Create Multiple Instances of Same Catalog Item in Order Guide Request

[jmiskey]

So we have a very involved Order Guide that people are going to be using in Service Portal.  Based on the selections that they make in the Order Guide, a handful out of a possible 30 Catalog Items will be presented for them to complete.  The issue is that they may need to fill out multiple copies of the same Catalog Item, and I am not sure how to set this up to allow them to do this.

For example, we have a Catalog Item that is a Form to request a new product.  It asks all the questions pertinent to setting up that new product.  However, they may want/need to request more than one new product.  The thought is to maybe have a question at the very bottom of the New Product Catalog Item Form that says something like "Do you have another product that you would like to set-up?", and if they answer "Yes", it creates another blank copy of the New Product Catalog Item Form for them to complete.

Is something like this possible?  If so, how do I do this?

Is this is not possible, has anyone come up with any good alternatives?

Thanks.

[SanjivMeher]

One option, if this is a must requirement.

Once Request is submitted create multiple requested items using 'addItemToExistingRequest'

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/london-application-development/page/app-store/dev_portal/API_refe...

But then, you wont be able to set values based on applications.

[patricklatella]

Thanks Sanjiv,

the client is actually going to overhaul their catalog item so that entering it multiple times (which would've been a horrible UX) won't be necessary.  So problem avoided... 🙂  thanks again. 

[jmiskey]

UPDATE: So I have some potentially good news. 

I met with the team that we are creating this for, and we have discovered that this does NOT have to be an Order Guide.  Each Catalog Item can be its own request form on the Service Portal.  So I am hoping that simplifies things a little, and opens up new possibilities.

So the question is now, can we create the Catalog Item to allow for repeated requests within the same request?

For example, let's say that it is a real simple request form with three Fields: User, Product Name, Quantity.  If they wanted to request two Products, those three fields would repeat twice on the form (so they could fill out each set separately).  In the typical cart format, they ask you for how many items you want.  It would be nice to have something like that, but when you select "2", it adds another set of the original fields for you to fill out.

Is that possible?  How would I do that?

Bonus questions (not show stoppers, but would be great if this is possible):

- Can you prevent certain fields from duplicating in subsequent requests?  For example, suppose I don't need the User field each time (just on the first request).  I just need the other two fields added for the subsequent requests.  Or, if that is not possible, to default the value of the User field in the subsequent requests to use the value of the User field in the first request.

- Provided that we are able to create duplicate sets of these variables, can this also be done with Variable Sets?  I am not sure if that makes any difference or not.

Thanks!

[SanjivMeher · Accepted solution]

So you have 3 catalog item Add User to Group, Remove User from Group, Modify Group

If there are common fields which should be there in all the three above catalog items, you should create them as a variable set and use the variable set in all three instead of creating variables.

Now If you want to order multiple instance of the same catalog item

- Either use quantity, if attributes will be same in all the instances

- Train users to use Add to Cart button. If you use Add to cart, it works like your Amazon cart, where you keep adding items you want to purchase and then you do a final checkout. 

If I add one instance of my catalog and click Add to cart, it will add that item to my cart. Then I can change some values in there and do an add to cart again.

Then I can go to some other catalog item and add that to the cart too.

[jmiskey]

The attributes are different for each instance, which is why I need a whole new copy of those variables.  Think of it if it was "Add New User", and my variables were things like First Name, Last Name, and Birthday.  If I wanted to add multiple users, they obviously all have different names and birthdates, so I would need a set of those three variables for each user I want to add.

So, the "Add to Cart" functionality was not visible on my Item in Service Portal.  However, I found out how to add it using this article: https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/istanbul-servicenow-platform/page/build/service-portal/concept/enable-shopping-cart.html?cshalt=yes

I see how it works.  So after they make their initial request, they need to pop back out to the menu, and submit another request (from scratch).  They would show up as different RITMs under a single REQ.  Do I have that right?

So, because it RITM is separate unto itself, there probably isn't the ability to default certain fields on subsequent entries to be the same as the initial one.  Is that correct?

For example, let's say that in our original example above of adding New Users, there was also a Location field.  We populate it with some value on the first submission.  Would it be possible to have all the other submissions in the same request default to the Location used in the first one?  I am guessing probably not.  Once again, not a huge deal, just more of a wish-list thing.