Life Cycle

Life Cycle

Life Cycles in ServiceDesk Plus MSP Cloud allow admins to formulate a resolution process with built-in guidance for the help desk technician. A life cycle ensures efficient process adherence; you can establish a directional flow, minimize the scope for human errors, and provide privileged (role-based) access to status transitions. You can also configure life cycle for requests, problems, and assets.

To automate processes through request life cycle, you define actions that will be executed under pre-specified conditions. Custom function execution is one of the many different types of actions in life cycles. 

Learn about Life Cycles.

Supported Modules
Role Required
Requests
SDAdmin, SDSiteAdmin, HelpDeskConfig
Problems, Changes, Projects, Releases, Solutions, Assets, CMDB, Purchase, Contracts, and Custom Modules
SDAdmin
 

Configure Custom Functions for Life Cycles

  1. Go to Setup > Developer Space > Custom Functions.
  2. In the module drop-down, select Trigger (or) Life Cycle (or) Actions.
  3. Click New Custom Function. You can alternately write the custom function while creating/editing a life cycle.
  4. Fill out the necessary information as described in the below:
Field
Description
Custom Function Name*
Provide a unique name for the custom function.
Description
Describe the objective and usage of the custom function.
Applies to
Choose the sub-entities within the module where the custom function is applied.
Deluge Script Editor
Compile the custom function in the Deluge Script Editor using a simple drag-and-drop motion. To learn more about Deluge and how to write custom functions, click here.
Depending on the module selected, the following arguments will be passed in the custom function.
  1. Requests - 'requestObj' and 'context'
  2. Problems - 'problemObj' and 'context'
  3. Changes - ' changeObj ' and 'context'
  4. Projects - 'projectObj' and 'context'
  5. Releases - 'releaseObj' and 'context'
  6. Solutions - 'solutionObj' and 'context'
  7. Assets - 'assetObj' and 'context'
  8. CMDB - 'ciObj' and 'context'
  9. Purchase - 'purchaseorderObj' and 'context'
  10. Contracts - 'contractObj' and 'context'
Custom Module - 'cm[custommodulename]Obj' and 'context'
'[module]Obj' - Stores the details of the request on which the life cycle must act.
'context' - Stores the current instance and the logged-in user details. 

Info
If the custom function is configured for a module sub-entity, the respective sub-entity object will be passed in the parameter. 
*mandatory fields
  1. After compiling the custom function, click Save or Save & Execute Script.

Points to remember:

Ensure custom function returns "void" value.

You cannot return any object from the custom function to modify the request. You can, however, modify the request by making API calls. 

Test Execution of Scripts

After writing the custom function, you can test it by following the steps given below:
  1. Click Save & Execute Script.
  2. Choose a sample record from the list of records displayed and click Next.
  3. The data that will be passed to the custom function will be displayed under the parameter '[module]Obj'. Optionally, you can modify the '[moduleObj' values.
  4. Click Execute.
Info
If you make any API calls by using zoho.sdp.invokeurl or invokeurl while testing the custom function, the API will be invoked. Make sure you don't invoke an API that might result in unintended consequences.  

Debugging Tip

When you test a custom function, you can debug the code and print the output by using a statement called info. For example, to understand the structure of requestObj and context, you can simply run the following script and study the response.
  1. info requestObj;
  2. info context;   
 
For a quick summary of how to use custom functions across different features in ServiceDesk Plus MSP Cloud, visit this link.