WarningReleaseNotes

Fix Autumn 2020 - Build 2020.2.125.3
(05/10/2021 SaaS - 05/17/2021 On-Premise)

New template: Service Desk With KPIs

This new template is a Service Apps portal for Service Manager. It enables you to contact the Support team via different channels, find out what's new in the IT Department and consult key performance indicators, such as incidents for the current month and week, or late incidents.

It is shipped in a multilingual Desktop version. The six main languages managed by Service Manager are supported in the standard version.

• The embedded version is used to integrate the template fully in the Service Manager Home page.
           

• Click the  icon to display the trend chart.
           

Fix Autumn 2020 - Build 2020.2.124.2
(02/08/2021 SaaS - 02/15/2021 On-Premise)

Service Apps templates: Optimization for the Service Manager Home page

You can now implement Service Apps templates optimally in the Service Manager Home page without displaying the menu bar and header of the template. 

To this end, two versions are now available for the template main page.
        

• An embedded version for integrating the entire template in the Service Manager Home page.
           
   

• A standard version for standard use via a standalone Service Apps app.
           
   

Limitations

• Change Management and Mobile Tech Support templates in the Micro Apps category do not support this optimization.
• Templates in the Portals category do not support this optimization because they are designed for use in Service Manager.
• Users must have the appropriate access rights to the app to be defined as the Service Manager Home page.
   

Operating principle

1. Click  at the bottom of the menu pane to open the menu editor.

2. Click the menu item, Home.

3. Select the app to be displayed in the Home page and select the 0_Home_Embedded page in the optimized template version for Service Manager.

4. Click Update Home.

Email notifications sent to Support persons assigned to a ticket

You can enable or disable automatic email notifications sent to Support persons assigned to a ticket in a Service Apps app using a new parameter called {ADMIN} [EVSA] Notify Support Person. To do this, you should select Administration > Parameters > Other Parameters in the Service Manager menu. 

Improvements to the core: Lighter-weight apps

The pages in an app are now saved page by page instead of being saved together with their child pages. 

Previously, a given child page that was called in several parent pages in the app would be saved as many times as it was called. This increased the size of the app considerably.

This improvement has resulted in the following:

• Reduced the weight of apps
• Improved app loading time
• Reduced the space required on the server
   

Before optimization	After optimization

Limitations

• This fix is applicable to Service Manager version 2020.2.124.2 or later.
• In the standard version, it is applied to all templates available in the Service Apps App Gallery.
• For applications created before this fix, this improvement can be applied retroactively. However, you must manually save all of the pages in the app, one at a time.
   

How to apply the fix manually

1. Open your app in edit mode.

2. Display each page of the app and save it again.

Autumn 2020 - Build 2020.2.122.2
(09/28/2020 SaaS - 10/05/2020 On-Premise)

Service Apps templates

New template library available in the App Gallery

A template library has now been added to the Service Apps App Gallery. It enables you to create a new app directly from a template available in the App Gallery by installing the corresponding executable automatically. The key advantage is that the latest version of the executable is always installed.

Note: 

• Just like in previous versions, you should download the reports for data from the wiki and then import them to Service Apps.
• In the App Gallery, you can still create a new app with no content, just like in previous versions.

Operating principle

1. Click Create App in the toolbar. The template library will appear.

2. Select the template you want. Click the relevant link to download reports available in the wiki. Next, click Create This App.

• (1) Search field for filtering templates based on their name.
• (2) List of templates available in the library. The selected template will be highlighted in blue.
• (3) Preview of the template.
  • The date of the latest template version will appear.
  • The Information tab displays a short description of the template and provides access to the wiki where you can download reports.
  • The ChangeLog tab displays the new main functionalities of the template.
    
             

• (4) Creation of the app using the selected template.

New template: Health Status

This new template provides a quick overview of the health status of services, such as the real-time availability of CIs. It is also used to define and manage your custom health service and to report any service disruption.

It is shipped in a unique version that is:

• Responsive: Automatic scaling of the app based on the device used, e.g. workstation, smartphone, tablet, etc.
• Multilingual: The six main languages managed by Service Manager are supported in the standard version.

New template: Service Desk Homepage

This new template is a Service Apps portal for Service Manager. It enables you to contact the Support team through different channels, access online documentation and forums, and stay up-to-date on developments in the IT Department.

It is shipped in a version compatible with workstations and is multilingual. The six main languages managed by Service Manager are supported in the standard version.

What's new in templates

Templates have been revamped in order to integrate the latest Service Apps functionalities.

• For all templates
  • Multiple languages supported
  • Improved integration of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
  • Integrated Page Display pack containing the Embedded Page and Sidebar widgets, as well as the Header Page, Footer Page and Background Page functionalities

• Advanced ITSM Dashboard
  • The template is now called ITSM.
  • All dashboards are now merged within the app
  • Integrated Responsive Web Design
  • CSS variables integrated with the addition of the __Root widget

• Approval
  • The template is now called Approval Manager.
  • Integrated Responsive Web Design
  • CSS variables integrated with the addition of the __Root widget

• Change Management
  • Integrated Responsive Web Design
  • CSS variables integrated with the addition of the __Root widget for quick configuration of the app's graphic properties

• Contract Management
  • Integrated Responsive Web Design
  • CSS variables integrated with the addition of the __Root widget

• Executive Dashboard
  • Integrated Responsive Web Design
  • CSS variables integrated with the addition of the __Root widget
  • Integrated Google Maps widget

• Mobile Tech Support
  • The template is now called Mobile Tech Support.
  • Integrated Google Maps widget

• Stock Manager
  • The template is now called Available Inventory.

Multilingual display of Service Apps apps

You can now display a Service Apps app in the six main languages supported by Service Manager and in six other languages without having to duplicate the app for each language. The supported languages are English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, German and Italian. The change in languages is automatically performed and does not require users to log out and log in again.

• Text in the app is listed in a CSV file that is encoded in UTF-8 to avoid any conflict with accents and special characters. Information is called using keywords whose content is defined in each of the languages supported by the app.

• All data from Service Manager will be displayed in the language of the user profile defined in Service Manager.
• The other languages must be configured in advance in Service Manager.
   

The key advantage in terms of creation and maintenance is that this saves time. Only one app is created and multilingual maintenance is performed directly in a single file in the Service Apps interface. No file export or import is required.

Operating principle

1. Click the new menu item called Translation in the Objects pane and select your multilingual CSV file.

Note: All templates available in the Service Apps App Gallery contain a multilingual file listing all app keywords.

2. Click Edit Translation to display the contents of the file.

• The structure of the file is always the same.
  • Column 1: List of keywords
  • Other columns: Labels in each of the languages supported by the app. The six main languages are followed by the 6 other languages.

• You can add, modify or delete a row. You can also export the file. You can also run a search in the file using labels and keywords.

3. Configure the widgets in your app so that labels are displayed based on the keywords listed in the multilingual file. You can add a multilingual keyword in any data entry field in a widget.

• You can do this using the Translation Tags Picker. This enables you to enter a keyword in a descriptive zone such as the name of a page, the title of a chart, the text displayed by default in the search area (Search Placeholder), etc.
  The #[TRANSLATION.<keyword> instruction used to call the keyword will automatically be added.

• You can do this using a new advanced tag Translation Tag. This enables you to enter a keyword in a HTML zone.
  The #[TRANSLATION.<keyword> instruction used to call the keyword will automatically be added.

• Note: You can also do this manually by adding the #[TRANSLATION.<keyword>]# instruction directly in the widget's descriptive zone or in the widget's HTML code and by replacing <keyword> with the label of the keyword to be called.

New graphic widgets

Treemap Chart

 This new widget displays hierarchical data in rectangles. The size and color of the rectangles are proportionate to the value represented.

• The widget requires a data source that will retrieve a report, view or CSV file with two columns (grouping levels), i.e. Label and Value.

• You can select the color of the rectangles using a color palette.

• When the cursor hovers over a rectangle, details on the value will appear.

Pyramid Chart

 This new widget displays hierarchical data in pyramids comprising horizontal sections. The height and color of the horizontal sections are proportionate to the value represented.

• The widget requires a data source that will retrieve a report, view or CSV file with two columns (grouping levels), i.e. Label and Value.

• You can specify different properties to define the visual appearance of the pyramid, i.e. direction, color, space between horizontal sections, width of the base, border color of the horizontal sections and behavior on hover.

• When the cursor hovers over a horizontal section, details on the value will appear.

Link between Self Help and Service Bots

API key in Self Help/Service Bots connectors

An app can connect to Self Help to search for information in a Knowledge Base. Authentication of Self Help users now requires an API key. This must be specified when the Self Help/Service Bots connector is created.

Link between Service Manager and Self Help via a contextual app

A Service Apps app can now be linked in Service Manager to search for information in a Self Help Knowledge Base. The contextual app is specific to the current record in Service Manager and is based on its exposed properties linked to fields in the form.

Note: This new functionality requires a Self Help license. You must also define an API key linked to the Self Help connector.

Operating principle

Configuration in Service Apps

1. Display the general properties of the app. To do this, click  in the toolbar.

2. Add the Search Value exposed property of the Self Help datasource.

Configuration in Service Manager

1. Switch to edit mode in a form. To do this, click  > Edit in the toolbar. Add the contextual app you previously configured in the list of Service Manager contextual apps.

2. Map the Search Value exposed property defined in the app in Service Apps with the search field in Service Manager.

Note: The exposed property can be used directly in the URL to filter information.
         

New virtual agent template library

To optimize interoperability between Service Apps and Service Bots, the virtual agent configuration interface has been enhanced.

A new button called Configure Virtual Agent Layout has been added to the Panel section in the Virtual Agent widget. It is used to select a virtual agent template in a library and to configure its visual appearance in greater detail.

What's new in the Virtual Agent widget

A new option called Open Automatically has been added to the Content section of the Virtual Agent widget. It is used to open the virtual agent automatically when it is called.

Note: The automatic opening of the conversation panel does not have any impact on the graphic editor. It is done only in execute mode.

Web content accessibility

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) aim at making Web content more usable to users in general, and making it more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities.

Service Apps constantly updates its functionalities to integrate these recommendations.

Unique ID in pages

Each widget created in an app now contains unique IDs content and main-content.

Discussion widget

You can now use the keyboard to browse through elements displayed in red.

Filter widget

You can now use the keyboard to browse through the list of filters and select items from the list.

Google Maps widget

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are now applicable to the Google Maps widget.

Service Bots widget

You can now use the keyboard to select the button that calls the virtual agent.

Notifications

Notification messages will now close automatically.

Navigation in pop-ups

You can now use the keyboard to browse within pop-ups.

Navigation in documents

You can now use the keyboard to browse through the list of documents.

What's new in the core

Internet Explorer deprecated

You can no longer run Service Apps apps in Internet Explorer. From the Autumn 2020 version onwards, there will no longer be any maintenance for Internet Explorer components.

Display of page names in the Web browser

You can now use a new functionality to customize the page name displayed after the app name in the Web browser tab title. This functionality is an added accessibility feature aiming to facilitate screen reading in the current page.

You can specify the page name, which appears in execute mode, in the properties of each page in the app. This is done in a new section called Run Page.
Note: If you do not specify this information, the tab title will display the page name in edit mode. By default, it is Page...