Get started with Process Automation Designer (PAD) & Playbooks in Agent Workspace

[Maik Skoddow]

Since there are more and more questions about the new cool feature of Process Automation Designer and its visual representation as Playbooks in Workspaces, I want to give a short introduction to get started in minutes.

A good introduction to the topic is the community article by @Lisa Holenstein. You can find there links to further ressources but in the moment a simple step-by-step guide is missing.

With the help of the following instructions, for all users who have never worked with the Process Application Designer, a simple process will be created and rendered in a playbook within the agent workspace.

The only thing you need is a few minutes of time and a PDI with a Paris version or higher.

(1) Activate required plugins

Go to System Definition > Plugins and activate the following plugins:

• Process Automation Designer Core (com.glide.pad.core)
• Process Automation Designer for App Engine (com.glide.pad.license)
• Process Automation Designer for ITSM (com.snc.itsm.playbook)
• Playbook Experience (com.glide.playbook_experience.config)

Reload the browser and check that you can find the following modules in application navigator:

   

(2) Enable Related List "Incident Tasks" for Workspaces

OOTB you won't see a Related List "Incident Tasks" on your Incident records at Agent Workspace and there you have to enable it:

	Open context menu Select "Configure" Select "Related Lists"
	Choose view "Workspace" Click on "Edit this view in ITSM Workspace"
	Select "Incident Task -> Incident". Click on right arrow to move the selection to the selected pane. Move the related lists to a favourite position. Click "Save".

As a result there should be a new tab "Incident Tasks" at Incident's detail view in Agent Workspace:

(3) Create a minimal process

Go to Process Automation > Process Automation Designer. In a new tab a empty process list is loaded:

To create a new process click on the corresponding button in the upper right corner and then proceed with the following steps:

	Enter a process name. Click "Select a trigger".
	Choose "Define your own conditions for when your process runs" Click into the bar "Choose the trigger type". Select "Record Create".
	Click on "Set your trigger conditions".
	Select table "Incident". Optional: Configure suitable conditions. Click on "Go to Designer".

A process is devided into lanes which represents stages and contain the activities. Proceed with the following steps to create a first activity and publish the process:

	Click on "Add new lane" at the bottom.
	Enter a name for the lane. Leave "When to start" with option "Immediately". Click on "Save".
	Click on "Add an activity".
	Click on "Instruction".
	Click on "Configure activity" in the right pane.
	In the lower left corner of the dialog click on "Advanced view".
	Choose tab "Activity Experience".
	Scroll down and enter at field "Title" a headline for instruction card and at field "Description" the instruction itself.  Note: To format the description text you can enter HTML code there.
	Publish your process by clicking on "Activate" in the upper right corner.
	Make sure that status indicator has changed to "Published".

(4) See the process in action

Now it's time to test the process. Since the process is not kicked off until a new incident ticket is created you have to create one at Agent Workspace.

A new tab "Playbook" should be offered. For the first activity "Handling new Incident" at stage "Intake" a card with configured headline and description is rendered. To finish the activity click on "Mark as Complete".

Congratulations! You have successfully created your first process!

(5) Extend process

Let's now extend the process with a little more interactivity:

	Create a new lane "Remediation" Click on "Add an activity" Choose "Automated Create Record" Click on "Configure acitivity" in the right pane.
	In the opened configuration dialog click on related link "Advanced view" and then at tab "Inputs": Select table "Incident Task". Fill the fields as shown or change as needed. With the help of the data picker you can insert fields from Incident record.
	At lane "Remediation" add another activity of type "Wait for Condition" and then open configuration dialog by clicking on "Configure activity" in the right pane.
	In the opened configuration dialog click on the related link "Advanced view" and then at tab "Inputs": Set the previously created task record by using the data pill. Select table "Incident task" and add the condition "Active = false".
	Switch to tab "Activity Experience" and fill in fields "Pending State Title" and "Pending State Description". Click on "Update". Don't forget to "Activate" again the process to create a new published version.
	Back at workspace create a new Incident, click "Mark complete" at first stage "Intake" and then see the automatically created Task record. The process can be terminated only when the task is closed.

An important hint for your further experiments with the Process Application Designer:
Any changes to the process are only visible if it is published again and a new Incident is created afterwards.

[David Rosevold1]

I setup the process properties fine with the incident table selected.   In setting up the very first lane though, when click on "Add an activity," it states no activities found. 

 

[Maik Skoddow]

Could you please raise this issue as a question? In the moment I have no idea what the reason could be, but maybe someone from the community can help you.

[Adam B]

@Maik Skoddow As someone who recently started using this product this is very helpful. However, aren't you required to create a new 'Related Item' in your agent workspace? At least this is a step required when working off of a custom table and workspace.