Layton ServiceDesk - Configuring the System - Form Design

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List of Forms

All key forms or screens displayed in Layton ServiceDesk are customizable. This means that field names or labels may be changed, fields moved using drag-and-drop, and database fields removed or added as required. New data fields that you wish to add to a form must first be created in Data Design. The following is a list and description of all forms that may be customized in Form Design:

Form Description
Task Defines the Task form for actions either associated with Requests, Problems, Changes, Recurring Tasks or freestanding.
Problem Defines the Problem form used by Analysts for logging and processing Problems. This is only available if Enable Problem & Change is On.
Change Defines the Change form used by Analysts for logging and processing Change Requests.
Analyst Defines the Analysts Attributes for creating/amending Analysts.
End User Defines the End User attributes for creating/amending End Users.
Company Defines the Company form. This is only available if the Company Level option is enabled.
Site Defines the Site form.
Department Defines the Solution form used when creating and displaying Solutions.
Login Allows you to change the format of the Layton ServiceDesk logon screen.
Login Analyst Allows you to change the format of the Layton ServiceDesk Analyst logon screen.
Login End User Allows you to change the format of the Layton ServiceDesk End User logon screen.
Register End User Details of what the End User should enter to Register themselves.
Priority Used for defining the Priority/SLA details: times and escalation process.
Survey Defines the Survey form.
Solution This form defines the items that can be added to a Solution.
End User Solution This form defines what an end user sees when looking up a Solution.
Search Requests Search parameters for finding and displaying Requests.
Search Problems Search parameters for finding and displaying Problems.
Search Changes Search parameters for finding and displaying Changes.
Search Tasks Search parameters for finding and displaying Tasks.
Search Surveys Search parameters for finding and displaying Surveys.
Search End User Used to search for End Users when logging a new Request or editing.
End User Search Request Search parameters for finding and displaying End User Requests to the End Users.
Site Quick Info Defines the look and feel of your quick info screen when searching on a Site.
Site Quick Info List View Defines the look and feel of the Request list view in your quick info screen when searching on a Site.
End User Quick Info Defines the look and feel of your quick info screen when searching on an End User.
End User Quick Info List View Defines the look and feel of the Request list view in your quick info screen when searching on an End User.
Banner Defines the Banner as shown at the top of the screen.
Settings On each form, you can enable the "Snap to Grid" guide to help you properly position your items. The Settings screen allows you to control how many pixels the "Snap to Grid" moves.
End User Request Used by the End User to log Requests. A new form will be created for each defined Request Class.
Analyst Request Request form used by the Analyst to log and progress Requests.
Spawn Request Spawned Request form used by the Analyst to log and progress Spawned Requests.
Copy Request Forms Allows you to copy a form from another Request Class to expedite the form-design process.

Each form is edited in the same way. To move an object, click the small square handle in the top-left corner and drag it to the desired location on the form. This method may be used to modify the location of field labels, field positions, buttons, and icons. Any label, field, drop-down list, or image may be displayed and modified by selecting the object and amending the properties of that object. The default Analyst Request form as displayed in the form design mode is seen below:


Form design analyst request.png


A tool bar is provided to define new objects for the form by adding labels, new user-defined fields, drop-down lists, system fields, read-only fields, hyperlinks and images. Additional Toolbar icons provide Page Properties, Preview Mode, Snap to Grid and Exit. The Toolbar is originally positioned on the right side of all forms but can be moved to anywhere on the form by dragging the top of the Toolbar. Position the mouse over each Toolbar icon to see the various options. See below for a detailed description of the Toolbar options.

Note: All changes made in the Form Designer are live and take immediate effect for users. There is no Save button to commit form-design changes.

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Using the Form Design Toolbar

Toolbar Overview

After the form is selected from the Admin Site Map Form Design menu, the form is displayed with the floating Toolbar pictured and described below:


Fig9.png


The Toolbar provides you with access to the different form elements and properties. User Field, System Field and drop-down lists are all data bound elements that input data to fields in the bound table. Labels are static text on the form. Images allow static images to be placed on the form and Page properties allow for the configuration of the form's background color.

Label Elements

Although static text, label elements can be made to display system terms as defined in the Application Terms section. To configure a label to dynamically display a system term, specify the term inside double curly braces in the label value property of the label. When displayed on the form, the bracketed term will be replaced with the system term.

For example:

{{user}} ‐ Analyst

{{enduser}} ‐ End User

{{request}} ‐ Request

{{requesttype}} ‐ Request Type


A full list of the available system terms are defined in Application Terms.

Defining a New Field

To add a new field label, select the Add Label icon from the toolbar and set the properties and press “Save”. The field label will now appear at the top left corner of the screen. Simply grab the small square handle at the top left corner of the label and drag the label to the required position on the form.

The “Snap to Grid” icon on the Toolbar is used to define the number of pixels between position settings on the form and helps with the alignment of fields and labels. The pixel setting is defined in Administration | Form Design | Settings.

Now select one of the icons to add the required data field, either:

  • Add User Data Field ‐ user defined fields, must previously have been added using DATA DESIGN.
  • Add System Field – pre defined system fields available for this form.
  • Add Drop Down List – any pre defined Drop Down List which is then applied to a user data field.

Whichever option is selected they all act in the same way. Select the required data field from the DB Field pick list and set the required properties (see Figure 13 - Summary of Form Objects). Then select “Save” to return the form design screen.

  • Add Read-Only – provides support for adding display only fields from other tables on the form being designed. Read-Only fields will appear as labels on the form.

Editing Objects

Any object; labels, data fields or button images, can be amended by simply selecting the object within the form. The properties of that object will be displayed for you to edit as required and select “Save” to return to the form design screen.

Adding Images

You can add static images to forms by selecting the Add Image button on the Toolbar. This will launch a pop up control which allows you to browse to the image location (see Figure 10 below). All Layton ServiceDesk images are held in the Application Images folder and it is recommended that any custom user images be placed in the Application_Images/User sub-folder.


Fig10.png


Figure 10 - Adding Images



To add upload an image to the User images folder click on the User folder location and then click on the Upload button in the menu. This will display another window where you can browse to the image location. Once the image location has been specified click the upload button and the image will be uploaded into the User folder. To select the image double click on the image name.

Each element on the Form has a layer order. You have the ability with images to bring them to the front of the layer or send them to the back of the layer. Sending them to back will cause the image to appear behind other elements. Bringing it to the front will cause the image to appear in front of other elements. By using the Maintain Layer option the image layer is left where it is. To change the layer details click on the image to view the image properties.

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Adding Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks can be added to any form by clicking the Add Hyperlink button Lsd btn toolbar link 32px.png. Hyperlinks allow you to create links to external documents or applications and also be able to pass the values of form fields as a query string in the URL. For example a hyperlink in the request form can be made to link to an external web application and pass in the value of the sys_request_id field in its query string. Hyperlinks can be made to display in three ways; in a new window, replacing the entire Layton ServiceDesk™ view or display the linked document in the current frame.

Although static text by default, hyperlinks can be made to display system terms as defined in the system configuration section. To make a hyperlink display a system term specify the term inside {{ }} in the hyperlink caption property. When displayed, the bracketed term will be replaced with the system term.

Available Terms Are:
{{user}} - Analyst
{{enduser}} - End User
{{request}} - Request
{{requesttype}} - Request Type
{{solution}} - Solution
{{eclient}} - Department
{{action}} - Action
{{actiontype}} - Action Type
{{priority}} - Priority
{{site}} - Site
{{company}} - Company

The hyperlink URL property tells the hyperlink the document to link to. The Target property tells the system how to display it. By setting the target to "New Window", the document will be displayed in a new window. "Replace" will cause the linked document to replace the Layton ServiceDesk™ Application. "In Frame" will display the linked document in the current frame.

The hyperlink URL property can be specified to pass dynamic querystrings to the linked document. This can be very powerful as it can allow Layton ServiceDesk™ to talk to external applications. To make a hyperlink URL carry Layton ServiceDesk™ form values specify the fieldname inside [[]] in the hyperlink URL property.

When linked, the bracketed field will be replaced with the field value.

For Example the URL property of a hyperlink put onto the Analyst’s Request form:

  • myownwebapp.asp?request=[[sys_request_id]]


Might be passed as:

  • myownwebapp.asp?request=77



HTML Editor

The HTML editor tool provides for easy WYSIWYG HTML formatting and includes a range of functions such as Spell Checking and adding Hyperlinks. The HTML editor control is designed to be used with large text fields such as the Problem Description and Solution Description fields. If you have created your own user defined text field and would like to apply the HTML editor control to your field then in the Form Design section click on your user defined field and in the field properties section select the HTML Editor radio button and specify the Editor Width and Height (in pixels). The minimum recommended size is 600 x 300 pixels.

Once the HTML editor has been added to the form it can be dragged to the required position on the form like any other field by selecting the handle on the top left of the field. Please note that to protect users' private information, unprivileged scripts cannot invoke the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands in the Mozilla, Safari / Chrome and Opera rich text editor, so the corresponding buttons will not work. You can cut and paste content in Firefox, Safari /chrome and Opera only using the Ctrl+X and Ctrl+V shortcut or the Paste from Word dialog. You can also paste content from the browsers menu: Edit -> Paste.

See Figure 11 below for a sample of the HTML editor control.


Fig11.png


Figure 11 - HTML Editor Control

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Web Tab


The Web Tab feature provides for the quick and easy viewing of items such as Tasks, Comments and Attachments, without having to click through to another page. The Web Tab is available on the following forms:

  • Analyst Request
  • End user Request
  • Spawn Request
  • Problem
  • Change
  • Solution
  • End User Solution


Fig12.png


Figure 12 - Web Tab Display


On these forms the following system buttons, system fields and user defined fields can be added or removed from the Web Tab:

Analyst Request & Spawn Request Forms:
Problem Description (sys_problemdesc)
Solution Description (sys_solutiondesc)
Comments Button
Tasks Button
Attachments Button
Reminder Button
Costs Button
Links Button
History Button

End User Request
Problem Description (sys_problemdesc)
Solution Description (sys_solutiondesc)
Comments Button
Attachments Button

Problem Form
Problem Description (sys_problem_description)
Problem Cause (sys_problem_cause)
Solution Description (sys_solution_description)
Comments Button
Tasks Button
Attachments Button
Reminder Button
Costs Button
Links Button
History Button
Change Form
Change Description (sys_change_description)
Change Impact (sys_change_impact)
Change Implementation (sys_change_implementation)
Change Rollback (sys_change_rollback)
Comments Button
Tasks Button
Attachments Button
Reminder Button
Costs Button
Links Button
History Button

Solution Form
Problem Description (sys_problemdesc)
Solution Description (sys_solutiondesc)

Items can be removed from the web tab by selecting the settings link under the relevant tab and un-checking the “Show on Tab” check box. Once removed from the Web Tab the item can be moved to the required location on the form by dragging the handle of the field in the top left corner. If the field is not visible on the form after removing it from the web tab it may be hidden behind the Web Tab. Simply drag the whole Web Tab aside to reveal the field which you can then move to the required location. To set the properties of the Web Tab click on the “Tabs” text in the top left hand corner of the Web Tab. You can set the font and font size of the tab labels and the height and width of the Web Tab.

If you do not wish to use the Web Tab and would prefer to have all buttons and fields displayed independently on the form, remove all fields from the Web Tab as described above and then click on the Page Properties icon and un-check the Show Tab option.

Summary of Form Objects


Fig13-1.png

Fig13-2.png

Figure 13 - Summary of Form Objects

Modifications

Request Type as Multiple-Level Menu

By default, Request Type is represented as a field with the Select button Lsd btn select 16px.png which, when clicked, opens a dialog where you can pick the Request Type from a tree. Alternatively, you can configure the form to represent the Request Type as a series of drop-down menus. Add more than one instance of the system field sys_requesttype_id to the form. You can add as many as you like to represent the number of levels in your Request Type hierarchy. The form hierarchy is established by placing the fields below each other.

Lsd form design reqtype01.png


When filled out on the form, each field will populate with only those values applicable to the level above it. You do not need to fill each of the fields on the form.

Lsd form design reqtype02.png

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