Finding Solutions

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In the Self Service Center you can use the Browse Solutions option or the search field to find a solution to resolve an issue.

Access to solutions is determined by your security group.

When you click a solution, a window opens that displays details about the solution and related attachments, such as documents or Web pages.

If you do not find a solution to your issue, you can create a service request. You can also rate the solution.

Clicking Browse Solutions lets you browse through existing solutions based on search categories.

You can also enter text in the search field to find a solution. Solutions that match the characters that you enter are displayed. For example, if you type keyb and click on search, results that include the word keyboard are displayed. At any time you can click a solution in the list to open and view it.

After viewing solution details in the View Solution window such as Number of times applied, Symptom, Cause, etc, you have several options in the bottom of View Solution window. Click one of the following buttons next to the text, Did this solution help you resolve your issue?
  • Yes — The solution gave you the information you needed and the system closes the View Solution window. The count for the Number of times applied will increase by 1 and the system creates a new service request with status as RESOLVED.
  • No - Create a Service Request — You were not able to find a solution to your issue. The system closes the View Solution window and opens Report an Issue window. You can fill details in the Report an Issue window and click Submit Now to creates a new service request with status as New.
  • No - Return to Solution Search — This solution did not give you the information you needed but you would like to search again. The system closes the View Solution window and the Browse Solutions page is displayed again.
  • Alternatively, you can use the Service Request Manager Search to find solutions.
Note: Do the following configuration so that the field Number of times applied in the View Solution window function correctly:
  • Log in to IBM Control Desk classic GUI, do a check and make sure that PmSolutionCron and PmObjSearchCron cron tasks are active.
  • Log in to IBM Control Desk classic GUI, do a check and make sure that the persistent field NUMTIMESAPPLIEDSS is included in the object structure CDUISRMSOLUTION. Refer Excluding persistent fields from the object structure on how to include/exclude the persistent fields from the object structure.

Solution search results are listed in order based on how often they are applied by Self Service users and their rating. Only solutions that have the Self Service Access option enabled in the Solutions application are displayed.

The Self Service Center uses the Lucene search engine, which searches the following attributes of all Solutions, Offerings, and Quick Inserts:
Table 1. Attributes used in searching for solutions
Object Attributes searched
Solutions The following attributes are used for solutions:
  • Description
  • Long Description
  • Classification
  • Symptom
  • Cause
  • Resolution
  • Type
  • Keywords
  • Solution ID
  • Class
  • CI
  • Asset Number
Offerings The following attributes are used for offerings:
  • Description
  • Long Description
  • Commodity
  • Commodity Group
  • Keywords
  • Offering ID
Quick Inserts The Description attribute is searched for quick inserts.

Lucene search tips

The following table provides information about Lucene search syntax.
Table 2. Lucene search tips
Type of search Example
Single term To search for a single term, enter a single word such as test or hello.
Phrase To search for a phrase, enter a group of words surrounded by double quotes, such as "test for".
Wildcards You can use the following wildcards:
  • ? wildcard

    To search for a single character in a string, use the question mark ? wildcard. For example, entering c?ll returns results with cell and call.

  • * wildcard

    To search for multiple characters in a string, use the asterisk * wildcard. For example, entering micro* returns results with microbe and microscope.

Note: By default, use of a wildcard at the beginning of a search is disabled in Lucene searches because of performance consequences.
Word stemming To search for matches to a stem or root form, enter the stem. For example, entering custom returns customized, customizing, customs, and customer.