When to add a field vs. a variable

[bradr_]

I'm looking on some guidance or best practice advice on when to make something a field vs. a variable. For example, I have a workflow where I need an ITIL user to populate a reference (choose a Group) as part of his or her task, and then later I want to generate a task where the Assignment Group field is set to that group. I can see this working either way, but I keep running into situations like this where I'm wondering how to make the determination. Are variables strictly used to give the customer configurable options on a catalog item and fields when it is more having to do with the ITIL/workflow side? Do you use a variable when it is specific to a catalog item and a field when it applies to all catalog items?

[luimol · Accepted solution]

Brad,

You answered your own question. Variables are custom fields that you need to enter information not available in a catalog in general. For example, the Created By, Requested By, Requested For are all fields that you don't have to create because they are provided for you by the catalog. But if you needed something like Application Date, Employer Name, Registration Date, then you would have to create variables for them.

I hope this helps.

[German Alvarez2]

Item Request table will récord many different kind of registers, with different fields deppending on the catalog item. ->

Each different request will have different data or question, like memory size of a usb key, The different software to install in a computer to deploy or the number of days that will last a Loan. --> This values, with information about the Item requested, should be variables, customized for each catalog, and kept appart.

Also, there could be some data that will apply to every request item from a high perspective, like metadata ( Number of reassignments, Name of the different users assigned to the request's Tasks,   requester name, department or level) -> This information should be a field.

FInally, please, also remember that reports are less direct to customize to retrieve data from variables than from variables.

I hope it would help you

[bradr_]

Thanks for the responses, guys. So in this case, the field I want to add (Delivery Group) is not specific to a catalog item, but it is also not applicable to all catalog items, because many of them don't require physical delivery. Would you lean towards making it a variable or a form field?

[yetesh_ch]

Hi Brad,

You can make it form field and then use UI Policy / Client Script to make it visible / unvisible as per your requirement.