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BMC Helix ITSM Update Activity

Introduction

A BMC Helix ITSM Update activity, using its BMC Helix ITSM connection, updates BMC Helix ITSM record data into BMC Helix ITSM, and is intended to be used as a target to consume data in an operation.

Create a BMC Helix ITSM Update Activity

An instance of a BMC Helix ITSM Update activity is created from a BMC Helix ITSM connection using its Update activity type.

To create an instance of a BMC Helix ITSM Update activity, drag the Update activity type to the design canvas or copy the Update activity type and paste it on the design canvas. For details, see Creating an Activity Instance in Component Reuse.

An existing BMC Helix ITSM Update activity can be edited from these locations:

Configure a BMC Helix ITSM Update Activity

Follow these steps to configure a BMC Helix ITSM Update activity:

Step 1: Enter a Name, Select a Form, and Specify Settings

BMC Helix ITSM Update Activity Configuration Step 1

Tip

Fields with a variable icon Variable icon support using global variables, project variables, and Jitterbit variables. Begin either by typing an open square bracket [ into the field or by clicking the variable icon to display a list of the existing variables to choose from.

  • Name: Enter a name to identify the BMC Helix ITSM Update activity. The name must be unique for each BMC Helix ITSM Update activity and must not contain forward slashes (/) or colons (:).

  • Select a Form: This section displays forms available in the BMC Helix ITSM endpoint. When reopening an existing activity configuration, only the selected form is displayed instead of reloading the entire form list.

    • Selected Form: After a form is selected, it is listed here.

    • Search: Enter any part of the form name into the search box to filter the list of forms. The search is not case-sensitive. If forms are already displayed within the table, the table results are filtered in real time with each keystroke. To reload forms from the endpoint when searching, enter search criteria and then refresh, as described below.

    • Refresh: Click the refresh icon Refresh icon or the word Refresh to reload forms from the BMC Helix ITSM endpoint. This may be useful if forms have been added to BMC Helix ITSM. This action refreshes all metadata used to build the table of forms displayed in the configuration.

    • Selecting a Form: Within the table, click anywhere on a row to select a form. Only one form can be selected. The information available for each form is fetched from the BMC Helix ITSM endpoint:

      • Name: The form name from BMC Helix ITSM.

      • Description: The form description from BMC Helix ITSM.

    Tip

    If the table does not populate with available forms, the BMC Helix ITSM connection may not be successful. Ensure you are connected by reopening the connection and retesting the credentials.

  • Form Name: Name of the form to be updated.

  • Save & Exit: If enabled, click to save the configuration for this step and close the activity configuration.

  • Next: Click to temporarily store the configuration for this step and continue to the next step. The configuration will not be saved until you click the Finished button on the last step.

  • Discard Changes: After making changes, click to close the configuration without saving changes made to any step. A message asks you to confirm that you want to discard changes.

Step 2: Specify Settings

BMC Helix ITSM Update Activity Configuration Step 2

  • Continue on Error: Select to continue with the operation even if an error occurs. By default the option is not selected.

  • Back: Click to temporarily store the configuration for this step and return to the previous step.

  • Next: Click to temporarily store the configuration for this step and continue to the next step. The configuration will not be saved until you click the Finished button on the last step.

  • Discard Changes: After making changes, click to close the configuration without saving changes made to any step. A message asks you to confirm that you want to discard changes.

Step 3: Review the Data Schemas

BMC Helix ITSM Update Activity Configuration Step 3

  • Data Schema: The request and response data schemas for BMC Helix ITSM are displayed. If the operation uses a transformation, the data schemas are displayed again later during the transformation mapping process, where you can map to target fields using source objects, scripts, variables, custom values, and more.

    The BMC Helix ITSM connector uses the BMC Helix ITSM/Remedy ITSM REST API v20.08. Refer to the API documentation for information on the schema fields.

    The connector supports these BMC Helix ITSM versions:

    • 9.1.04 (OnPremises)
    • 18.08 P1 (OnPremises)
    • 19.02 (OnPremises)
    • 19.08 (OnPremises)
    • 19.11 and later (OnPremises and SaaS)

    Adding an Attachment to an Activity

    The BMC Helix ITSM Connector provides the functionality of adding an attachment to your activity. To add an attachment to your activity:

    1. When using the activity in an operation, open the request transformation that precedes the activity.

    2. In the target schema, map the following fields for the attachment:

  • Refresh: Click the refresh icon Refresh icon or the word Refresh to regenerate schemas from the BMC Helix ITSM endpoint. This action also regenerates the schema in other locations throughout the project where the same schema is referenced, such as in an adjacent transformation.

  • Back: Click to temporarily store the configuration for this step and return to the previous step.

  • Finished: Click to save the configuration for all steps and close the activity configuration.

  • Discard Changes: After making changes, click to close the configuration without saving changes made to any step. A message asks you to confirm that you want to discard changes.

Next Steps

After configuring a BMC Helix ITSM Update activity, complete the configuration of the operation by adding and configuring other activities, transformations, or scripts as operation steps. You can also configure the operation settings, which include the ability to chain operations together that are in the same or different workflows.

Menu actions for an activity are accessible from the project pane and the design canvas. For details, see Activity Actions Menu in Connector Basics.

BMC Helix ITSM Update activities can be used as a target with these operation patterns:

Other patterns are not valid using BMC Helix ITSM Update activities. See the validation patterns on the Operation Validity page.

A typical use case is to use a BMC Helix ITSM Update activity in the Two-transformation Pattern. In this example, the first transformation (Update Request) creates a request structure that is passed to the BMC Helix ITSM Update activity. The second transformation (Update Response) receives the response structure, which is then written to a variable by a Variable Write activity (Write Update Response) and a message is then logged by the Write to Operation Log script:

BMC Helix ITSM Update operation

To use the activity with scripting functions, write the data to a temporary location and then use that temporary location in the scripting function.

When ready, deploy and run the operation and validate behavior by checking the operation logs.