a read-only lock, you cannot create new fields or delete existing ones.
Modify workflow objects
You cannot modify workflow You cannot modify workflow objects with a read-only lock, objects with a hidden lock. but you can add forms and edit permissions. You can add forms to workflow You cannot add forms to objects with a read-only lock. workflow objects with a hidden lock. Hidden locks apply only to server-side objects (for example, filters and escalations). Hidden locks do not apply to client-side objects.
Add forms to locked workflow object
Remove forms from locked workflow object Copy locked objects
You cannot remove forms from You cannot remove forms from workflow objects with a read- workflow objects with a hidden only lock. lock. You can copy objects with a You cannot copy objects with a read-only lock by performing a hidden lock (enforced at the Save As operation. API level). You can apply a read-only lock You can apply a hidden lock to server objects. only to workflow objects that run on the server (filters, filter guides, and escalations).
Lock all server objects
Increase restrictiveness You can increase the lock level Not applicableHidden is the to hidden. higher lock level.
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Table G-3: Object tasks and lock levels (Sheet 2 of 3) Object task Decrease restrictiveness Read-only lock Not applicableRead-only is the lower lock level. Hidden lock You cannot decrease the lock level to read-only.
Rename locked objects You cannot rename objects You cannot rename objects with a read-only lock (enforced with a hidden lock (enforced at at the API level). the API level). Delete locked objects You can delete objects with a read-only lock only as a block of objects. Deleting one object that belongs to locked group deletes the entire group. Deleting a locked form that is part of a join deletes the join form. You can delete objects with a hidden lock only as a block of objects. Deleting one object that belongs to locked group deletes the entire group. Deleting a locked form that is part of a join deletes the join form.
Export locked objects
You cannot export objects with You cannot export objects with a hidden lock (enforced at the a read-only lock (enforced at API level). the API level). You can import objects with a read-only lock only if the lock key of the objects to be imported matches the lock key for those objects on a server, then the server object is replaced during an import in place operation. Otherwise, a locked object cannot be overwritten. If the objects are locked with a key that does not currently exist on the server, then the objects are imported. You can import objects with a hidden lock only if the lock key of the objects to be imported matches the lock key for those objects on a server, then the server object is replaced during an import in place operation. Otherwise, a locked object cannot be overwritten. If the objects are locked with a key that does not currently exist on the server, then the objects are imported.
Import locked objects
Lock an object that is already locked
You can apply a read-only lock Not applicable. to a previously locked object if you use the same key to increase restrictiveness to Hidden. If you use a different key, you can lock the object but the existing key is kept. YesCustomers can customize YesCustomers can customize the unlocked objects. the unlocked objects. NoDetails of locked objects are not visible. However, their names do appear in the lists of filters and escalations.
Include both locked and unlocked objects in applications
View imported locked YesYou can edit, display, and view information. You objects in cannot add or remove fields. BMC Remedy Developer Studio
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Locking objects
Table G-3: Object tasks and lock levels (Sheet 3 of 3) Object task View data from a locked server object using pre-6.x versions of BMC Remedy Administrator Logging Read-only lock No Hidden lock No
Does not affect client-side workflow logging.
Only name and server are included in filter and escalation logs.
Locking objects when exporting

Use the following procedure to lock objects when exporting.
WARNING
Lock forms and workflow with different keys. As a general rule, use one key to lock multiple forms; use a different key to lock multiple pieces of workflow. If you use the same key to lock both forms and workflow, you might encounter problems when migrating locked objects.
To lock exported objects

1 Select File > Export.
For information, see Exporting object definitions, views, and applications on page 415.
2 Select only the objects you want to lock. 3 In To File field of the Options dialog box, select the directory and file name to
which you want to export the locked object.

4 Click the Lock Exported Objects check box.
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Figure G-10: Exporting locked objects
5 Enter and verify the lock key.
To be valid, a lock key must consist of alphanumeric and punctuation characters, for example, ?1!2^3#4% or john doe. The lock key can be up to 27 characters. You cannot use double-byte characters. Objects with the same lock key are encrypted as a group in the definition file. You can apply different lock keys to different groups of objects, and both groups can reside within the same definition file.
6 Select a lock type: None, Hidden, or Read-Only.
For information about each lock type affects object tasks, see Table G-3 on page 431.
7 To save the object as a working list, click the Save as Related Working List check
box, and enter a list name. For more information about working lists, see the Introduction to Application Development with BMC Remedy Developer Studio.
8 Click Finish. 9 (Optional) During the export, append the locked objects into the same definition
file. During the export, you can append the locked objects to any existing definition file, or you can create a new definition file. The locked objects are encrypted in the definition file, so that changes to the locked objects are prevented in this format.
Locking objects
Importing locked objects

NOTE
When you import locked objects, you are actually importing only the definitions of the locked server objects instead of importing an entire deployed application. For instructions about importing definitions, see Importing object definitions on page 425. Table G-3 lists how Read-Only and Hidden functionality affects locked objects. If you try to access objects with locks, you see the following behavior: If you try to open an object with a read-only lock, the object opens but you cannot modify its execution conditions, Run If qualification, If or Else actions, and so on. If you try to open an object with a hidden lock, you receive an AR System warning, No information is returned for the hidden locked object. (ARWARN 8838)
TIP
On a form with a read-only lock, you cannot create new fields or delete existing ones. When you create a form, add all the form action fields to one or more views and mark them as Hidden if showing them in that view is inappropriate. Then, export the form as locked. When the user imports this form, all necessary form action fields are already present in the form; the user is not required to add form action fields except for choosing which of these fields to be on a specific view.
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436
Appendix
Localizing AR System applications

You can localize components of AR System, allowing users to move seamlessly between locale-specific views by simply changing their locale option and logging in. This section summarizes the areas of AR System related to the task of creating localized AR System applications. The following topics are provided: Distinguishing between data and display languages (page 438) Localizing AR System forms and applications (page 439) Selecting languages during AR System installation (page 443) Creating a localized view of a form (page 444) Searching for a view (page 445) Localizing the user interface of a form view (page 446) Localizing message components of a form view (page 448) Localizing menus (page 454) Localizing currency codes (page 456) Localizing the mid tier (page 457) Settings and procedures for the localized environment (page 458) Defining ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY (page 462)
Appendix H Localizing AR System applications
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Distinguishing between data and display languages

The distinction between the data language and the display language in the AR System is crucial for localization. If all of your users work in a single language, then you do not need to worry about the difference between the data language and the display language; they are the same. If you have users in different locales (for example, users in England, France, and Germany), then you must pick a single data language in which users enter, search, and modify the data. Typically, this language is the one that is the most common across all of your user locales. There can be only one data language for a single AR System installation, and it is chosen at the time of installation. This requirement guarantees that users in France can find help desk tickets created in Germany or England because there are common data to work against. On the other hand, the AR System provides many ways to localize the forms that users use to operate on the data, and those form views can use multiple display languages. Each user can choose the display language (assuming they are installed) that is closest to their native language. Accordingly, the French users see form views, error messages, and online help in their native language. Applications based on the AR System can support as many display languages as you have users, and each user can choose their own preferred display language. With BMC Remedy applications like the ITSM suite, you can add display languages after installation. For example, if an office is opened in Holland, you can add a Dutch language pack to the application.
NOTE
For general messages, menus, and buttons (such as OK and Cancel), the browser uses the language that was installed on it. For example, if you localize forms in German, but the user is using a browser with English installed, the user might still see some messages, menus, and buttons in English.
Data language
Think of the data language as the one language that is common to your entire community. The data language is the language of the data that is stored in the database. There can be only one set of data per application installed even if users accessing this data are located in different countries. The data language becomes the language in which the data is displayed to users. For example, if you want your users to see data in Japanese, you must choose the Japanese data language. The data language specified is provided during installation and you cannot change it. You can choose only one data language.
438
Localizing AR System forms and applications
Display language
The display language is the language used in the user interface (views). You should think of the display language as the language you choose during installation of the clients. During installation of AR System clients, you can choose more than one display or view language for your users to use, but the display language must be compatible with the underlying data language. For example, you can install Japanese and English in any combination (data or display), but you cannot install a display language of French with a Japanese data language. To localize a form, you change the field labels to a specific language. For a list of the application components you can localize, see Localizing AR System forms and applications. To preview the same form in different languages, you create different views of the form. You can set a locale view property for each of these views. The system can then determine the locale a particular BMC Remedy User client is opening the form and thus open the right view.

Any AR System component that a user interacts with can be localized, including: User interface Error messages Workflow messages Banners Container labels and descriptions Help text Layout Icons Reports Number and date formats
Getting started
Localization begins with decisions made during installation. AR System has the option of installing multiple language forms and DLLs on to a single client computer, enabling users to move seamlessly between languages by changing the preferred locale setting. You can enable a localized environment in the BMC Remedy AR System Administration Console as described in Localize Server option on page 458. Working in an enabled localized environment adds some extra processing time, but the benefit of managing a multi-language version of AR System on a single client platform exceeds the minor performance overhead.
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Structure of the localized environment

Administrators define the structure of the localized environment, but users decide the language in which they want to view and process data. Users set the locale preference that drives the selection process when looking for localized AR System components. Users define their locale by the language they speak, and the country where that language is spoken. AR System components are localized by associating them with a specific locale. You can create locale-specific views of forms to accommodate the preferred locale of your users. Users generally log in specifying their language_country preference, but, when defining the locale for a form view (or any AR System component), administrators can define only the language portion of the variable. Users can log in with their language_country preference, for example, fr_CA (French Canadian), but only a single form view is needed with an fr locale specified to accommodate all French-speaking countries. A localized view of a form is accessed in a browser by specifying the preferred locale in a URL. For information about opening forms in a browser, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide. AR System is designed with a fallback lookup mechanism when searching for a view to display. This enables AR System to find a view to open even when the user does not specify a locale. For more information about the fallback lookup mechanism, see Creating a localized view of a form on page 444.
Localizing form views

After a form view is defined for a locale, the following components of the form view are localized: User interface componentsComponents that users see, such as: Field labels Selection field values Banner names These values are localized by manually entering the localized values individually through the View Properties dialog box, or by using an automated procedure. (For information, see Localizing view components through Export/ Import on page 446.) Message componentsUnderlying AR System messages and text, such as: System messages Active link messages Filter messages Help text linked to active link or filter workflow triggers Character menus Form and field help
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Descriptions and help text embedded within applications and guides Labels for applications and guides External files linked to applications or reporting Automatically generated formsThese views are automatically saved with the locale of en_US. If you need a view of the form in another locale, open the view of the form on a computer set to the locale you require, and save it. When the Localize Server field is checked in the BMC Remedy AR System Administration Console (see Localize Server option on page 458), retrieval of messages is redirected from the default system-loaded DLL to the AR System Message Catalog form. The AR System Message Catalog form enables administrators to localize or customize messages, and is populated using manual procedures or through automation. As an example of a customized environment, an administrator can take a single application and tailor the message components to users needs, leaving the original application definition untouched. AR System identifies and retrieves the localized or customized messages from the AR System Message Catalog form. Messages for other AR System system objects that are not customized are safely retrieved from the systems default location because no entry for them exists in the AR System Message Catalog form.
Reporting
You can create localized reports by specifying a locale for a Report form entry, and attaching a localized report definition file.
Tasks for localizing AR System forms and applications

To provide a complete localized experience for users, you must create localized views and applications and then apply the appropriate locale settings. This process consists of the following tasks: Install the available language DLLs. Create a localized view of a form. Localize the user interface components of a view. Localize messages, character menus, and reports. Localize menus. Apply the appropriate locale settings. Set the Localize Server option. Verify and adjust view sizes as needed. Set user preferences.
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Table H-1 is a checklist that describes each task and refers you to the appropriate place in the documentation to complete the localization process
.
Table H-1: Localization task checklist Done Task Install the available language DLLs. Create a localized view of a form. Localize the user interface components of a view. View components targeted for translation include: field labels, request aliases, and selection field values. Reference See Selecting languages during AR System installation on page 443. See Creating a localized view of a form on page 444. You can edit each field manually or localize automatically through importing and exporting. For manual procedures, see Localizing messages manually on page 449. For the automated procedure, see Localizing view components through Export/Import on page 446. This process is accomplished by creating entries in the AR System Message Catalog form. You can populate the AR System Message Catalog automatically using the ARTEXT utility and BMC Remedy Data Import. Or, you can enter the information manually into the AR System Message Catalog form. For the automated procedure using the ARTEXT utility and BMC Remedy Data Import, see Localizing messages automatically on page 449. For manual procedures, see Localizing messages manually on page 449. Localize menus. Set the Localize Server option in the BMC Remedy System Administration Console. See Localizing menus on page 454. This setting indicates to the server that workflow messages are being retrieved from the AR System Message Catalog form instead of using default AR System messages. See Localize Server option on page 458. Verify localized views in Adjusting the size of a view allows for label size BMC Remedy User, and adjust variation between languages, making it possible the view size, as appropriate. to fit field labels within the borders of a view. To adjust the size of a view, see Adjusting view size on page 459. Set User Preferences for: Display locale Date/time formats Time zone See BMC Remedy User preferences settings on page 460.
Localize messages, including system error messages.
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Selecting languages during AR System installation
Advanced tasks
You can also perform the following localization tasks: Set up email templates to accommodate the locale of the view created. See Exporting email templates in different locales on page 459. Export localized form views to another server. See Exporting a single view on page 459. Localize report files created using macros. See Backward compatibilityRun Macro report actions on page 459. Access a localized view of a form in a browser. See Accessing a localized view of a form in a browser on page 461.
Selecting languages during AR System installation

AR System supports data input and manipulation in the following languages and character sets: Western Europe: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish (windows-1252) Central Europe: Albanian, Croatian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, and Slovenian (windows-1250) Baltic: Estonian, Greenlandic, Lappish, Latvian, and Lithuanian (windows1257) Traditional Chinese (BIG5) Simplified Chinese (GB2312) Japanese (Shift-Jis and EUC) Korean (EUC-KR) You can select a single language, or select multiple languages during installation of AR System server and clients. To add languages not selected during the initial install, the installation for each client must be run again. English serves as the default language on all platforms, and users cannot unselect it during installation. During installation of BMC Remedy User and BMC Remedy Alert, the language resource file, which holds AR System interface translations, is stored within the resdlls directory found at the following default location:
C:\Program Files\BMC Software\ARSystem\clientSubdirectory\ResDlls
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In the resdll directory, each language installed is assigned a folder, identified by a unique four-digit code: German (0007) English (0009) Spanish (000a) French (000c) Russian (0019) Italian (0010) Japanese (0011) Chinese (Simplified) (0804) Korean (0012)
During installation of the AR System server, the language resource file, which holds system and error messages, is stored within the AR System server directory at the following default location:
C:\Program Files\BMC Software\ARSystem\serverDirectory
In the default server directory, each language installed has its own resource file and follows the format: arcatalog_languageCode. The languageCode follows the three-letter ISO 639 standard. The following website has a complete listing of the ISO 639 3-letter language codes:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/IG/ert/iso639.htm
Care must be taken when selecting the language options during installation of each AR System client. AR System does not support the use of clients connected to an AR System server in a different character set (for example, connecting a Japanese client to an English server and the reverse). To view system messages in the same language as your client, you need to select your client language in the Components dialog box of the server installation (only valid for Japanese, French, German, English, Italian, or Spanish). If the client is set to a locale that is not provided, but that is supported, you can add system messages to the AR System Message Catalog form for that locale. Otherwise, you receive system messages in the servers locale. Installation of AR System server loads user-selected translations of the Group, User, User Preferences, and Reporting forms for the languages supported by AR System. Administrators create additional language-specific forms and applications using procedures in this section. The ability to load multiple languages on to a single client computer enables users to move seamlessly between languages by simply changing the preferred locale setting. It also enables multiple users to share a single computer by selecting a unique locale for each user.
Creating a localized view of a form

For each form you want to localize, you need to create a localized view of that form. You use an existing view as the base for creating a localized view. For information about creating form views, see Creating and managing form views on page 271.
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Searching for a view
Locale field language entries

The Locale field on the Manage Views dialog box associates a language and country dialect with a view in the following format: language_country. Select only the language to include all variations of a language. For example, if a user has es_AR (Spanish, Argentina) selected as a preference, but there is no view created for es_AR, then the view created with locale es is displayed. So creating a view with locale es covers all Spanish users, regardless of whether the users preferred locale is es_AR or es_ES.
Field label name for localized view

The label name for the localized view must be the same as the label name for the view that is used as the base when creating a localized view. This label must then be selected in the Default View list. The label name selected in the Default View list provides the selection base when AR System searches for the preferred locale among views. When a user opens a form, the view selected for display is determined by the criteria described in Searching for a view on page 445.
TIP
You can use a utility, ARLABEL, which is automatically installed in the same directory as the AR System server. This utility assists with localizing labels on a view. ARLABEL allows you to extract all of the text that can appear on a view screen into a CSV file: labels, button text, URL links, text trim, menu items, selection field choices, and so on. After the translated names are supplied for each item, the file can be imported and the new labels loaded into an appropriate language view (created if needed or updated in place if already present). For more information about using ARLABEL, go to http://www.bmc.com/support_home.
Searching for a view

AR System uses the following fallback lookup mechanisms when selecting a view for the user.
Windows
If a user indicates a locale as a preference in the Options dialog box in BMC Remedy User, then the view that matches the selected locale is used. It is first matched by language and country, and then by just language if the country has not been specified. If no locale preference is set, then a view with a blank locale, or the locale of the users operating system, is used. If no locale preference is set and there is no view with a blank locale, then an available view for the selected form is displayed.
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Web
The mid tier first uses the locale defined in the AR System User Preference form. If there are no user preferences, the system selects the appropriate view for the users browser. If the view with the users preferred locale is not found, the system check the OS of the user. If there is no exact match during any of these stages, the fallback mechanism finds the closest possible locale to the one requested. The resulting view is then displayed. After a locale-specific view is created, it is ready to localize.
Localizing the user interface of a form view

After a view is associated with a locale, you can select that view and localize the components that users see, including: Field labels Request aliasesBanner names Selection fieldsValues linked to lists or radio buttons
Localizing view components through Export/Import

You can export view components to a definition file, localize them, and then import them back into the form from where they were exported.
To localize view components through Export/Import

1 Open the file serverDirectory\CONF\ar.cfg if the server is on Windows, or ar.conf on the UNIX or the Linux operating system, and add the line XML-VUI-Export-Default-Is-Localized: T
To maximize the servers performance, set XML-VUI-Export-Default-IsLocalized: to False (F) if you do not intend to localize the views you export.
2 Restart the server. 3 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, select File > Export. 4 Export view components to a file by selecting the view to export.
The export wizard allows you to select multiple views for export, but the output is stored in a single file. You should export one single language view at a time, giving each output a unique name. When saving the export file, select XML for the format. For more information about export formats, see Appendix G, Importing and exporting object definitions, views, and applications.
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Localizing the user interface of a form view
5 In the XML editor of your choice, translate the text located between the <CharacterValue> and </CharacterValue> tags.
When modifying the XML file, be sure to keep the basic syntax and file layout intact.
6 To import the translated view definitions back into the form from where they were
exported:
a In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, choose File > Import b Select the Import in Place check box to replace the original view with the
localized version. For more information about exporting and importing view definition files, see Exporting and importing definitions on page 415.
7 Verify the layout and field alignments, and make adjustments as appropriate.
Localizing view components manually

Although selecting every field on a view and entering the localized label can be time-consuming, localizing views manually is useful if a specific component needs editing. These sections provide information to help you locate field labels, request aliases, and selection fields that simply need a quick fix.
Localizing field labels

Field labels are localized by entering the customized text in the Label property of the field. For more information about the Label property, see Label on page 373.
Localizing request aliases

The properties in the Aliases and Labels categories of the view properties allow you to define alias names and labels to be used for views. These properties are localized by entering the appropriate text into the Singular, Plural, Short Singular, Short Plural, Entry Point New, and Entry Point Search properties. Only the Singular property is available for web-only views. For more information about the Aliases and Labels tab, see Table 11-8 on page 286 and Table 11-10 on page 287.
Localizing selection fields

You can modify the values for selection fields in the Attributes tab in the Field Properties dialog box. The following procedure describes how to localize lists and radio buttons.
To localize display values for selection fields

1 In BMC Remedy Developer Studio, open the form you want to localize. 2 Select a view. 3 Double-click a list or radio button field on the view.
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4 Click the entry you want to modify in the Selection Value list, and enter the
localized text in the Alias Value edit box. Click the Modify button for each entry that you modify.
5 Save the form.
Localizing message components of a form view

You can use AR System Message Catalog form to override system default messages with equivalent localized or customized entries. This override is indicated to the server with an entry in the BMC Remedy System Administration Console (see Localize Server option on page 458). When logged in to multiple servers, AR System first retrieves localized messages from the preference server. If no preference server is available, it uses the first localized server found in the users server list. If a localized version for any message type is not found in the AR System Message Catalog form, AR System loads the system default message. Messages associated with any AR System object can be loaded into the AR System Message Catalog form automatically with BMC Remedy Data Import, which uses as input a data file created from the ARTEXT utility (a tool that is automatically installed in the same directory as the AR System server). You can also enter or modify messages manually by opening the AR System Message Catalog form in BMC Remedy User. The following section details the procedures for populating the AR System Message Catalog form with localized messages. Types of messages that can be localized include: System Message Active Link Message Filter Message Active Link Help Text Form Help Text Field Help Text Container Description (includes applications and guides) Container Label (includes applications and guides) Container Help (includes applications and guides) List Menu Definition (character menu) External Report Application Help
Application About Application Help Index Flashboardssystem message Flashboardslabel
Localizing messages automatically

The ARTEXT utility extracts messages from forms and applications workflow and inserts them into .arx, .csv, or .xml file formats. Once in a data file, the messages can be translated and then imported into the AR System Message Catalog form using BMC Remedy Data Import. Messages in the AR System Message Catalog form can also be exported using BMC Remedy User, and the resulting .arx file can be localized.
WARNING
For localization, do not export messages using the .csv file format. Doing so removes carriage returns that might be required (for example, in character menus). Export using the .arx file format and then edit the resulting file using a text editor that does not add formatting information to the file.
ARTEXT is automatically installed with your AR System server and resides in the servers installation directory. For information about using ARTEXT, see the artext.txt file that is included with the utility.
For information about using BMC Remedy Data Import, see the Configuration Guide.
Localizing messages manually

You can enter messages manually, which can help you verify the automated process. Using the procedures that follow, you can also edit errors within the AR System Message Catalog form without having to run the automated procedure again.
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Figure H-1: AR System Message Catalog form
Fields on the AR System Message Catalog form are relevant to some message types, but not all.
To enter messages manually into the AR System Message Catalog

1 Open the AR System Message Catalog form. 2 Enter or select the appropriate data for the following fields:
Message TypeThe type of message you are localizing. Select the message type from the list. Only the number value associated with the selected message is entered in the Message Type field. Message IdentifierThe object whose messages you are localizing. Type in the name of the object. LocaleThe locale for the message. If you are storing localized messages for multiple languages, and the AR System Message Catalog form is enabled (see Localize Server option on page 458), then AR System compares the users preference setting for locale and attempt to match an appropriate message from the catalog, when requested. Enter the locale following the format: language_country. For a list of standard choices for this field, open the Manage Views dialog box. It is best to enter only the language portion, allowing for all country variations of a language. For example, an entry of fr includes all country variations of French. StatusThe status of localized messages to be retrieved. An Active status enables a message for retrieval. Select Inactive if you do not want a particular message accessed when a server is set as localized.
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Field ID or Msg NumThe field identifier (field ID) is found in the Database tab in the Field Properties dialog box. The message number (Msg Num) for an active link or filter message, is found in the If Action tab in the Active Link dialog box. Return TypeIdentifies whether text or file is returned when the message is called. Message TextThe text that is returned when Return Type is text and appears in the message, help text, label, description, or menu. The default size of the text string is 255 bytes, defined in the ar.h file as AR_MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE on the AR System server. Messages larger than 255 bytes might include an embedded colon after 255 bytes. Binary AttachmentThe file that is returned when Return Type is Binary Attachment. The following table notes the entry requirements that uniquely identify each message type.
Table H-2: Entry requirements for messages (Sheet 1 of 4) Message type System message Entry description
1 Select System Message from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the error number in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the
Message Text field. Active link message

1 Select Active Link Message from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the active link in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Enter the message number of the active link. 5 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the
Message Text field. Active link help text

1 Select Active Link Help Text from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the active link in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the
Message Text field. List menu definition (character menu)

1 Select List Menu Definition from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the character menu name in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the
Message Text field. The format for the is Message Text field the same as a file menu. (For more information, see Creating file menus on page 235.) Each line in the file contains a definition of a menu entry in the following format: label\value
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Table H-2: Entry requirements for messages (Sheet 2 of 4) Message type Entry description
Filter message 1 Select Filter Message from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the filter in Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Enter the message number in the Field ID or Msg Num field. 5 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the Message Text field. Form help text 1 Select Form Help Text from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the form you are localizing in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the Message Text field. Field help text 1 Select Field Help Text from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the form you are localizing in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Enter the field identifier in the Field ID or Msg Num field. 5 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the Message Text field. Container description
1 Select Container Description from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the container in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the
Message Text field. Container label

1 Select Container Label from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the container in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the
Message Text field. Container help 1 Select Container Help from the Message Type list. text 2 Enter the name of the Container in the Message identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the Message Text field.
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Table H-2: Entry requirements for messages (Sheet 3 of 4) Message type External report Entry description
1 Select External Report from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the active link that the External Report is linked to in
the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Enter the File Id for the report in the Field Id or Msg Num field. Support files are saved according to object name and File ID. The File ID differentiates between multiple support files when there is more than one file or report associated with a single active link. You can identify how many reports or files are associated with an active link, and then enter the appropriate number; for example 1, 2, and so on. Another solution to finding the File ID is to export the active link and review the .def file.
5 Select Binary Attachment for Return Type and attach the localized
report in the Binary Attachment field. Application help

1 Select Application Help from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the application in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Binary Attachment for Return Type and attach a help file (.hlp)
in the Binary Attachment field. Application Help refers to the file attached in the Help Text tab in the Application dialog box. This message type is indicated by selecting the External Help File radio button in the Help Text tab. Application about
1 Select Application About from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the application in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Binary Attachment for Return Type and attach an image file
(.bmp, .jpeg, .jpg, .dib) in the Binary Attachment field. Application help index
1 Select Application Help Index from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the application in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Binary Attachment for Return Type and attach an index file
(.cnt) in the Binary Attachment field. The help index (.cnt) file is the contents file used in conjunction with the application help (.hlp) file. Both are used together only if the locale is matched between them; otherwise, only the help file is used.
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Table H-2: Entry requirements for messages (Sheet 4 of 4) Message type Flashboards system message Entry description
1 Select Flashboards System Message from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the flashboard in Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Enter the message number in the Field ID or Msg Num field. 5 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the
Message Text field. Flashboards label

1 Select Flashboards Label from the Message Type list. 2 Enter the name of the container in the Message Identifier field. 3 Enter the locale in the Locale field. 4 Select Message Text for Return Type and enter the localized text in the
Message Text field.
Localizing menus
A menu is a server object that contains items that the user selects. The items in a menu can be defined within a character menu, or are retrieved from a file menu. Although there are different types of menus in AR System, only character, file, and search type menus can be localized.
Localizing character menus

Character menus can be localized all at one time using Export/Import or the ARTEXT utility (see Localizing view components through Export/Import on page 446 and Localizing messages automatically on page 449). You can also localize character menus manually by modifying the values in the Menu Definition tab. For more information, see Creating character menus on page 233. File menus require a separate procedure described in the section that follows.
Localizing file menus

To localize a file menu
1 Open the file indicated in the path on the Menu Definition tab and localize the
entries in a text editor.

2 Save a localized version of the text file in the format: filename.fileExtension.language_country.
AR System searches for the appropriate version of a file menu according to what locale is set as the user preference.
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Localizing menus
Localizing search menus

Creating localized menus enables automatic searches on forms based on the users locale.
To create a localized search menu

1 Open the AR System User Preference form.
For each Windows user who is going to use the localized search menu:
a Click the Locale tab. Figure H-2: AR System User Preference form
b Enter the locale for that user in the User Locale field. c Save the form.
For each web user who is going to use the localized search menu:
a Open the Configuration Tool, and select the General Settings link. b Make sure that the preference server names for the relevant users is set in the
Preference Server (s) field.

2 Create the form that will contain the search menu. 3 Add a special field with field ID 160 (the Locale field) to the form. 4 Create a Search menu on this form.
The server automatically appends a query to the search statement, in which the special field value equals the users locale. Example: Suppose the base query of a Search menu is:
"Create Date > 01/01/08"
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Normally, when this query menu is executed, it searches for all records in which the create date is later than 01/01/04. If you add a field with field ID 160 to the form, the server automatically changes the search statement to:
"Create Date > 01/01/08 AND Field 160 = usersLocale"
Localizing currency codes

You can localize the codes that appear on the drop-down menus attached to currency fields. When you localize currency codes, you associate the localized versions with a particular locale. The version displayed on the menu depends on the user preference locale and the components selected during the AR System installation. AR System includes currency codes in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Simplified Chinese. Use the following procedure to create currency codes for other languages.
NOTE
You use the AR System Currency Label Catalog form to localize currency codes. The AR System Currency Localized Labels form is used internally by the system and requires no modification.
To localize currency codes

1 In BMC Remedy User, open the AR System Currency Label Catalog form. 2 In the Currency Code list, select a currency code. 3 In the Locale field, enter the locale for which you are creating the localized code.
For example, enter fr for all French languages. Enter fr_CA for French Canadian.
4 In the Localized Currency Label field, enter the localized string. 5 Click Save.
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Localizing the mid tier
Localizing the mid tier

In AR System 6.3 and later releases, both the mid tier and BMC Remedy User pick up localized values, such as error messages, titles, menu labels, table page headers, application lists, workflow messages, and so on, from the server where the form is stored. To display localized components on the mid tier, make sure that: Customization of mid tier messages is done in the mid tier property files, for example, LocalizedMessages_en.properties. You can find these .properties files for the localized languages that BMC Remedy supports in the midTierInstallationDir/WEB-INF/classes directory. The Localize Server check box is selected on the Advanced tab of the AR System Administration: Server Information form. An AR System Message Catalog form is present on that server and contains the localized values you want to access. (For more information, see Localize Server option on page 458.)
Login and logout pages

In AR System 6.3 and later releases, only one login.jsp and logout.jsp file exists in the mid tier shared directory for all supported locales. There are now single login and logout pages, which are localized based on the users locale when it is loaded using the LocalizedMessages_locale.properties files. For example, if your browser language is set to ja, you receive a Japanese login page.
Creating localized login and logout pages

To localize the login.jsp and logout.jsp files for languages that BMC Remedy does not support (for example, Vietnamese), you must create new .properties and new .js files for your locale.
To localize login and logout pages

1 Make copies of the LocalizedMessages_locale.properties file (found in the midTierInstallationDir/WEB-INF/classes directory) and LocalizedMessages.js file (found in the midTierInstallationDir/resources/ standard/javascript directory). 2 Translate the strings in these files for your specific locale. 3 Store the new versions of the files in their appropriate directory.
For example, if you wanted to localize the mid tier into Vietnamese, put the LocalizedMessages_KL.properties file into the midTierInstallationDir/ WEB-INF/classes directory.
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4 Set the locale in the AR System User Preference form. 5 Make sure the your browser and operating system are set to the correct locale.
The next time you access a form in a browser, the login page displays the localized version. Based on the translations of the strings in the new .properties and .js files, the mid tier automatically opens the login.jsp and logout.jsp pages in the correct language.
Settings and procedures for the localized environment

This section describes procedures for finalizing or fine-tuning a localized environment. Some tasks in this section are required, such as the Localize Server option procedure, and appear in the Tasks for localizing AR System forms and applications on page 441. Other tasks might be appropriate for specific environments.
AR System Administration Console settings and procedures

Settings and tools described in this section apply only to the BMC Remedy AR System Administration Console.
Localize Server option

You must select the Localize Server option to enable the AR System Message Catalog form. If the AR System Message Catalog form has been populated with locale-specific or customized messages, you must select this option for those messages to be retrieved. To indicate to the server that messages are retrieved from the AR System Message Catalog form, rather than from the system default server, perform the following steps.
To set the Localize Server option

1 In the BMC Remedy AR System Administration Console, expand System and
General and click Server Information.

2 On the Advanced tab, select the Localize Server check box. 3 Click Apply to enable the change. 4 Click OK to close the BMC Remedy AR System Administration Console form.
For more information about this setting, see the Configuration Guide.
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Adjusting view size

Localizing view labels can sometimes alter the display of a view, positioning some fields where a user cannot see them. Modifying the view size allows a view to adapt to label changes, whatever their size or shape.
To adjust the size of a view

1 With a view open, modify the size of the window frame using the resizing handles
at the edge of the view. The size in pixels is displayed in the lower-left corner of the view.
When opened in the BMC Remedy AR System Administration console or BMC Remedy User, the view is displayed in the size that it is saved in.
Backward compatibilityRun Macro report actions

You can make older language-specific reports created using Run Macro report actions available to users by using any of the following methods: Converting the Run Macro report action to an equivalent active link Attaching the active link to a workflow trigger, such as a button field, and placing it on a form Creating an entry in the AR System Message Catalog form For details on the AR System Message Catalog form entry required for localized reports embedded in an active link, see External report on page 453.
Exporting a single view

The following procedure describes how to export a single view from one server to another. This feature is useful if many views are defined for a single form, each with a different locale. You can export a view to any server, and then use BMC Remedy Developer Studio to import the view definition into the server where they are currently logged in. For complete instructions about the options available in the Export View Definitions window, see Exporting object definitions, views, and applications on page 415.
Exporting email templates in different locales

A mail template is a form used for submitting requests to the server through email. The Export Mail Templates dialog box displays all views that exist for a selected form. The localized view can be selected to create a localized email template. Mail templates for locale-specific views should be created only after the view has been completely localized. For information about how to set up mail templates, see the BMC Remedy Email Engine Guide.
Appendix H Localizing AR System applications 459
BMC Remedy User preferences settings

Settings described in this section finalize the task of localizing AR System for a locale-specific environment. Users or administrators can set BMC Remedy User preferences. Users logging in using a browser and users who want to have the same settings and customizations available when logging in to different computers must use centralized preferences and log in with a preference server. For more information about centralized user preferences, see the Configuration Guide. For more information about preferences for a browser, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide. Choose Tools > Options in BMC Remedy User to display the Options dialog box used for setting user preferences. Select the Locale tab, which is used to set: Display locale Date/time styles and formats Time zone Currency A null selection for any of the fields on the Locale tab defaults to the setting of the users operating system, browser, or web server, depending on whether a locale preference is set. Selecting which character set to use for entering data in AR System depends on the operating system. Review your operating system documentation for instructions.
Figure H-3: Options dialog box in BMC Remedy UserLocale tab
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Setting the display locale

Selecting a locale allows users to make entries following the prescribed format for their native country and dialect. The AR System server uses this setting to identify and return localized information. The Display Locale selection follows ISO standards in the following format: language_country. At login, the server searches for form views that match the locale selected in the Locale tab.
Setting the Date/Time style and time zone

AR System stores all Date/Time field values as integers relative to 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970. AR System displays the Date/Time value relative to the time zone of the client viewing the field. See the Getting Started guide for more information. AR System calendars follow the Gregorian format and display the month and day of the week according to the selected locale. The Long and Short options for Date/Time Style are based on the following settings: In Windows, the date and time display format is based on the Regional Setting Properties Control Panel. If the AR System server is running under a different account name or using the default user configuration and you are unable to change the regional properties, you can set the ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, or ARTIMEONLY environment variable. In the UNIX operating system, the date and time display format is based on the ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, or ARTIMEONLY environment variable for UNIX. If you do not use ARDATE, the display format is the default format for the language setting, with the time zone determined by the TZ environment variable. For more information about short and long date/time formats, see the Configuration Guide.
Accessing a localized view of a form in a browser

In AR System 6.3 and later releases, users can select views by the mid tier on the basis of the fallback lookup mechanism described in Searching for a view on page 445. If you installed the mid tier in the default location, the URL to open a web view is:
http://host/arsys/forms/serverName/formName
For information about accessing a form view in a browser, see the BMC Remedy Mid Tier Guide.
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Defining ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY

The ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY environment variables are used to customize the time and date settings for the AR System server, DSO server, and Approval Server. The format you specify using these variables is used by the AR System during processing of date and time fields. For example, to set ARDATE, use the following syntax:
% setenv ARDATE "yourFormat"
When to use ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY

The ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY environment variable are useful when you need to override system settings for the AR System server to use.
Customizing Date/Time formats Field descriptors

You can create any date formats by combining field descriptors. Field descriptors represent different components of dates and times. Available field descriptors might differ, depending on your UNIX computer type. By default, the AR System uses the format "%x %X". Table H-3 lists the UNIX field descriptors that you can use with ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY.
Table H-3: Field descriptors (Sheet 1 of 2) Descriptor %% %a %A %b or %h %B %d %D %e %H %I %k %m Function Same as % Day of week using locales abbreviated weekday names Day of week using locales full weekday names Month using locales abbreviated month names Month using locales full month names Day of month (0131) Date as %m/%d/%y Day of month (131; single digits are preceded by a blank) Hour (0023) Hour (0012) Hour (023; single digits preceded by a blank)Solaris operating system only Month number (0112)
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Defining ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY
Table H-3: Field descriptors (Sheet 2 of 2) Descriptor %M %p %r %R %S %T %w %x %X %y %Y Function Minute (0059) Locales equivalent of a.m. or p.m., whichever is appropriate Time as %I:%M:%S %p Time as %H:%M Seconds (0059) Time as %H:%M:%S Day of week (Sunday is day 0) Date, using locales date format Time, using locales time format Year within century (0099) Year, including century (for example, 2004)
The format you specify can contain any characters (including the field descriptors in Table H-3) in any combination that you choose. So, if you want to put a comma in your date, include the comma in the appropriate place in the format. Table H-4 shows examples of ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY settings.
Table H-4: Settings Output 01/31/08 31 January 2008 16:30:00 January 31 2008 16:30:00 ARDATE format setenv ARDATE "%m/%d/%y" setenv ARDATE "%d %B %Y %X" setenv ARDATEONLY "%m/%d/%y" setenv ARTIMEONLY "%X"
NOTE
The wording of the second example might differ, according to the LANG environment variable or your systems default language. For Windows servers, use the time and date formats listed in the Regional Options dialog box to set the environmental variables under your System settings.
Table H-5: Sample windows settings Variable ARDATE ARDATEONLY ARTIMEONLY Value M/d/yyyy h:mm:ss M/d/yyyy h:mm:ss tt
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Errors in formatting ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY

If you set up an incorrectly formatted ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY environment variable, the AR System parses the correctly formatted parts and returns the invalid parts as a literal string in the date/time. See Table H-3 on page 462 for a list of valid field descriptors. It is possible to write an ARDATE, ARDATEONLY, and ARTIMEONLY environment variable that is correctly formatted but does not make sense. For example, avoid repeating a valid descriptor excessively (%B %B %B %B %B). If a format such as this is chosen, dates are formatted correctly on output, but the system cannot interpret any date that you specify as input.
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Index
Symbols
.def file type (exported objects) 414 .xml file type (exported objects) 414 access control groups (continued) implicit groups 21, 34 requests at group level 36 requests at user level 36 Submitter group 35, 36 access points creating 78 described 78 using 79 access types Administrator 21 Assignee 22 Public 21 active link actions Close Window 98 Commit Changes 98 Open Window 98 Active Link(s) field property 359 active links access control 33, 53 permissions 33, 55 workflow issues with entry point guides 309 Add and Remove Licenses form 353 Add Label field property 359 adding groups 46 roles 49 additive access control 24 Administration Console forms, AR System 349 Administrator group 21 Administrator Preference, AR System form 355 advanced tasks in localization 443 advanced, data fields 30 Alert Events form 351 alert list fields, permissions 31 Alert List form 351 alert list tables about 202 creating 204 aliases, group 44 aligning, fields 300 Allow any user to submit field property 359 Index 465
Numerics
508, Section, identifying cell data in rows 212
A
panel fields See also panel holder fields About box, in applications 83 access control See also access control groups active links 33, 53 additive 24 applications 26, 53 fields 28, 53 forms 26, 53 Group form 43 groups 20 guides 26, 53 illustrated 42 implicit groups 34 objects, AR System 53 overview 20 requests 34, 36 reserved fields 340 roles 23 Roles form 47 row-level security 34, 341 users 24 access control groups See also groups; permissions; access control Assignee group 35, 36 Assignee Group group 35, 36, 341 computed groups 23, 45 dynamic groups 35 explicit groups 21
Allow Any User to Submit setting 32 allowable currency 126 Alternative Text field property 359 appearance of applications 79 appending export files 420 application 72 Application Interface form 349 application list 72 application list fields about 135 AppSubset field 339 creating 160 entry point labels 287 executing entry points in HTML 161 home page form 135 using style sheets with 312 workflow and 136 Application mode 81 application mode 82 Application Name field 48, 342 Application Pending form 348 application permissions individual applications 53 multiple applications 55 subadministrator 58 Application Properties form 349 Application State form, AR System 349 Application Statistics Configuration form 348 Application Statistics form 348 applications See also Application Owner property; application permissions; Application window; deployable applications; local applications; web applications About box 83 access control 26, 53 access points 78 appearance 79 Application mode 81 application mode 81, 82 creating 73 customizing title bar 83 data properties 80 deleting 86 deployable 68 entry points, creating 310 forms properties 80 general properties 79 help 84, 85 icons 83 including forms in 74 including objects in 74 applications (continued) label property 79 local 87 localizing 439 names 74 opening in BMC Remedy User 81 primary form 83 primary view 83 properties, defining 79 run with form window maximized 83 shortcuts to 85 show only forms in 83 states 76 statistics properties 81 support files 80 AppSubset field (entry points) 339 AR System Actor View form 357 AR System Administration Console 349 AR System Administrator Preference form 355 AR System Application State form 349 AR System Current License Usage form 353 AR System Historical License Usage form 354 AR System Licenses form 354 AR System Message Catalog form 349 AR System Message Catalog, localizing 448 AR System Object Relationships form 350 AR System Orchestrator Configuration form 350 AR System Resource Definitions form 350 AR System Searches Preference form 350 AR System Server Group Operation Ranking form 350 AR System Tags form 354 AR System User Application Actor form 357 AR System User Central File form 355 AR System User Preference form 355 AR System Web Services Registry form 350 AR System Web Services Registry Pending Delete form 350 AR Task shortcut 82, 85 AR System Administration Console localized environment settings 458 archive forms created by AR System 396 deleting 392 and DSO 396 properties 394 saving the main form 393 special considerations for view forms 392 archiving configuring data archiving for a form 390 configuring data archiving for a server 396 logging 396
466
archiving (continued) overview 390 server events 396 ARDATE dates 462 environment variable 462 errors in formatting 464 field descriptors 462 time 462 ARDATEONLY environment variable defining 462 errors in formatting 464 ARDBC LDAP Configuration form 353 AREA LDAP Configuration form 353 ARLABEL, using 445 ARTEXT 448, 449 ARTIMEONLY environment variable defining 462 errors in formatting 464 Assigned To core field 333, 335 Assignee group access 22 access control groups 36 reserved group 22 Assignee Group field 36 Assignee Group group access 35 access control 36 access control to requests 38, 41 reserved group 22 Assignment Engine forms 350 assistive technology, for identifying table row data 212 Attach Name Label field property 359 Attach Orphaned Items field property 359 Attachment Fields field property 359 Attachment Pool List field property 359 attachment pools about 131 Copy to New and 133 creating 156 field size considerations 158 moving fields among pools 158 permissions 31 viewing attachments in a browser 133 viewing attachments in BMC Remedy User 132 workflow 133 Audit Log Key field property 359 Audit Option field property 360 auditing configuring 405 filters and processing 412 flag fields 411 form-style 401 log-style 404 overview 400 Authentication Login Name field, User form 341 Authentication String field, User form 341 Auto Complete field property 360 Auto Complete Match By field property 360 Auto Fit Columns field property 140, 207, 360 Auto Refresh String field property 211, 360 auto-completion, menus 252 automating localization 446, 449
B
Background Color field property 207, 360 Background Image field property 207, 360 Background Image Horizontal field property 360 Background Image Vertical field property 207, 360 Background Mode field property 361 backward compatibility localizing macros 459 banner, hiding 285 basic panels 139 binding template to view field 268 blank form view 280 BMC Atrium Web Services Registry integration forms 350 BMC Remedy User cell-based tables and 200 entry points appearing in Object List 305 how home page appears 317 localizing preference settings 460 Object List 302 suppressing home pages 323 BMC Software, contacting 2 Border Color field property 361 Border field property 361 Border Thickness field property 361 Borderless field property 361 boxes See also trim fields browser style sheets, using with 313 browsers accessing localized form views 461 how home page appears 319 limitations in cascading style sheets 312 using home pages 306 Index 467
business time forms 351 button fields adding images 165 creating 164 overview 138 URLs and 164 Button Label field property 361 buttons adding to tables 220 workflow in tables and 222 buttons. See button fields color setting row in tables 217 using in tree view tables 217 Column field property 362 Column Width field property 214, 362 columns customizing in tables 226 sorting in tables 215 columns, setting properties in table fields 213 Commit Changes action 98 compatibility, backward with macros 459 Computed Group Definition field 45 computed groups examples 45 overview 23 Configuration ARDBC form 353 configuring auditing 405 data archiving for a form 390 data archiving for a server 396 home page preferences 317 control panels 96 converting, currency fields to other data types 128 Copy to New, attachment pools and 133 copying fields 182 forms 94 core fields Assigned To 333, 335 Create Date 333 deleting 184 form views with none 280 Last Modified By 333 Modified Date 333 overview 332 Request ID 332, 334 Short Description 333, 334 special characteristics 334 Status 333, 335 Status-History 333 Submitter 333, 334 Create Date core field 333 creating alert list tables 204 application list fields 160 applications 73 attachment pools 156 button fields 164 cell-based tables 204 computed groups 45 control panels 96 currency exchange ratios 153
C
cascading style sheets arsystem.css 312 BMC Remedy User, using with 312 browser limitations 312 browser, using with the 313 mid tier installation directory 312 cell fields, cell-based tables and 213 cell-based tables about 199 BMC Remedy User and 200 cell fields 213 creating 204 workflow and 220 Change Field action attachment pools and 133 currency fields and 127 Change History field property 361 change history, applications 81 Change permissions fields 28 groups 44 changes to data, auditing 400 character field clob storage 122 varchar or clob used in database 122 character fields about 122 menus 232 character menus, creating 233 character menus, localizing 454 check box fields, about 130 clear menu items 251 Client Refresh Interval 153 client-side tables 190 Close Window action 98
468
creating (continued) currency fields 150 custom application states 78 data fields 146 data visualization fields 160 dialog boxes 97 display-only forms 96 form entry points 307 forms 92, 93 groups 46 home pages 311 home pages (overview) 311 join forms 109 list view tables 204 localized templates 459 localized views 444 locked objects 433 navigation fields 162 packing lists 326 panel holder fields 167 results list tables 204 roles 49 sample workflow to view subset of entry points 315 selection fields 154 shortcuts 85 tree view tables 204 trim fields 177 view fields 159 views 278 criteria for join forms 101, 110, 111 currencies See also currency fields allowable 126 exchange ratios, about 126 exchange ratios, creating 153 exchange ratios, setting refresh intervals 153 functional 126 localizing codes 456 primary allowable 126 currency fields See also currencies about 125 converting to other data types 128 creating 150 localizing currency codes 456 name considerations 128 workflow 127 Currency Types field property 362 currency, forms 351 Current Form field 344 Current Server field 344 custom About box 83 Custom CSS Style field property 362 custom IDs 154 Custom Properties field property 362 custom title bar icon (applications) 83 customer support 3 Customize group 21 customizing form layout 21 results list fields 115
D
data archiving 390 deployable applications, exporting with 427 deployable applications, importing with 427 form, exporting and importing with deployable applications 427 languages (localization) 438 data dictionaries menus 248 data dictionary menus, creating 248 data fields about 122 creating 146 nonoperational 184 Data Font field property 362 data languages (localization) 438 Data Length field property 362 Data Type field property 363 data visualization fields about 135 creating 160 data visualization, forms 352 database search, forms 352 databases, SQL menu security 248 date fields, about 124 date formats ARDATE 462 combining field descriptors (UNIX) 462 customizing for localization 462 localizing 461 Windows localizing 463 date/time fields, about 124 decimal fields, about 129 Default Notification Mechanism field 341 Default Value field property 363 defaults permissions 50 Definition Name field property 363
Index
469
definitions exporting 415 file types 414 importing 425 overview of object 414 Delete Button field property 211, 363 Delete Label field property 363 deleting applications 86 archive form 392 fields 184 forms 95 groups 47 roles 49 views of forms 283 deployable applications access points 78 data exporting 427 exporting and importing 427 exporting and importing form data 427 group permissions warning 75 importing 427 including forms with group permissions warning 75 roles 23 states 76 Depth Effect field property 363 description (predefined searches) 287 Deselect All field property 211, 363 Deselect Label field property 364 designing forms 92 details pane, layout 285 dialog boxes, display-only forms as 97 diary fields about 123 Disable Change Flag field property 364 disabling fields 184 Display as Flat Image field property 364 Display As Text field property 364 Display Label field property 364 display languages (localization) 438, 439 display locale, localizing 461 Display NULL value As field property 207, 364 Display Type field property 208, 214, 365 displaying views based on locale 445 display-only forms creating 96 overview 91 used as control panel 96 used as dialog boxes 97 Distributed Mapping form 352 Distributed Pending Errors form 352 Distributed Pending form 352 Distributed Pool form 352 documentation, AR System 15 drop-down list fields, about 130 DSO reserved fields 344 DSO, forms 352 Duplicate Entry ID Action field 345 dynamic group fields 36 dynamic groups example 41 overview 21, 23 dynamic search menus 242 dynamic tables 224
E
Edit Navigation Items field property 366 Email Address reserved field 340 email, creating localized templates 459 Enable Clear field property 367 Enabled field property 367 End Color field property 367 Enforce Pattern Matching field 345 Entry Mode field property 368 entry points active link workflow and guides 309 administrators, using 303 application designers, using 303 application, creating 310 AppSubset fields 339 custom view labels 308 displaying subset of 136 form, creating 307 guides, using 304 limiting number 303 overview 302 subset, creating 314 using 303 views, selecting 307 entry points, executing in HTML 161 environment ARDATE variable 462 ARDATEONLY variable 462 ARTIMEONLY variable 462 localizing 458 errors formatting date and time environment variables (localizing) 464 example workflow to view subset of entry points 315
470
exchange ratios, currency about 126 creating 153 setting refresh intervals 153 Expand Box field property 369 explicit parameters, in templates 267 exporting add all related 419 append definition file 420 definitions 415 email templates 459 files, appending 420 form data with deployable applications 428 localized view components 446 object definitions 415 overwrite definition file 420 views 459 external help files 85 field properties (continued) Audit Log Key 359 Audit Option 360 Auto Complete 360 Auto Complete Match By 360 Auto Fit Columns 207, 360 Auto Refresh String 211, 360 Background Color 207, 360 Background Image 207, 360 Background Image Horizontal 360 Background Image Vertical 207, 360 Background Mode 361 Border 361 Borderless 361 Button Label 361 Change History 361 Column 362 Column Width 214, 362 Currency Types 362 Custom CSS Style 362 Custom Properties 362 Data Font 362 Data Length 362 Data Type 363 Default Value 363 Definition Name 363 Delete Button 211, 363 Delete Label 363 Depth Effect 363 Deselect All 211, 363 Deselect Label 364 Disable Change Flag 364 Display as Flat Image 364 Display As Text 364 Display Label 364 Display NULL value As 207, 364 Display Type 208, 214, 365 Edit Navigation Items 366 Enable Clear 367 Enabled 367 End Color 367 Entry Mode 368 Expand Box 369 Field Access 369 Field ID 369 Field Name 369 File Name Label 369 File Size Label 369 Fire workflow again on selected item 369 Fixed Headers 208, 370 Form Name 370 Header Background Color 370
F
field access Assignee access control 35 Assignee Group access control 35 dynamic group access control 35 Submitter group access 35 Field Access field property 369 field data dictionary menus 248 field descriptors ARDATE 462 date formats 462 Field ID field property 369 field labels, localizing 446, 447 Field Name field property 369 field permissions alert list 31 attachment pool 31 individual fields 53 multiple fields 55 overview 28 panel 31 results list 31 table 31 field properties Active Link(s) 359 Add Label 359 Allow any user to submit 359 Alternative Text 359 Attach Name Label 359 Attach Orphaned Items 359 Attachment Fields 359 Attachment Pool List 359
Index
471
field properties (continued) Header State 370 Height 370 Help Text 370 Horizontal Space 208, 370 ID 371 Image 371 Image Position 371 Index for FTS 371 Initial Currency Type 371 Initial Page 371 Initial Row Selection 208, 371 Initial Size 372 Initial Value 214, 372 Input Length 372 Label 373 Label Align 374 Label Font 374 Label Justify 374 Label Location 374 Label/Text Color 374 Last Changed By 375 Last Changed Time 375 Layout Style 375 Line Color 377 Literal FTS Index 376 Localization Required 377 Maintain Aspect Ratio 377 Margin Bottom 208, 377 Margin Left 208, 377 Margin Right 208, 377 Margin Top 208, 377 Max Rows 208, 378 Max Size 378 Maximum 378 Maximum Size 378 Menu Name 378 Menu Style 378 Minimum 379 Minimum Size 379 Module Type 379 Name 215, 379 Navigation Initial State 379 New Description 380 Next Label 208, 380 Number of Entries Returned 211, 380 Orientation 380 overview 359 Owner 380 Panel Border Color 208, 361, 380 Panel Border Thickness 209, 361, 380 Panel Height 209, 380 field properties (continued) Panel State 380 Panel Width 209, 380 Panels 380 Pattern 381 Permissions 381 Precision 381 Preferences 212, 382 Previous Label 209, 382 QBE Match 383 Read Button 212, 383 Refresh Button 212, 384 Refresh on Entry Change 209, 384 Refresh Row Selection 209, 384 Remote/Local Fields 384 Report Button 212, 384 Results Color 384 Rounded Corners 384 Row Header 212, 384 Row Selection 210, 384 Rows 385 Save Label 385 Scale Image To Fit 385 Scroll Bar 385 Select All 212, 385 Select Column Label 212, 385 Select item on click 385 Selections 385 Server 385 Shared Fields 385 Size of Chunk 210, 385 Sort 385 Sort/Levels 385 Splitter State 386 Start Color 386 Tab Order 386 Table 386 Table Drill Down 210, 386 Table Not Loaded String 212, 386 Tabless Borderless 386 Text 386 Text Align 386 Text Style 386 Thickness 386 Tree/Table Property 386 Unread 212, 386 URL Color 387 Use Locale 229, 387 Vendor 387 Vertical Space 210, 387 Views 387 Visible 215, 387
472
field properties (continued) Visible Columns 210, 387 Width 387 Wrap Text 215, 387 X 388 Y 388 field spacing, about 290 field types core 332 reserved 337 fields See also core fields; field access; field labels; field permissions; field properties; field types; field values, assigning from about application list 135 attachment pools 131 button 138 character 122 check box 130 currency 125 data 122 data visualization 135 date 124 date/time 124 decimal 129 diary 123 drop-down list 130 global 180 GUID 149 horizontal navigation 136 integer 129 panel 138 radio button 130 real 129 regular global 181 selection fields 130 table 131 time 124 trim 143 vertical navigation 136 view fields 134 window-scoped global 181 adding to join forms 187 advanced data 30 aligning 300 copying 182 creating application list 160 attachment pool 156 button 164 currency 150 fields (continued) creating (continued) data 146 data visualization 160 navigation 162 panel holder 167 regular global 181 selection 154 trim 177 view 159 window-scoped global 182 data dictionary menus and 248 deleting 184 descriptors, combining (UNIX) 462 disabling 184 finding in forms 185 form action 346 form with none 280 grid alignment 293 Group form 44 in form view 298 including/excluding in form views 289 join forms and 102, 186, 187 localizing 446, 447 localizing selection 447 managing 182 modifying 182 moving attachment 158 nonoperational 184 planning types to use 146 properties 359 removing from join forms 188 resizing 300 returned in results list pane 115 Roles form 48 states 335 using with 268 Fields in View dialog box 290 file menus creating 235 format 237 File Name Label field property 369 File Size Label field property 369 files .def 414 .xml 414 export, appending 420 login.jsp, localizing 457 logout.jsp, localizing 457 Fill layout 140 filters, execution order 107 finding fields in a form 185
Index
473
Fire workflow again on selected item field property 369 Fixed Headers field property 208, 370 flag fields 411 flashboards forms 352 Floating Licenses field in Group form 45 form action fields add before locking forms 435 adding to form 316 described 346 home pages 307 form data dictionary menus 248 form entry points, creating 307 Form Name field property 370 form permissions access control 26, 53 multiple forms 55 subadministrator 58 form types hidden 26, 27 join forms 100 regular 90 vendor 92 view 92 form views creating 278 deleting 283 modifying 281 naming 282 properties 283 resizing 282 formats, ARDATE errors 464 forms See also form permissions; form types; form views; join forms; special forms See also special forms adding tables to 205 blank form 280 copying 94 core fields 332 creating 92 customizing layout 21 data dictionary menus and 248 data, exporting and importing with deployable applications 427 data, including when exporting definitions 428 deleting 95 designing 92 display-only 91 finding fields 185 Group form 43 forms (continued) Home Page 305 Home Page form action field, adding to 316 including in applications 74 including/excluding fields in views 289 join 90 localizing 439, 444 modifying 94 multiple form views 272 naming 93 primary 83 properties 112 properties of archive forms 394 regular 90 renaming 95 right-to-left format 298 Roles form 47 types 90 User Preferences 321 vendor forms 112 view forms 92, 112 views 272 views, localizing 440 Forms properties, of applications 80 form-style audits 401 From Form field 344 From Mapping field 344 From Pool field 345 From Request ID field 344 From Server field 345 FTS License Pool field, User form 341 Full Text License Type reserved field 341 function, TEMPLATE 266 functional currencies 126
G
general properties of applications 79 global fields creating regular 181 window-scoped 182 regular 181 window-scoped 181 grid adjusting size 293 aligning fields 293 Group Category field 45 Group form access control 43, 352 fields 44 using 43
474
Group ID field 44, 340 group IDs, reserved by AR System 21 Group List field 340 Group Name field 44, 340 group permissions 50 Group Type field 44, 341 group types Assignee 22 Assignee Group 22 Subadministrator 22 groups access control 20 Administrator 21 computed 23 creating 46 Customize 21 deleting 47 dynamic 21, 23 explicit 21 implicit 21 modifying 47 permissions 44 Public 21 regular 23 See also access control groups Submitter 22 guest users 32, 53 GUID fields 149 guide permissions access control 26 individual guides 53 multiple guides 55 guides See also guide actions; guide permissions active link workflow and entry points 309 entry point guides 304 history, status 335 holders. See panel holder fields Home Page form default installed 305 described 353 modifying 311 overview 302 home pages application list fields 135 AppSubset field 339 creating 311 form action fields 316 form action reserved field ID 346 how BMC Remedy User appears 317 how they appear in a browser 319 mid tier, specifying server 322 modifying 311 navigation aids 316 Object List, instead of 302 overview 302 preferences, configuring 317 Run Process return 317 server, user preferences with 321 suppressing in BMC Remedy User 323 URL for browser 306 User Preferences form, specifying server and home page 321 using 305 horizontal lines. See trim fields horizontal navigation fields, about 136 horizontal navigation fields. See navigation fields Horizontal Space field property 208, 370 HTML, executing entry points in 161
I
ID field property 371 IDs custom 154 linear 154 IDs, group 21 Image field property 371 Image Position field property 371 images, adding to button fields 165 implicit groups overview 21 Request ID field 36 row-level access 34 implicit parameters in templates 267 import in place, definitions 425
H
Header Background Color field property 370 Header State field property 370 Height field property 370 help applications 84, 85 external files 85 Help Text field property 370 hidden forms 26, 27 pane banner 285 hidden lock 430 hidden lock type 434 hidden sort levels 193
Index
475
importing conflicting types, handling 426 definitions 415 localized view components 446 object definitions 425 replacing objects on destination server 425 Index for FTS field property 371 indexes defining 118 individual permissions 50 inetorgperson form 353 inherit field help text 110 Initial Currency Type field property 371 Initial Page field property 371 Initial Row Selection field property 208, 371 Initial Size field property 372 Initial Value field property 214, 372 inner join forms 103 Input Length field property 372 installing languages 443 Instance ID field 343 integer fields, about 129 Internet Explorer and style sheet attributes 313 intervals, setting currency ration refresh 153 intervals, setting table refresh 229 items, adding to selection fields 154 items, clear menu 251 Join Wizard 109
L
Label Align field property 374 Label field property 373 Label Font field property 374 Label Justify field property 374 Label Location field property 374 Label/Text Color field property 374 labels applications and 79 customizing table 211 languages, selecting during install 443 Last Changed By field property 375 Last Changed Time field property 375 Last Modified By core field 333 layout Fill 140 results pane 285 users changing 285 views 285 XY 140 Layout Style field property 208, 375 layout, details pane 285 layout, results pane 285 LDAP forms 353 leaf nodes, tree view table 192 levels of locked objects 430 levels, lock 430 levels, tree view table 192 License Type reserved field 341 licenses floating 45 write 32 licensing, forms used for 353 Like ID field 339 limitations with cascading style sheets in browsers 312 Line Color field property 377 linear IDs 154 lines See also trim fields list 72 list view tables about 191 creating 204 selecting requests 198 lists See also application list fields and list view tables Literal FTS Index field property 376
J
join criteria 110 join forms adding fields 187 auditing and 409 creating 109 criteria 101, 110, 111 fields in 102, 186, 187 filter execution order 107 Join Wizard 109 modifying 111 modifying field properties 187 outer joins 103 overview 90 primary form 101, 111 removing fields 188 Request ID field in 108 secondary forms 101, 111 self-joins 105 transaction control 108 understanding 101 viewing field properties 187 workflow, using in 107 476 Form and Application Objects Guide
local applications See applications locale field, using search menus with localized 455 setting display 461 view, system searching to display 445 Locale reserved field 343 Localization Required field property 377 localizing advanced tasks 443 AR System Administration Console settings 458 BMC Remedy User preference settings 460 currency codes 456 data languages 438 date and time formats 461 display languages 438 email templates 459 environment settings 458 exporting views 446 field labels 447 forms and 444 getting started 439 importing views 446 languages supported 443 languages, selecting during install 443 login pages 457 menus 454 messages 448 mid tier 457 overview 439 process 441 reports 441 request aliases 447 search menus, using Locale field 455 selection fields 447 settings of clients 458 sizes of views 459 tables 229 user interface of form views 446 view components, manually 447 view to display, system searching for 445 views in a browser 461 lock key 434 lock levels, objects 430 locked objects creating during export 433 key 434 levels 430 modifying 430 overview 429 warning 430 log forms 354 logging archives 396 Login Name field 340 login page customizing 457 login.jsp, localizing 457 logout page, customizing 457 log-style audits 404 Long Group Name field 44
M
mail, creating localized templates 459 Maintain Aspect Ratio field property 377 Mapping History field 344 Margin Bottom field property 208, 377 Margin Left field property 208, 377 Margin Right field property 208, 377 Margin Top field property 208, 377 Master Flag field 344 Matching Qualification field 345 Max Rows field property 208 Max Rows field property 378 Max Size field property 378 Max Time to Retry field 345 Maximum field property 378 Maximum Size field property 378 Menu Name field property 378 Menu Style field property 378 menus about character field 232 auto-completion 252 change history 254 clear items 251 copying 255 creating character 233 data dictionary 248 file 235 search 238 SQL 244 deleting 255 help text 254 localizing 454 modifying 254 refreshing 251 Message Catalog form, AR System 349 messages automatically localizing 449 localizing 448 manually localizing 449 metadata forms 354 Index 477
Microsoft browser limitations in cascading style sheets 312 localizing date and time formats in Windows 463 mid tier home page in browser 319 localizing 457 specifying home page server 322 style sheets in installation directory 312 Minimum field property 379 Minimum Size field property 379 Modified Date core field 333 modifying fields 182 form views 281 forms 94 groups 47 Home Page form 311 home pages 311 join forms 111 locked objects 430 roles 49 Module Type field property 379 Mozilla and style sheet attributes 313 multiple form views 272 group names 44
O
Object ID field 343 Object List entry points appearing in BMC Remedy User 305 home page, replacing with 302 Object Modification Log form 356 Object Reservation form 356 object_search_admin forms 352 object_search_details forms 352 object_search_ref forms 352 objects applications and 68 definitions 414 exporting definitions 415 importing definitions 425 including in applications 74 lock levels 430 Open Window action and dialog boxes 98 Orientation field property 380 outer join forms 103 overwrite (export) 420 Owner field property 380
P
packing lists creating 326 defining 325 overview 325 saving in XML 329 using 326 pane banner visibility 285 Panel Border Color field property 208, 380 Panel Border Thickness field property 209, 380 panel fields permissions 31 panel fields, about 138 Panel Height field property 209, 380 panel holder fields about 139 creating 167 Panel State field property 380 Panel Width field property 209, 380 Panels field property 380 panels, basic 139 parameters, in templates 267 Password field 340 Pattern field property 381
N
Name field property 215, 379 names, currency field 128 naming applications 74 predefined searches 287 views of forms 282 naming forms 93 navigation aids for home pages 316 navigation fields about 136 creating 162 workflow and 137 Navigation Initial State field property 379 New Description field property 380 Next Label field property 208, 380 nodes, tree view table 192 nonoperational fields 184 NULL values, tree view tables and 199 Number of Entries Returned field property 211, 380
478
performance tips archiving data 390 indexed fields, using in join criterion 102 permission types Assignee Group 22 Assignee group 22 subadministrator 55, 57 Subadministrator group 22 permissions See also access control groups; permission types; roles active links 33 default 50 forms 53 group 50 individual 50 multiple objects 55 Permissions field property 381 pools, attachment 131 pools, creating attachment 156 Precision field property 381 preference forms 355 preferences forms 355 home pages, configuring 317 Preferences field property 212, 382 Previous Label field property 209, 382 primary allowable currency 126 primary forms in applications 83 in joins 101, 111 primary view in applications 83 printing, disabling 288 product support 3 Production state field 49, 343 prompt bar 285 properties form views 283 forms 112 join forms 111 Properties tab 359 properties, archive forms 394 Public group 21 Push Fields action attachment pools and 134 currency fields and 127
R
radio button fields, about 130 rates, currency exchange 126 ratios, creating currency exchange 153 ratios, currency exchange 126 Read Button field property 212, 383 read-only lock 430 read-only lock type 434 real fields, about 129 Refresh Button field property 212, 384 refresh intervals, setting currency ratio 153 Refresh on Entry Change field property 209, 384 Refresh Row Selection field property 209, 384 refreshing tables 229 tree view tables 198 refreshing menus 251 regular forms 90 regular global fields creating 181 described 181 regular groups 23 Remote/Local Fields field property 384 removing. See deleting renaming forms 95 views 282 replacing objects on destination server 425 Report Button field property 212, 384 Report form 355 report forms Report 355 ReportCreator 355 ReportSelection 355 ReportType 355 ReportCreator form 355 reporting disabling 288 forms 355 localized 441 run macro actions 459 reporting forms 355 ReportSelection form 355 ReportToFile form 355 ReportType form 355 request aliases, ocalizing 447 Request ID field described 332, 334 implicit groups and 36 join forms and 108
Q
QBE Match field property 383 qualifications, predefined searches 287
Index
479
requests access control 34, 38, 41 Assignee access 35 Assignee Group access 35 dynamic group access 35 row-level access 38 row-level access with dynamic groups 41 sort order 117 Submitter access 35 users submitting 32 Require Required Fields field 345 reserved fields access control 340 described 337 DSO 344 form action 346 Locale 343 placeholders in definitions 339 ranges 338 resizing fields 300 resizing views of forms 282 resources, used by templates 266 Restricted List check box 79 Results Color field property 384 results list fields, permissions 31 results list pane about 203 defining fields for 115 fields in 115 separator 116 results list tables about 203 creating 204 results list pane and 203 results pane layout 285 right-to-left view 298 Role ID field 48, 342 Role Name field 48, 342 permissions 23 roles creating 49 deleting 49 described 23 modifying 49 See also access control groups Roles form 356 access control 47 fields 48 using 47 row colors, setting in tables 217 Row Header field property 212, 384 Row Selection field property 210, 384 row-level security 34 Rows field property 385 RTL format 298 run process action URLs, opening 309 workflow to return to home pages 317 Run Process action and attachment pools 134 run with form windows maximized (applications) 83 runmacro action 459
S
samples, SQL menus 247 Save Label field property 385 save to disk, image 83 Scale Image To Fit field property 385 Scroll Bar field property 385 search menus creating 238 dynamic 242 localizing 455 searching for fields in forms 185 Section 508 identifying cell data in table rows 212 security SQL menu database 248 Select All field property 212, 385 Select Column Label field property 212, 385 Select item on click field property 385 selection fields about 130 adding items 154 creating 154 custom item IDs 154 linear item IDs 154 localizing 447 Selections field property 385 self-joins 105 separator for results list pane 116 Server Events form 356, 397 server events, archiving 396 Server field property 385 Server Statistics form 356 servers home pages, specifying in User Preferences 321 information, specifying home page 321 localizing 458 mid tier, specifying home page 322 replacing object during import 425 Set Fields action and attachment pools 127, 134 Set Refresh Interval 229 Set to Defaults field 339
480
settings special submit 32 tab order 298 SHARE Application_Interface form 349 Application_Properties form 349 Shared Fields field property 385 Short Description core field 333, 334 shortcuts creating 82 to applications 85 show, only forms in application 83 Size of Chunk field property 210, 385 size, adjusting view 459 Sort field property 385 sort levels, hidden 193 sort order requests 117 setting in tables 215 Sort/Levels field property 385 sorting table columns 215 source control, import in place 425 Spacing field property 386 spacing, fields 290 special forms See also forms Add and Remove Licenses 353 Alert Events 351 Alert List 351 Application Pending 348 Application Statistics 348 Application Statistics Configuration 348 AR System Actor View 357 AR System Administration Console 349 AR System Administrator Preference 355 AR System Application State 349 AR System currency 351 AR System Current License Usage 353 AR System Historical License Usage 354 AR System Licenses 354 AR System Message Catalog 349 AR System Object Relationships 350 AR System Orchestrator Configuration 350 AR System Resource Definitions 350 AR System Searches Preference 350 AR System Server Group Operation Ranking 350 AR System Tags 354 AR System User Application Actor 357 AR System User Central File 355 AR System User Preference 355 AR System Web Services Registry 350 special forms (continued) AR System Web Services Registry Pending Delete 350 ARDBC LDAP Configuration 353 AREA LDAP Configuration 353 Assignment Engine 350 BMC Atrium Web Services Registry integration 350 business time 351 Configuration ARDBC 353 data visualization 352 database search 352 Distributed Mapping 352 Distributed Pending 352 Distributed Pending Errors 352 Distributed Pool 352 DSO 352 flashboards 352 Group 352 Home Page 305, 353 inetorgperson 353 LDAP 353 licensing 353 log forms 354 metadata forms 354 Object Modification Log 356 Object Reservation 356 object_search_admin 352 object_search_details 352 object_search_ref 352 overview 348 preference 355 Report 355 ReportCreator 355 reporting 355 ReportSelection 355 ReportToFile 355 ReportType 355 Roles 356 Server Events 356 Server Statistics 356 SHARE Application_Interface 349 Application_Properties 349 User form 356 User Password Change 356 version control 356 view selection 357 Visualizer 357 special groups 21
Index
481
SQL menus creating 244 database security 248 sample 247 Start Color field property 386 states application state property 80 applications and 76 custom, creating 78 workflow and 77 statistical processing 129 Status core field 333, 335 status history 335 Status-History core field 333 Subadministrator group access 22 permissions 55 subadministrator permissions applications 58 forms 58 submitter access 22 Submitter core field 333, 334 Submitter group access control 35, 36 special group 22 subset of entry points creating 314 subset, displaying entry point 136 support, customer 3 tables (continued) list view 191 localizing 229 refreshing 229 results list 203 results list pane 203 server side 190 setting column properties 213 setting refresh intervals 229 setting row colors 217 setting sort order 215 tree view 192 user preferences in BMC Remedy User 228 user preferences in browsers 227 workflow and 219 tables. See table fields Tabless Borderless field property 386 tabs Properties 359 Timeouts 153 technical support 3 templates content 267 creating workflow actions 268 for dynamic text formatting 265 parameters in 267 resources used with 266 TEMPLATE function 266, 269 using auto-complete functionality with 270 using in fields 268 templates, creating localized email 459 Test state field 49, 342 text See also trim fields Text Align field property 386 Text field property 386 Text Style field property 386 Thickness field property 386 time fields about 124 time formats ARDATE 462 customizing for localization 462 localizing 461 Windows localizing 463 Timeouts tab 153 tips add form action fields before locking forms 435 hierarchy of values in opening home pages 317 limiting number of entry points 303 order of entry points 307 title bar icon 285
T
tab order 298 Tab Order field property 386 Table Drill Down field property 210, 386 Table field property 386 table fields about 131 permissions 31 table fields. See Table Not Loaded String field property 212, 386 tables adding buttons 220 adding to forms 205 adding URLs 220 alert list 202 cell-based 199 client side 190 creating 204 customizing columns 226 customizing labels 211 dynamic 224 482 Form and Application Objects Guide
title bar, customizing in applications 83 To Form field 345 To Mapping field 344 To Request ID field 344 To Server field 345 toolbars, hiding on forms in a browser 286 tracking changes 400 transactions in join forms 108 Transfer Mode field 345 Transfer Status field 344 tree view tables about 192 arranging nodes 193 creating 204 hidden sort levels 193 leaf nodes 192 levels 192 nodes 192 NULL values 199 refreshing 198 selecting requests 198 setting visible levels 215 using color in 217 workflow and 220 Tree/Table Property field property 386 trim boxes. See trim fields trim fields about 143 adding URLs to trim text fields 179 creating 177 URLs 143 trim text. See trim fields types of forms 90 User form, access control 356 user interface of form views, localizing 446 User Password Change form 356 User Preference, AR System form 355 user preferences home page and server, specifying 321 suppressing home pages in BMC Remedy User 323 users access control 24 changing layout 285 customizing columns 226 deleted groups 47 groups deleted 47 guest 32, 53, 54 table preferences in BMC Remedy User 228 table preferences in browsers 227
V
varchar, maximum length for 122 variables ARDATE environment 462 ARDATEONLY environment 462 ARTIMEONLY environment 462 Vendor field property 387 vendor forms definition 92 viewing information 112 version control forms 356 overview 60 vertical lines. See trim fields vertical navigation fields, about 136 vertical navigation fields. See navigation fields Vertical Space field property 210, 387 view fields about 134 binding templates to 268 creating 159 workflow and 135 view forms definition 92 displaying information 112 view forms, special considerations for archiving 392 view selection, forms 357 viewing attachments in a browser 133 attachments in BMC Remedy User 132 viewing entry points, subset of 314
U
UNIX date and time environment variables 461, 462 field descriptors, combining 462 Unread field property 212, 386 Update Status field 344 URL Color field property 387 URLs adding to tables 220 adding to trim text fields 179 buttons and 164 home pages in a browser 306 trim fields and 143 Use Locale field property 229, 387 user assistive technology, for identifying table row data 212 User Central File, AR System form 355
Index
483
views adjusting size 459 changing current display 281 creating 278 custom labels for entry points 308 deleting 283 display, system searching to 445 entry points 307 exporting 459 field permissions 28 form permissions 44 form, localizing 440 including/excluding fields 289 localized 444 message components, localizing 448 modifying 281 multiple 272 naming 282 primary 83 properties 283 resizing 282 right-to-left format 298 Views field property 387 Visible Column field property 210 Visible Columns field property 387 Visible field property 215, 387 visible levels, setting in tree view tables 215 visible pane banner 285 visualization. See data visualization Visualizer, forms 357 Windows. See Microsoft window-scoped global fields 181 creating 182 described 181 workflow See also dynamic fields active links and entry point guides 309 application list field 136 attachment pool 133 buttons in tables and 222 creating action using TEMPLATE function 268 currency field 127 join forms and 107 navigation field 137 Restricted List 79 Run Process return to home page 317 subset of entry points, sample 315 tables and 219 view field 135 workflow actions Change Field 127, 133 Message 133 Push Fields 127, 134 Run Process 134 Set Fields 127, 134 Wrap Text field property 215, 387 Write License Pool field 341
X
X field property 388 XML file type 414 saving packing lists in 329 XML import/export commands saving packing lists as 329 XY layout 140
W
warnings deleting excess fields on server while importing definitions 426 exporting messages using .csv file format 449 locked objects cannot be unlocked 430 locking forms and workflow with different keys 433 replacing fields with new data type while importing definitions 426 replacing fields with new data type while importing deployable applications 427 web accessing localized form views 461 browser limitations in cascading style sheets 312 how home page appears 319 Weight field 339 When to Update field 345 Width field property 387 width, results list columns 117 484 Form and Application Objects Guide
Y
Y field property 388
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BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.5.00 Form and Application Objects Guide

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Form and Application Objects Guide

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Form and Application Objects Guide

Form and Application Objects Guide

Form and Application Objects Guide

AR System installed forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 Appendix D Field properties 359

Form and Application Objects Guide

Localizing AR System applications

Form and Application Objects Guide