Documentation
    {{docApp.userSession.userId}}
    {{docApp.userSession.userName}}
    {{docApp.userSession.email}}
    Issuer : {{docApp.userSession.issuerInstance}}
    Expires : {{new Date(docApp.userSession.validUntil).toLocaleDateString()}}

{{docApp.title}}

{{docApp.description}}

How can we help?

{{docApp.searchError}}
{{product.name}}

Searching in {{docApp.searchFilterBySpecificBookTitle}}

{{docApp.searchResultFilteredItems.length}} results for: {{docApp.currentResultsSearchText}} in {{docApp.searchFilterBySpecificBookTitle}}
Search results have been limited. There are a total of {{docApp.searchResponse.totalResultsAvailable}} matches.

You have an odd number of " characters in your search terms - each one needs closing with a matching " character!

{{docApp.libraryHomeViewProduct.title || docApp.libraryHomeViewProduct.id}}

{{docApp.libraryHomeViewProduct.description}}

  1. {{book.title}}

{{group.title || group.id}}

{{group.description}}

  1. {{book.title}}

{{group.title}}

{{book.title}}
More...

Custom lookups

Custom lookups allow you to define sets of records that associate values together.

For example, you can associate a specific catalog item with a supporting team. These records of association do not need to be created within workflows; they can simply be called into a process at the point of need.

In this way, custom lookups remove the need to have complex and multiple Decision nodes inside each workflow wherein choices must be made (e.g. whom to assign to or who should approve), or when values need to be set (e.g. impact, urgency, or risk). Custom lookups simplify this by storing those values inside each record of the custom lookup, and allowing you to invoke and use the relevant record values based on things such as the specific service or catalog item the workflow is running against.

Before you begin

  • You must have the Service Desk Admin role to create and manage custom lookups.
  • Be familiar with general workflow automation.

Creating custom lookups

A custom lookup can contain one or more records of associations.

When creating a custom lookup, you can associate records from a list of existing entities, or you can use custom fields to give yourself further configuration options.

To create a custom lookup:

  1. In Configuration, navigate to Service Manager > Administration > Custom Lookups.
  2. In the Custom Lookups list view, click the Add button (the plus sign).
  3. Give the new custom lookup a name and a description.
  4. (Optional) Change the status from the default Active to Offline.

    Note

    If you are going to use the custom lookup in a workflow, make sure the status is set to Active.

  5. Click Create.

To associate a record to a custom lookup:

  1. In the list of custom lookups, click the View button (the eye icon) in the row of the custom lookup you want to configure.
  2. In the Details & Records view, go to the Records tab.
  3. Click the Add button (the plus sign) to create a new record.
  4. In the Reference field, give the new record a name.
  5. In the Configurations section to the right, click the down arrow to access the Please select an entity dropdown.
  6. Select an entity.
    1. (Optional) If the entity you want is not in the list, you can use a custom field to make it available. See Using custom fields in custom lookups.
  7. Click Create.

Using custom fields in custom lookups

Within each custom lookup, you define a set of one or more associated records. To do this, select the eye icon on the custom lookup entry to access the Custom Lookup Details and Records tabs. For creating records of association in custom lookups, Custom Fields 1 through 5 are reserved and available to use.

To create a record for use in a custom lookup:

  1. In the list of custom lookups, find the row of the custom lookup you want to configure, and click the View button (the eye icon).
  2. In the Details & Records view, go to the Details tab.
  3. In the list of custom fields (or if the list is empty, where it says No Custom Fields Defined…), click the Add button (the plus sign).
  4. In the Field dropdown, select one of the available custom fields.
  5. (Optional) In the Label field, give the record a name. This name will appear in the Please select an entity dropdown when associating a record to a custom lookup.
  6. Click Update.

When you create a record, the following settings and fields are available:

  • Reference. The name of the associated record.
  • Status. This specifies whether the record will be applied when the custom lookup is used in a workflow. Choose either Active (for use in a workflow) or Offline.
  • Entity. The entity that is associated with the reference. There are a number of entities available to select from the dropdown, such as Approver, Request Category, and Risk. If you need more options, you can use Custom Fields 1 to 5 to add more as described above.
  • Value. The entity value that is associated with the reference.

Using custom lookups in workflows

You can use custom lookups in workflows as a way of invoking pre-defined associations when performing automations. For example, when performing team assignment in a workflow, you can use a custom lookup record to automatically assign a specific team to all requests that were raised against a specific catalog item. This is because the record contains an association between the catalog item and the team.

To use a custom lookup in a workflow:

  1. Add a Hornbill Automation node with these settings:

    Application: Service Manager

    Scope: Entity

    Entity: Custom Lookups

    (The Type and Task fields will auto-populate with the default settings.)

  2. In the Options section, for Custom Lookup, use the dropdown to select your custom lookup.

  3. In Reference (which refers to the record reference for the chosen custom lookup), manually set your reference to the name of the associated record. If the associated-records information is accessible using a variable, then use the variable picker to select it.

When configured like this, what the Hornbill Automation node does is it loads the custom lookup reference entity values — in the form of output parameters — into the workflow, which can then be called from a subsequent node or nodes using the variable picker.

Important

When assigning a team using a custom lookup, in the Hornbill Automation node that follows the custom lookup, make sure the input parameter Team contains the Team ID, not the team name.

Further learning

Watch this video for an overview on how to use Custom Lookups to improve your Workflows.

  • Version {{docApp.book.version}}
  • Node {{docApp.node}} / {{docApp.build}}
In This Document