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Asset Types

General

General tab

In the General tab, you can set some of the basic information about the asset type and choose an icon or upload a custom image that will be used for all assets of this type.

  • Name. The name of the asset type that will be displayed everywhere assets are used.
  • Category. The category for this asset type.
  • Description. A description of this asset type.
  • Preferred SLA. The preferred Service Level Agreement (SLA) for this asset type. This is the SLA that will be used when raising a request for an asset of this type.

Asset Card customization

The Asset Card is like a business card that you can design for your asset. Key information of your choice can be added to the card. The defined asset card will appear on all assets defined under this asset type.

Here is an example of a summary card for an asset of the asset type Printer:

Summary card for an asset

Where is the asset card displayed?

There are options to customize the Summary Card and the Wide Summary Card. The Summary Card Editor accepts HTML. Here you can include the values held in class custom fields. The syntax for this is:

  • For common custom fields use {{general.h_custom_char1}}, replacing char1 with the term in the custom field.
  • For class-specific fields use {{extended.h_custom_ext_char1}}, replacing char1 with the term in the custom field.

To help you add the correct fields, a dropdown menu appears as you type the variable name in the editor, as this screenshot shows:

Asset Summary Card editor dropdown

You can test how summary cards will be presented by selecting specific assets to preview in the summary card editor.

Warning

When using the Summary Card Editor to customize asset summary cards, use only Hornbill-prescribed styles. Do not add your own styles; any other style declarations will be removed by Hornbill.

Summary fields

Summary Fields tab

Go to the Summary Fields tab to choose the fields that a user sees when viewing an asset in the Summary view. The focus of an asset is put on this summary information when a user clicks on an asset in the asset list. You can customize the list of Summary fields so as to highlight the most important or most-used fields for this type of asset.

Choose between a one-column or two-column layout of the fields. Use the Quick Layout button to choose to use default fields or legacy fields. Using legacy fields means Hornbill will read in your asset fields from your existing implementation.

Here is an example of a Summary view for an asset of the asset type Printer, using a one-column layout:

Fields in an asset's Summary view

Here is the Summary view of the same asset, with fields configured in a two-column layout:

Fields in an asset's Summary view, two-column layout

Detail fields

Detail Fields tab

In the Details view, users can access extended details beyond what is in the Summary view for an asset. Go to the Detail Fields tab to choose which fields you want users to see when viewing an asset in the Details view.

Choose between a one-column or two-column layout of the fields. Use the Quick Layout button to choose to use default fields or legacy fields. Using legacy fields means Hornbill will read in your asset fields from your existing implementation.

Create fields

Create Fields tab

Go here to choose the fields available to a user when creating new assets. Use the Quick Layout button to choose to use default fields or legacy fields. Using legacy fields means Hornbill will read in your asset fields from your existing implementation.

Here is an example of a New Asset dialog when creating an asset of the asset type Printer:

New Asset dialog

List fields

List Fields tab

Go to the List Fields tab to choose the fields that a user sees when viewing the list of assets in an asset type. You can drag the columns to change the order in which they appear in the list. Click the eye icon to toggle the columns from visible to hidden.

Here is an example of what a user sees when viewing the list of assets by the asset type Printer:

List view when viewing by asset type

Fields available for searching. As an admin, you can configure the fields that are available for searching. If you want your users to be able to search for assets using specific fields, then add those fields here in the List Fields tab by adding additional columns. Once a column is added, it is available in the search.

Fields available for CSV download. The CSV download contains only the columns that you have added here in the List Fields tab.

Custom fields

On the Summary Fields, Create Fields, Details Fields, and List Fields tabs, you can add common fields and class-specific fields. Common fields include the Common Custom Fields, which are managed separately and shared across all assets. Class-specific custom fields can be added from the class fields dropdown.

Each Asset Type gives you a set of class-specific custom fields that you can configure without any development work. These fields already exist behind the scenes for every asset class (e.g. Computer, Printer, Mobile Device); you are labeling and switching on the ones you want to use, not creating new fields.

Each asset class provides the following custom fields:

  • 20 x char (varchar) - h_custom_ext_char1 to h_custom_ext_char20.
  • 8 x int - h_custom_ext_int1 to h_custom_ext_int8.
  • 8 x decimal - h_custom_ext_dec1 to h_custom_ext_dec8.
  • 8 x date - h_custom_ext_date1 to h_custom_ext_date8.
  • 4 x text (longtext) - h_custom_ext_text1 to h_custom_ext_text4.

These fields are shared slots available to every Asset Type within that class, but you configure each field separately for each Asset Type. For example, Laptop and Desktop Asset Types within the Computer class can each label and set up h_custom_ext_char1 differently.

For each field, on a per Asset Type basis, you can configure:

  • Label. The display name shown to users, with translations if needed.
  • Control type. How the field is presented (e.g. plain text box, dropdown, checkbox), where supported.
  • Mandatory / Read-only / Visible. Whether the field is required, locked, or shown at all for a given Asset Type.
  • Layout position. Where the field appears on the asset form.

Actions

The Actions tab contains configurable buttons that appear on asset records. When selected, an action on an asset can open a URL in a popup or in a new browser tab, or trigger an Auto Task, all within the context of the asset being viewed.

Navigate to Manage Types, select a type, and select the Actions tab.

Action Tab

  • Preview panel (top) — search for an asset of this type using the autocomplete picker and see a live preview of how the action buttons render on that asset’s record. Toggle between Full and Compact width to preview both the expanded button layout and the collapsed “Actions” dropdown.
  • Action list (below) — the full list of actions and groups for this type, in their current display order. Drag rows to reorder.

Adding an action

Select Add. A dropdown appears with three options:

  • Create Action — opens the action configuration popup. Fill in the form and save to create a new action that belongs exclusively to this asset type.
  • Link Common Actions — opens a picker showing common actions that can be linked to this type. The list is filtered automatically to only show partition-scoped actions belonging to this type’s partition, and class-scoped actions whose class matches this type’s class. Actions from other partitions or that belong to a different class are never shown. Select one or more and select Link Selected. A progress bar tracks the operation when linking multiple actions.
  • Add Group — prompts for a group name and creates a new action group.

Editing an action on a type

Select Edit on any action row:

  • Type-specific actions — the configuration popup opens inline. Changes affect only this type.
  • Partition-scoped and class-scoped actions — selecting Edit opens the full-page edit form in a new browser tab. You are editing the shared configuration that every linked type uses. Ordering, grouping, and position on this specific type are controlled separately, from the action list on the type’s Actions tab.

Removing an action from a type

Select the Unlink / Delete button on an action row and confirm in the dialog. The behavior differs by action scope:

  • Type-specific actions — permanently deleted.
  • Common actions — unlinked from this type only. The action continues to exist and remains visible on other types it is linked to.

Action groups

Groups let you organize multiple actions into a single dropdown button on the asset record. Instead of showing several individual buttons, the asset displays one button with the group’s name; selecting it opens a menu listing all actions in that group.

Action Groups

Groups are per-type: the same action can be in different groups (or no group) on different asset types. Grouping is configured from each type’s Actions tab and does not affect other types.

To create a group:

  1. On the type’s Actions tab, select Add and choose Add Group.
  2. Enter the group name. This becomes the label on the dropdown button on the asset record.
  3. Drag existing action rows into the group, or use Add within the group to create or link actions directly inside it.

To rename a group: Select Rename on the group header, enter a new name in the inline input, and press Enter or select away. The change saves immediately.

To delete a group: Select Delete on the group header and confirm. Actions inside the group are not deleted — they move out of the group and appear ungrouped in the list.

Action order

The order of actions on the asset record is set per type from the Actions tab. Each action row and each group header has a drag handle on the left. Drag a row to a new position; the updated order saves automatically when you release it.

You can drag actions between groups (including out of a group entirely), and drag groups relative to one another and to ungrouped actions. Each type has its own completely independent action order — the same action can be first on one type and last on another, so configure ordering separately on each type’s Actions tab.

When you create or link an action, it is placed at the end of the list for that type. Drag it to the correct position once it appears.

Archiving asset types and assets

Archiving helps you manage your asset library by restricting access to older items and preventing the creation of new assets in archived types.

When you archive an item, the system does not delete any data. Instead, it changes the state of the assets to archived.

When you archive assets, you can select specific asset state groups and sub states to include. The system does not affect any groups you do not select.

To archive asset types and their associated assets, select the archive button that appears when an asset type is selected in the left-hand menu, as highlighted here:

asset type archive button

When an asset type is archived, this button becomes the Unarchive button.

Archive an asset type

  1. Navigate to the Manage Types page.
  2. Select the asset type you want to archive from the left-hand menu.
  3. Select the Archive button.
  4. Choose an archive mode in the dialog box:
    • Type only: Archives only the asset type definition.
    • Type & assets: Archives the asset type and its associated assets.
  5. If you choose Type & assets, select the asset state groups you want to archive.
  6. (Optional) Assign a sub state to each selected group.
  7. Confirm the action to complete the process.

Expected Result: The asset type appears in italic text in the navigation tree. Users can no longer select this type when creating new assets.

Unarchive an asset type

  1. Select the archived item in the navigation tree.
  2. Select the Unarchive button.
  3. Choose the unarchive mode that matches your needs (such as Type only or Type & assets).
  4. If you unarchive assets, review the groups organized by their current sub state.
  5. Pick a new state and an optional new sub state for each group you want to restore.
  6. Confirm the changes.

Manage visibility of archived items

The system uses specific visual cues to help you identify archived records:

  • Navigation tree: Archived categories and types appear in italic text. When you select a different item, the archived labels appear muted (faded).
  • Visibility toggle: If you have asset management rights, go to Service Manager > Assets. Select the eye icon in the Assets title bar to show or hide archived items.
    • An open eye icon means archived items are visible.
    • A closed eye icon means archived items are hidden.
  • Permissions: Users without asset management rights cannot see archived categories or types in the navigation tree.

Audit archive events

You can also archive assets by updating the asset state directly in the asset editor within Service Manager. You can perform this action for one asset or multiple assets at the same time.

When you archive assets through the asset editor, you can choose to audit the update. Please note that the system does not support auditing when you archive items from the Manage Types page.

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