Define Items

You can define item information such as specifications, structures, packs and so on. Note that this depends on the definition task configured by your administrator.

How You Define Items

Here's how you define items from the new item request.

1. From the Manage New Item Requests page, search for the new item request in which you want to define the item.

2. Open the new item request, click the Details tab and select the Definition workflow status.

3. To view the definitions tasks, expand the Workflow Details section.

   To filter the tasks, use the Show list. Here are the options in this list:

   • Current Tasks: Tasks assigned to all users in the selected definition step.

   • My Current Tasks: Tasks assigned to the logged-in user in the selected definition step.

   • My Tasks: Tasks assigned to the logged-in user in all the definition steps.

   • All Tasks: Tasks assigned to all users in all the definition steps.

   Here are the key fields appearing in Workflow Details.

   • Step Sequence Number: The number assigned to the definition step by your administrator. Note that a parallel workflow consists of multiple rows of the same step sequence number with different tasks.

   • Assigned to: The role or the user ID of the person to whom the task is assigned.

   • Response Required From: Whether the response is required from one or all users in the role.

   • Owner: For tasks in progress, displays the user name of the person who claimed the task.

     For tasks that are complete, displays the user name of the person who completed the task.

     Note: Some of the fields and options appear only if your administrator has opted in for the feature Control Role Expansion: New Item Request Definition.

4. Click the Go to task icon against the task you want to define.

5. If your administrator has assigned the definition step to a role and set the value of Response Required From as One, you must claim such tasks before you define the item.

   • Claim Task: Claim a task assigned to you in the definition step. For example, claim the current task which belongs to step sequence number 10.

   • Claim All Tasks: Click the down arrow next to the Claim Task button and select Claim All Tasks.

     Claim all the tasks assigned to you in the definition step. For example, if you open a task in step sequence number 10, then you can claim all tasks assigned to you in step 10.

6. Define the item by entering attributes or item entities configured by your administrator.

   After you complete the definition task, you must set the task status as Completed and click the Mark Complete button. The application saves your changes and closes when you click Mark Complete.

You can also define the item using the definition notification. Here’s how:

1. Open the definition notification.
2. Expand the item and click the Go to Task icon against the item you want to define.

   To view the recent updates made to the task, click the Refresh icon.

Release Claims

If you have claimed a definition task that requires a response only from one user, you can release the claim so that it can be claimed by another user with the same role.

Click Release Claim, to release the claim from the task you claimed in the definition step.

Click Release All Claims, to release all the claims from the tasks you claimed in the definition step. For example, release all the claims you claimed in step sequence number 10.

How Control Role Expansion Impacts Definition Workflow

Here's what you need to know about the feature Control Role Expansion: New Item Request Definition:

• If only one response is required from an assignee and a role is added as the assignee, the role isn't expanded to show its members. All members of the role receive definition notifications, and you can track the task owner and task status in the workflow details section on the new item request. The Assigned To field in the notification isn't expanded to show all role members.

• If the definition assignee is a role and Response Required From is set to All, the role is expanded to show all its members. It's recommended to limit the number of members in a role to less than 50.

• Notifications will be sent to all the assignees added directly or inherited from the role hierarchy, whether the response is required from all or one.

• The Owner column isn't automatically populated for new item requests created before update 22C. To populate this column, you can run the following Enterprise Scheduler Service job: Upgrade Product Management Data. Note that this is a one-time activity. The Owner column is automatically populated for new item requests created after you opt in to this feature or after update 22C.

Impact on Ongoing Definition Workflows

For pending new item requests that are already in Definition status, here's what you need to know:

• If a task was assigned to a role and Response Required From was set to One, the role is expanded.
• For all the incomplete definition tasks assigned to roles, you can use the Go to Task icon on the notification to continue the definition tasks (on a pending new item request) or you can terminate and restart the definition workflow.