Revision as of 07:18, 20 September 2016

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Overview

Business Rules perform If/Then tests with and/or operators.

Disabling Business Rules

A Business Rule can be disabled without deleting it. From list view, uncheck the checkbox in the Enabled column for the Business Rule. Alternatively, uncheck the Enabled checkbox in the properties of the Business Rule.

Preventing Business Rules from Executing

It may be desirable to apply a Business Rule once, for example, assigning a Request to a first-level tech. On subsequent saves of the Request, the assigned Analyst should not be reset to the value defined by the Business Rule, in case manual reassignment has occurred.

Procedure

1. Go to Administration > Form Design > FORM NAME.
2. Click the field that has a Business Rule configuration.
3. Uncheck the option Ignore Business Rule Value When Creating New Request and/or Ignore Business Rule Value When Updating Existing Request.
4. Click the Save button .

Criteria

Problem Summary

Field Name: sys_problemsummary

This field is the short description on the Request form, and correlates to the subject line of an email, when processed as a new Request.

Problem Description

Field Name: sys_problemdesc

This criterion will be used to test the presence or absence of a defined string. Note that this can be used to process Requests that have been manually created or imported from email. In the case of email, the Request will be imported, saved, then the Business Rule will be applied.

Examples of Use

Reassignment Based on a String

When an email is processed as a new Request and contains the string invoicing, the Request can be assigned to a specific Analyst.

Assignment of Request Type Based on String

A network router is configured to email a log dump. Requests containing a log dump can be reassigned to a specific Request Type, regardless of whether the Analyst set one or not, thus enforcing an internal policy.

Change Status on the Basis of Time Since Last Status Change

A ticket that is in a status of "Open" can be changed to the status to "Hold" after 2 days.

sys_changestatus_date stores the date and time when the status is changed. The criterion is sys_changestatus_date after X Days. If you choose Today, the Business Rule will trigger immediately after a status change.

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Status Change Date

Field Name: sys_changestatus_date

This field records the date and time when the status is changed.

Examples of Use

Escalating Status Based on Elapsed Time

This example supposes that a Request should be escalated from its initial Open status to Closed through a series of statuses indicating lapsed timeframes.

Configuration

1. Configure 3 Request Statuses. Note that these must be of the type Continue.
   1. Awaiting User Response:
      

      
      

   2. 2 Days no Response (same settings).
   3. 4 Days no Response (same settings).
2. Create 3 Business Rules. Note that sys_changestatus_date must appear first in the list of criteria.
   1. Status Change 1
      

      
      

   2. Status Change 2: Change these settings:
      1. Rule Name: Status Change 2
      2. Description: If status is not changed within 32 hours, and status is "2 Days No Response", change to "4 Days No Response"
      3. Select Criteria:
         1. sys_changestatus_date after 32 Working Hours
         2. sys_requeststatus (Request Status) is 2 Days No Response"
      4. Perform these action: sys_requeststatus (Request Status) 4 Days No Response
   3. Status Change 3: Change these settings:
      1. Rule Name: Status Change 3
      2. Description: If status is not changed within 40 hours, and status is "4 Days No Response", change to "Closed"
      3. Select Criteria:
         1. sys_changestatus_date after 40 Working Hours
         2. sys_requeststatus (Request Status) is 4 Days no Response
      4. Perform these action: sys_requeststatus (Request Status) Closed

Use

1. Open a Request. The status will be Open, assuming this is what is configured in Default Status.
2. Change Status to Awaiting User Response. This begins the timer. Note that the rule cannot be applied if the status is not changed.
3. If the End User comments within any of the three timeframes, the timer is reset. So, if the status is Awaiting User Response and 15 hours have elapsed with no comment, then the End User comments, the timer resets. If no comment then occurs within 16 hours, the first Business Rule will execute. This would be a total of 31 hours after first changing the status to Awaiting User Response.

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Last Comment Date

Field Name: sys_lastcommentdate

This field records the date and time when the last comment was created.

Examples of Use

Escalating Status Based on Elapsed Time

This example supposes that a Request should be escalated from its initial Open status to Closed through a series of statuses indicating lapsed timeframes.

Configuration

1. Configure 3 Request Statuses. Note that these must be of the type Continue.
   1. Awaiting User Response:
      

      
      

   2. 2 Days no Response (same settings).
   3. 4 Days no Response (same settings).
2. Create 3 Business Rules. Note that sys_changestatus_date must appear first in the list of criteria.
   1. Status Change 1
      

      
      

   2. Status Change 2: Change these settings:
      1. Rule Name: Status Change 2
      2. Description: If status is not changed within 32 hours, and status is "2 Days No Response", change to "4 Days No Response"
      3. Select Criteria:
         1. sys_changestatus_date after 32 Working Hours
         2. sys_requeststatus (Request Status) is 2 Days No Response"
      4. Perform these action: sys_requeststatus (Request Status) 4 Days No Response
   3. Status Change 3: Change these settings:
      1. Rule Name: Status Change 3
      2. Description: If status is not changed within 40 hours, and status is "4 Days No Response", change to "Closed"
      3. Select Criteria:
         1. sys_changestatus_date after 40 Working Hours
         2. sys_requeststatus (Request Status) is 4 Days no Response
      4. Perform these action: sys_requeststatus (Request Status) Closed

Use

1. Open a Request. The status will be Open, assuming this is what is configured in Default Status.
2. Change Status to Awaiting User Response. This begins the timer. Note that the rule cannot be applied if the status is not changed.
3. If the End User comments within any of the three timeframes, the timer is reset. So, if the status is Awaiting User Response and 15 hours have elapsed with no comment, then the End User comments, the timer resets. If no comment then occurs within 16 hours, the first Business Rule will execute. This would be a total of 31 hours after first changing the status to Awaiting User Response.

Procedure

1. Go to Administration > General Settings > Business Rules. To add a new rule, click the Add button .

   
   

   
   
2. The following window is displayed:

   
   

   
   
3. In the following example, the rule will always set the Priority to High if the End User is Elizabeth Pearson. She is considered to be a VIP and we want the High Priority regardless of what it is set to manually. Enter the rule name, a short description and set a priority. Priority in this context defines the sequence in which rules will be executed, lowest number to highest. To make this business rule active, check the Enabled checkbox.

   
   

   
   
4. Select a column name in the Select Criteria menu. Select a condition in the Conditions menu. Enter a value in the value field or select it from a list, if applicable. Click the Add button to add it to the list of criteria. This is most important, otherwise the criterion will not be saved.

   
   

   
   
5. When saved, the criterion will appear in a list. Note that multiple criteria can be defined in the one Business Rule. Also note the two options Match All (AND) and Match Any (OR), which will define whether all the specified criteria or any of them will be tested.

   
   

   
   
6. Similarly, select an action from the Select Action menu and enter a value in the value field or select it from a list, if applicable. Click the Add button to add it to the list of criteria. Again, this must be done to save the action. Multiple actions can be defined in the same Business Rule.

   
   

   
   
7. Click the Save button to save the Business Rule.

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