Service Catalog and Request Management · Topic 2 of 3
Catalog Items, Variables and Order Guides
CIS-ITSM catalog setup: item types, variables and variable sets, catalog UI policies, user criteria, order guides, record producers, Catalog Builder.
- 5 min
- Catalog item creates a requested item; record producer creates a record in its target table; order guide bundles items into one request.
- Variable answers are stored with the requested item and are visible to fulfillers and flows.
- Single row variable sets reuse questions; multi row variable sets collect a list of rows.
What it is
Configuration is where the scoped design becomes real items. The implementer picks the right item type, builds the questions the user answers, decides who can see each item, and bundles items where users order them together.
Most questions here ask which tool meets a requirement with the least effort.
How it works
Item types
| Type | Use it when | What it creates |
|---|---|---|
| Catalog item | The user orders a good or service that someone fulfills | A requested item under a request |
| Record producer | A simple form should create a record in another table, such as an incident | A record in the table set in its Table name field, with no request |
| Order guide | Several items are usually ordered together, such as a new hire bundle | One request with a requested item for each item the guide adds |
| Content item | The catalog should point to a knowledge article or an external page | Nothing to fulfill; it links the user to the content |
Variables
Variables are the questions on the item form. Common types include single line text, multi line text, select box, multiple choice, checkbox, reference (pick a record, such as a user or a CI) and date. Each variable can be mandatory, can have a default value, and is ordered on the form by its Order value.
The answers are stored with the requested item, so fulfillers see them on the RITM and on its catalog tasks, and a flow can read them.
Variable sets
| Set type | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Single row variable set | Several items ask the same questions once, such as cost center and business justification |
| Multi row variable set | The user must enter a list of rows on one item, such as several users who each need access |
A variable set is maintained in one place and attached to many items, so a change to the set reaches every item that uses it.
Controlling the form
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Catalog UI policy | Shows, hides, makes mandatory or read only variables based on conditions, without code |
| Catalog client script | Runs browser logic on the item form when it loads, a value changes, or the user submits |
Use the catalog UI policy first. These act on variables on the item form; ordinary UI policies on a table do not touch catalog variables.
Who can see an item
User criteria decide availability. Items and categories have Available For and Not Available For lists, and each user criteria record can match users, groups, roles, companies, departments or locations.
Not Available For wins when a user matches both lists. If an item has no Available For criteria, it is available to everyone who is not excluded.
Order guides in detail
An order guide asks a few opening questions, then builds a set of items. Its rule base holds rules that each pair a condition on those answers with an item to include, so the bundle changes with the answers.
With cascade variables turned on, an answer to an order guide variable is copied into the item variables that have the same name. The user answers "location" once instead of once per item.
Catalog Builder
Catalog Builder is a guided, form based way for content owners who are not developers to create catalog items. A catalog_admin creates the item templates, and users with the catalog_builder_editor role build items from the templates they can access. Later template value changes are not copied into items already built from it, although new template restrictions do apply.
How the exam asks about this
- "Employees should report a broken printer through a simple portal form." Use a record producer whose table is Incident.
- "Twenty items must all ask for a cost center and a justification." Create a single row variable set and attach it to each item.
- "A new hire bundle should include a software item only for engineers." Add a condition in the order guide's rule base.
What to remember for the exam
- Catalog item creates a requested item; record producer creates a record in its target table; order guide bundles items into one request.
- Variable answers are stored with the requested item and are visible to fulfillers and flows.
- Single row variable sets reuse questions; multi row variable sets collect a list of rows.
- Catalog UI policies and catalog client scripts act on variables, not table fields.
- Not Available For overrides Available For in user criteria.
- An order guide's rule base adds items conditionally; cascade variables pass answers to same named item variables.
A record producer does not create a request or requested item. If the requirement mentions approvals and fulfillment tasks for something being ordered, a catalog item is the answer, not a record producer.
Common mistakes
Using a table UI policy to hide a variable. Table UI policies act on table fields. A variable on an item form is controlled with a catalog UI policy or a catalog client script.
Building one huge item instead of an order guide. When the user needs several separately fulfilled things, an order guide keeps each item with its own requested item, tasks and fulfillment group.
Expecting cascading to match by label. Cascade variables copy values between variables with the same name, so the item variables must share the order guide variable's name.
Check yourself
Which item type creates an incident directly from a portal form?
A record producer with Incident as its table, which creates the incident without a request or requested item.
What happens when a user matches both Available For and Not Available For on an item?
Not Available For wins, so the item is hidden from that user.
How do you collect access details for several people on one catalog item?
Use a multi row variable set, so the requester adds one row per person.
Topic 2 of 3 in Service Catalog and Request Management
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