RITM with Status Option of Cancelled

[michelle kirk]

Can someone please advise whether this is an OOB function 

When a user selects Cancelled from the State Option and Update on the RITM, should that cancel the whole Request ?

Our platform is not doing that - see attached, 

What is happening if they select Cancelled the RITM is staying in Waiting Approval and regardless whether anyone else rejects it the status doesnt change, therefore we are unable to close the request.

If the user right clicks and Rejects rather than going up to the State to change the status then the RITM and REQ will close.

Our platform provider is stating "

That last line "we need it to work so that if anyone does select Cancelled the RITM goes in to a Request Cancelled state" reflects a major customisation and technical debt for the platform, as Cancelled is a specific approval state used when the whole request has been cancelled before an approval is actioned.

Can you confirm whether what they are saying is correct, as I find it strange that you would have an OOB function that allows you to cancel a RITM but it then stays in Waiting Approval ?

[Ravi Gaurav · Accepted solution]

Hi @michelle kirk 

The behavior you're describing is not typical Out-of-the-Box (OOB) for ServiceNow. When a Request Item (RITM) is canceled, OOB functionality should ensure that the status of the RITM is updated appropriately, and it can also affect the Request (REQ) and associated tasks.

In OOB ServiceNow, if a user manually selects the Cancelled state for a RITM, the following behavior is expected:

• RITM Status: The RITM should transition to a Cancelled state, not remain in Waiting for Approval.
• Request (REQ): If all associated RITMs within a request are canceled, the request itself should move to a Cancelled state.
• Approval Workflow: Approvals associated with the RITM should either be canceled or transitioned to a final state, like "Rejected" or "Closed".
  
  

  OOB, when a Request Item (RITM) is canceled:

  • The system typically checks whether the Request (REQ) has other active RITMs.
  • If all associated RITMs are in a canceled or closed state, the Request is also transitioned to a Cancelled or Closed state.
    
    

[michelle kirk]

Hi,  I sent the above to our providers who have come back with the following... is this correct as it seems to contradict what Service Now is stating ?

It is correct, that if a Request (REQ/sc_request) is cancelled then this will cause a downward cascade transaction that will result in all associated Requested Items (RITM/sc_req_item) and any outstanding approvals (sysapproval_approver) ending up in a state that reflects that they have also been cancelled. Unfortunately the reverse transaction is not a supported operation i.e. You cannot cancel an approval and result in an upwards cascade transaction to cause the Request and Requested Items to be cancelled. The only operation supported within ServiceNow for an approval is for the record to be approved or rejected.

ServiceNow does support the arbitrary change of state of an approval record, but only the values of approved and rejected have any actual effect on an underlying workflow. For example - Someone might choose to change an approval record from 'Requested' to 'Not yet requested' and then back to 'Requested' - this operation is often used when the approval email needs to be re-triggered if it has accidentally been deleted or lost in an inbox.