Show RITM variable values as variable attributes in reference field

[David334]

Hi.

I am currently building a catalog item to select my previously requested item and make changes or updates on the item.
E.g I want to change the "end date" field of the requested item I requested few days ago.
So I currently have a reference field which references the sc_req_item table and have reference qualifier of "requested for is dynamic me". However, because there will be multiple RITMs the user has submitted in the past, normal endusers wouldn't be able to tell which item is which just by looking at the RITM number unless you go back to "my request" in service portal and fine the number. But this is too much waste of time and very bad user experience. So I want to show some variable values of the RITM as variable attributes. 

Few solutions I thought are:

1. Can variable attribute show the RITM variable values? - something like current.variables.[variable name] ? if possible, please let me know as this is the most straight forward solution and its OOTB

2. Have a business rule or onSubmit with Ajax call to insert individual variable values as a custom field into a custom table and have my reference field referencing to the custom fields and variable attributes can be used to show my custom fields which will hold the RITM variable values - I think this is hard to maintain in case of adding/removing variables to the catalog item will need modification of business rule and creation/removal of custom fields on the custom table every time.

Are there any other solutions? I am stuck on this and cannot come up with a clear solution.

[DrewW]

I'm a little confused on why you are going thru this.  Why not just have the user use the portal interface to find the one that they want updated and then have them put in a comment saying what needs to change.  Then have the tech who is currently working on it take care of it since it will probably impact the work they are doing.

If you really want to go down this route another option is to make sure that the short description of the requested item has text in it that indicates what the requested item is for.  Then create a "Display" column that concatenates the number and short description fields together and set it as the display column for the requested item table.  Then all reference fields will use it for the field display value.

[David334]

Hi Drew,

From the client's perspective, I think they want to keep track of the changes that are made from endusers and its easier for endusers if there is an item for "new request" and "edit/cancel request" so instead of going back to "my requests" and find the RITM they want to edit and leave a comment there. - Cant do much at this stage of the project unless we provide a whole new solution 😞

With your other solution, I think its a good idea and I will have a go at it.

[DrewW]

the system auditing keeps track of the changes made by users so you may want to consider a page that allows them to easily find and then see if you can use an iFrame to show the platform view of the form to allow them to edit the vars.

With all the different catalog items and the variables they could have and there types a solution that tries to account for all of it is doable but is going to be high maintenance or very complicated so it does things on its own.

[Bernd Hoffmeier]

Instead of using a reference variable why not use a lookup select box on 'sc_req_item'?

You can lookup the exact sys_id and display all fields in the dropdown you like even the variables. Just make sure you are using a reference qualifier where cat_item=sys_id of your original catalog item you want user to lookup and change. All other reference qualifiers can be added if you just want specific request to be able to adjust, e.g. only active or with your dynamic filter or in a specific status.

Looks like this for end user in Service Portal: