Service Catalog topic blocks in Virtual Agent powered by NLU

You can design a topic conversation in NLU-powered Virtual Agent by including reusable topic blocks to perform request submission tasks.

Search Catalog Item

You can use this topic block to search for a catalog item based on the search criteria. If there are multiple search results, you can select one from a carousel view.

Table 1. Input parameters

Parameter	Description
query_term	Keyword to search for a catalog item. For information on configuring keyword search for a catalog item, see Configure keyword search for catalog items.
catalogs	Comma-separated list of catalogs where a catalog item should be searched for.
result_limit	Number of search results that should be displayed. By default, this number is set to 5.

Table 2. Output parameters

Parameter	Description
catalog_item_id	If a catalog item is selected, sys_id of the item is returned. If no catalog item is selected, that is, None of these option is selected, -1 is returned.
item_type	sys_class_name of the catalog item that the user selected.
is_conversational	Specifies if the catalog item can be requested in the conversation mode in Virtual Agent.

Request Catalog Item

You can use this topic block to request for a catalog item.

Table 3. Input parameters

Parameter	Description
catalog_item_id	sys_id of the catalog item that should be requested.
execute_contextual_search	Option to specify if the contextual search should be run for a record producer based on its configuration. For information on defining contextual search for a record producer, see Define contextual search for record producer.
confirm_catalog_item	Option to specify whether the user must confirm the catalog item before continuing with the next step. If this is set to false, user can answer the catalog items questions by skipping the confirmation.
show_end_state_card	Option to display the end state card information about the generated record to the user.

Table 4. Output parameters

Parameter	Description
record_id	sys_id of the record that is generated after the item submission. If the catalog item is not supported in the conversation mode or if the user does not have access to the item, -1 is returned.
record_table	Name of the table in which the record is generated.
variables	Questions related to the catalog item.

Virtual Agent render type

A catalog item can be rendered in Virtual Agent as a conversation, window, or popup.

Requesting a catalog item in a conversation mode

A user can submit a request in the conversation mode (by answering the questions in line).

The following conditions must be met when a user requests a catalog item in the conversation mode in Virtual Agent powered by NLU.

• A catalog item cannot have more than the number of questions specified in the glide.sc.conversational.request.question.limit property. By default, this number is set to 10. For more information about this property, see Service Catalog properties.
• A catalog item can have non-scripted catalog UI policies. These UI policies should be defined such that variables are affected sequentially, that is, only a variable with the lower order affects a variable with the higher order.
• A catalog item cannot have catalog client scripts that are defined for Now Mobile or Service Portal.
• Only the following variables are supported:
  • Attachment
  • Check box (A group of check box variables isn't supported)
  • Date
  • Date/Time
  • Email
  • IP Address
  • Label
  • Lookup Multiple Choice (without pricing implications and advanced reference qualifier)
  • Lookup Select Box (without pricing implications and advanced reference qualifier)
  • Multiple Choice (without pricing implications)
  • Multi Line Text
  • Numeric Scale (without pricing implications)
  • Reference (without pricing implications and advanced reference qualifier)
    Note:

    Reference type variable that corresponds to a table that has more than 7000 records are not supported. The upper limit for the number of records can be specified in the glide.sc.va.reference_question_choices.limit property. By default, it is set to 7000.
  • Requested For (without pricing implications and advanced reference qualifier)
  • Rich Text Label
  • Select Box (without pricing implications)
  • Single Line Text
  • URL
  • Wide Single Line Text
  • Yes / No
  • Container variables
• The following variable attributes are supported:
  • ref_ac_order_by
  • allowed_extensions
  • max_file_size
  Note:

  All the other variable attributes are ignored in Virtual Agent.
• A catalog item can have a single-row variable set but not a multi-row variable set.
• If a catalog item has a default value configured for a question, the default value is displayed in VA, which enables the user to proceed with the default value without having to select it manually. The user can also choose a different value other than the default value.
• If a catalog item has a data lookup configured for a question, the setter value is displayed in VA, which enables the user to proceed with the setter value or choose a different value. A catalog item with data lookup is not supported as a conversational item when the setter question precedes the matcher question.
• User cannot skip the following type of questions for a catalog item:
  • Lookup Multiple Choice
  • Select Box
  • Lookup Select Box
  • Yes/No
  • Numeric Scale (If Do not select first choice configuration is not selected)
  • Multiple Choice (If Do not select first choice configuration is not selected, or Include none choice configuration is selected)
• If the user is using VA in a different supported collaboration tool like MS Teams:
  • Searching for a value using the search icon in choice type of fields is not supported.

    Figure 1. Choice type fields in MS Teams

    

    Figure 2. Choice type fields in VA

    

  • Searching for a value in reference type of fields is performed in the form of a question.

    Figure 3. Reference type fields in MS Teams

    

    Figure 4. Reference type field in VA

    
    
    

Requesting a catalog item as a pop-up

A user can submit a catalog item request as a pop-up for items, which are not conversational. In a pop-up, Virtual Agent provides a link for the user to submit the request in a pop-up without navigating to a new tab. A non-conversational catalog item can be rendered as a pop-up only if it does not have any Custom, Custom with label, or UI Page variables.

Note:

If you do not want to render your Virtual Agent conversation as a pop-up, set the glide.sc.va.render_type.legacy property to true, which renders all non-conversational catalog items in the configured portal in a new tab.

Requesting a catalog item as a window

A user can submit a catalog item request in a window. In a window, Virtual Agent provides a link for the user to submit the request in the Service Portal defined in the sn_itsm_va.com.snc.itsm.virtualagent.portal_url property. A non-conversational item is rendered as a window if it has a Custom, Custom with label, or UI Page variable.

A catalog item is rendered as a window if it is of the following types:

• Content Item
• Order Guide
• Wizard Launcher
• Standard Change Template

• Submit a request topic conversation
  Users can submit a request in a Virtual Agent conversation.

Related concepts

• Catalog builder preview topic conversation

Related tasks

• Configure Now Assist in Conversational Catalog Request