How to set RITM stages from Subflow?

[Community Alums]

To complete one of the catalog items, I need around 100 steps in flow designer.

I have a multiple choice question, let's say radio button 1 and radio button 2 and based on the radio button selection different set of catalog task creation and approvals need to be configured.

So I have used 2 different subflow, one subflow for radio button 1 and second subflow for radio button 2.

The issue is when I set stages in subflow it is not reflecting in the RITM form or portal view (where end user can see the state of his request), how do I set RITM stages using subflow?

Any suggestions would be helpful, Thanks!

[Deepak Shaerma]

Hi @Community Alums 

Whenever you design your subflows ,consider to add  Flow Logic actions to update the parent RITM record based on the progress within the subflow. This can be done by using “Update Record” flow action targeting the RITM related to the catalog item.
To update the RITM stages based on subflow progress, follow these steps in your subflow:

- Get RITM Record: Use a “Lookup Record” action to fetch the related RITM record. You will need the sys_id of the RITM, which can typically be passed to the subflow as an input variable when the subflow is triggered.
- Update RITM Stage: Add an “Update Record” action after significant steps within your subflow to update the RITM record. You could update a custom field that tracks the stage of your process or use any field on the RITM to reflect the current state/progress.
- Table: sc_req_item
- Record Identifier: Use the sys_id obtained from the Lookup.
- Fields to Update: Set the appropriate field (possibly a custom stage field) with the value reflecting the current progress/stage.
Please Mark this Helpful and Accepted Solution. If this Helps you to understand. This will help both the community and me..
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Thanks & Regards 
Deepak Sharma 

[Community Alums]

Hello @Deepak Shaerma Thanks for your input.

Apart from using "Update Record" actions, is there another way? if we use that "Update Record" step every time to update the RITM stages then the subflow will have lot of steps which I don't want.

[abhilash_4344]

1. Hey @Community Alums , did you get any solution on this apart from manually updating the stages of the RITM using "update record". Even I m stuck in the same situation.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[David House]

I have faced this dilemma as well, and these are the 2 options I have found:

1. Design your flow and subflows in such a way that the subflow completes steps in between stages
   • The main flow will set the stage before calling a subflow
   • The subflow completes certain actions and returns its results
   • The main flow checks the outputs of the subflow and then sets the next stage
   • Rinse and repeat
     
     
2. Continue with your design, but use the Update Record step to set the Stage
   • This has the benefit of being complete within your current design
   • This has the drawback of not allowing you to set both the value and label of the Stage, meaning you can set the correct value (e.g., "complete"), but the correct label will not show (e.g., "Completed")

Subflows do allow you to defines and set stages. However, they do not work for Service Catalog flows.

I raised a Now Support ticket regarding it and the response I received was that a Subflow can only affect the stages of a record if it is the only flow running on that record. In this case, where a Catalog Item is triggering a Flow, subsequent calls to Subflows do not allow stages to be affected, since that Subflow is not the only flow running on the record.

This is not how it appeared to be designed with the Vancouver release. However, support have advised the above.

I have submitted an enhancement request to hopefully get reimplemented:

https://support.servicenow.com/ideas?id=view_idea&sysparm_idea_id=5c9cc05c47678650b6d8aa25126d4355&s...