Extended IDs

Most systems include many different types of process: Problems, Changes, Requests, and so on – and they often appear in the same lists. Extended IDs for all of these items are provided, which you can then use in your queries to help to identify the different types of items in the lists.

These extended IDs include an additional identifier ahead of the standard ID, and are also applied to tasks. For example, by default, Incident 67 becomes I:67, and the third Task on Request 876 becomes R:876 – T3.

The complete set of templates for extended IDs that are provided is:

Process Object

Template

Task Template

Incident

I:{id}

I:{Incident/Id} - T:{SerialNumber}

Request

R:{Id}

R:{Request/Id} - T:{SerialNumber}

Change

C:{Id}

C:{Change/Id} - T:{SerialNumber}

Call

CL:{Id}

CL:{Call/Id} - T:{SerialNumber}

Problem

P:{Id}

P:{Problem/Id} - T:{SerialNumber}

Article

KB:{Id}

KB:{Article/Id} - T:{SerialNumber}

(HR) Activity

HR:{Id}

HR:{Activity/Id} - T:{SerialNumber}

Asset Activity

AS:{Id}

AS:{AssetActivity/Id} - T:{SerialNumber}

Contract Activity

CT:{Id}

CT:{ContractActivity/Id} - T:{SerialNumber}

Audit

AT:{Id}

AT:{Audit/Id} - T:{SerialNumber}

You can specify an extended ID template for any additional modules you have added, or for any additional modules you add in the future, and you can also change the templates that have been implemented. However, in these cases, existing records are not updated with your new template – only new records will use the new template.

Adding or editing extended IDs

All process and task objects have a property called Extended Id Template Text that enables you to specify a template for the extended ID. This template is used in conjunction with the automatically generated process reference number or task serial number to create a unique extended ID, which is stored in the Extended Id attribute. You can then use this Extended Id attribute on your queries.

We recommend also using the ID or Reference Number attribute on your query definitions in addition to the Extended Id attribute. You can then sort by the ID or Reference Number attribute, but not show it on the results list.

To edit an extended ID for a process or task object:
  1. In Object Designer, open the required process or task object.
  2. Select the object name at the top of the Attributes tree.
  3. Type the required Extended Id Template Text, including any place holders in {brackets}, then save the changes.