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Editing Requests |
This help file applies to an out-of-date version of MainBoss.
The most recent version of MainBoss is MainBoss 4.2.4.
For the latest version of this help file can be found here.
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You create or modify requests using the request editor. The usual way to open the editor is to click New Request or Edit in the View section of Requests. However, you can also get to this window by clicking Edit Defaults in the Defaults for Requests section of the Requests viewer.
The request editor window contains the following:
Details section: Shows basic information for the record.
Number: A code identifying this work request. No two requests may have the same code.
Subject: A subject line that briefly states the nature of the problem.
Number Format [only appears when editing defaults]: Specifies the format to be used when numbering new requests. The default is WR {0:D8}. This means that the numbering format consists of the letters WR followed by a space and then eight decimal digits.
The 0 before the : is necessary. The number after the D is the minimum number of decimal digits in the resulting number. As an example, suppose you want to include the year in your request numbers. If you set "Number Format" to Req 2007-{0:D6}, you'll get numbers like Req 2007-000001. You can also put text after the closing }; for example, you could write Req {0:D6}-2007 to get numbers like Req 000001-2007.
For more on number formats, see Number Formats.
We recommend that you use enough digits in your numbers to ensure that there is always a leading zero.
Number Sequence [only appears when editing defaults]: Specifies the number to used the next time you create a new request. For example, if you set this to 1000, the next request you create will be given the number 1000.
If you include the year in "Number Format", you should change the format at the beginning of each year and reset "Number Sequence" to 1.
Current: Read-only fields indicating the request's current status.
Effective Date: The date/time that the request entered its current state.
State: Whether the request is New (recently created), In Progress (accepted by the maintenance department), Void (rejected by the maintenance department or otherwise cancelled), or Closed (marked as complete).
Status: A user-defined status code for this request. Typically, a code means that the request requires someone's attention. For more on request statuses, see Request Status Codes.
Estimated Completion Date: A read-only field telling when the job is expected to be completed. This date is taken from information specified when you change the state of the request; for example, when you mark a request as "in progress", you have a chance to specify the estimated completion date. The date shown in this field is taken from the most recent state history change record.
Requestor: The person who submitted the work request (and the person's phone number). You specify this person by referring to (or creating) an entry in the Requestors table. For more about requestors, see Requestors.
Unit: The unit where the work is needed. For more on units, see Units.
Use Access Code from Unit: If this is checkmarked, MainBoss will fill in "Access Code" with the default access code associated with the unit. If this is blank, you can fill in "Access Code" with any available code.
Access Code: An access code indicating any restrictions on access to the unit. For more on access codes, see Access Codes.
Priority: A code indicating the priority of this job. For more on priorities, see Request Priorities.
Requests with explicit priorities are considered more urgent than requests where the priority field is blank. Therefore, if you sort your requests by priority, those with no explicit priority will come last.
Description: A more detailed description of the problem.
Comments: Any additional comments that may be useful to maintenance personnel.
Select for Printing: If this box is checkmarked, the request will be marked Select for Printing. This makes it simpler to print requests after they have been generated. For more on the use of Select for Printing, see Select Print Flags.
Assignments section: Lists people who have been assigned to this request. For more information on assignments, see Assignments.
New Request Assignment: Opens a window where you can assign someone to this request. For more details, see Assigning Someone to a Request.
: This drop-down button offers several possible actions:
Edit: Opens an editor window to let you edit the selected record.
View: Opens an editor window where you can examine the selected record.
View Assignee: Opens a window where you can view the request assignee record associated with the assignment that's currently selected.
: Deletes the selected assignment from the list.
: Lets you search through the list of records for a particular record. For more information, see Searching for a Particular Record. The button has an accompanying drop-down list containing the following:
Find Next: Uses the same search condition(s) as your most recent search and finds the next record in the table that matches the condition(s). If the search reaches the end of the table without finding a matching record, it goes to the start of the table and continues the search.
Find Previous: Same as Find Next except that it goes backward in the table. If the search reaches the start of the table without finding a matching record, it goes to the end of the table and continues the search.
: Updates the list to reflect any recent changes.
Email Request section: If this request originated from an email message, this will list the contents of the message. (Email requests are only possible if you have licensed the MainBoss Service module.)
Receive Date: Date the email was received.
Sender Email Address: Email address that sent the request.
Mail Message: The text of the email message.
Comments: Any comments that the maintenance department might have about the email. (These comments are not sent to the requestor.)
Work Orders section: Lists information about work orders associated with this request. Note that this section has no New button. If you want to associate a new work order with this request, use New Work Order at the bottom of window. If you want to associate an existing work order with the request, use Link Work Orders.
Work Order: Click on this heading to sort the list by work order number. Click again to reverse the order.
Work Order Unit: Click on this heading to sort the list by unit. Click again to reverse the order.
Work Order Subject: Click on this heading to sort the list by subject line. Click again to reverse the order.
: This drop-down button offers several possible actions:
Edit: Opens a window where you can edit the link to the work order. Note that you aren't editing the actual work order, just the information linking this request to the work order.
View: Opens an editor window where you can examine the selected link to a work order.
: Deletes the selected work order from the list. The work order will still exist, but it will no longer be associated with this request.
: Opens a window to search for a particular work order.
: Updates the list to reflect any recent changes.
State History section: Lists the states that this request has been in and the date/times when the request entered each state.
Effective Date: Shows the effective date/time when the request entered the associated state. Effective date can be set manually by clicking the associated Edit button.
State: Shows the states through which the request has passed.
Status: Shows the status codes through which the request has passed.
Comments: Shows any comments associated with each state history record.
: This drop-down button offers several possible actions:
Edit: Opens a window to edit the selected state history record. For more, see Editing Request State History Records.
View: Opens an editor window where you can examine the selected state history record.
: Opens a window to search for a particular record.
: Updates the list to reflect any recent changes.
Close Preferences section [only appears when editing defaults]: Specifies what MainBoss should do in situations where requests are linked with work orders. You can link a request to a work order using the Link Work Orders button. Alternatively, if you create a work order from a request using the New Work Order button, the request is automatically linked to the new work order.
When a request is linked to a work order, changes in the work order's state can affect the request's state. For example, you could tell MainBoss that every time you close a work order, MainBoss should automatically close all the requests linked to that work order.
The Close Preferences section of the Defaults for Requests window lets you control what MainBoss does in such situations.
Requests are automatically changed to a new state when linked to a work order, or when a linked work order state changes: If this checkbox is blank, MainBoss does not change a request's state automatically. No matter what happens to work orders, the state of a request does not change unless you change the state by hand.
If the box is checkmarked, MainBoss will automatically change request states in response to state changes in linked work orders. The table below the checkbox lists when and how the request states will be changed.
Include Work Order History status code and comments in Comments to Requestor: When a work order is closed, and the work order was originally created from a request, MainBoss can send acknowledgment email messages to the original requestor, indicating that the request has been satisfied. (You must have licensed the Web Requests module in order for this to happen.) If you checkmark Include Work Order History status code and comments in Comments to Requestor, the acknowledgment message will include any comments and status codes that were associated with the work order. If you leave the checkbox blank, the acknowledgment message won't include this information.
New Work Order Request Transition: Lets you specify rules for changing request states when a linked work order changes its state. For more information, see Specifying Request State Transitions.
: This drop-down button offers several possible actions:
Edit: Opens a window where you can edit the selected request transition.
View: Opens an editor window where you can examine the selected request transition.
: Deletes the selected request transition from the list.
: Opens a window to search for a particular request transition.
: Updates the list to reflect any recent changes.
Save: Saves the current record. The editor window stays open in case you want to make more changes to the same record.
Save & New: Saves the current record and sets up the window for you to enter a new record. Fields in the new record will be blank or set to default values.
Save & Close: Saves the current record and closes the editor window.
Save & Print: Saves the current record and opens a window for printing this request.
: Opens a window for printing this request.
Save Defaults [only appears when editing defaults]: Saves the current set of default values. The window stays open in case you want to make any more changes.
Close Request: Closes the currently selected work request. Close Request also has the following drop-down choices:
Close Request (With Comment): Closes the selected request, and also opens a window where you can record a comment about what you're doing.
Reopen: Reopens a request that has been closed or voided. MainBoss will also open a window where you may record a comment explaining why you're reopening the request.
In Progress: Marks the request as "in progress".
In Progress (With Comment): Marks the request as "in progress". MainBoss will also open a window where you can record a comment about what you're doing.
Void: Cancels the selected request. MainBoss will also open a window where you can record a comment explaining why you are canceling the request.
As noted above, some of the "state-change" operations open a window where you can record comments about what you're doing. This window also gives you an opportunity to record comments to be sent to the original requestor. If you have the MainBoss Service module, these comments are automatically emailed to the requestor. The comments are also recorded in the request's State History section. For further information, see Editing Request State History Records.
Cancel: Closes the window without saving any changes you've made to the record since the last time you saved. When you Save the record, the Cancel button changes to Close, indicating that you can safely close the window without losing any changes.
Close: Closes the window. This button only appears after you've saved changes with Save or before you've entered any data at all. Otherwise, the button is labeled Cancel.
Link Work Orders: Lets you indicate that this request is associated with an existing work order. This is useful if you get several requests reporting the same problem. The first time someone submits a particular complaint, you can use New Work Order to make a work order to fix the problem. If other people complain about the same thing, you can use Link Work Orders to associate their requests with the work order you've already created. This makes it easier to keep track of which requests are associated with which work orders.
Note that it's also possible for a single request to be associated with multiple work orders. For example, you might create one work order for a short-term work-around fix, and another work order for a more permanent repair. Using Link Work Orders lets you associate the request with both work orders.
A request may be linked to any number of work orders and vice versa. When you click Link Work Orders, you get the window described in Requested Work Orders.
New Work Order: Opens a window that lets you create a work order based on this request. Information from the request will be copied into the new work order; however, this information can be changed if desired. For more on creating and editing work orders, see Editing Work Orders.
New Requestor Comment: Lets you record a comment for the requestor. If you have the MainBoss Service module, this comment will be automatically emailed to the requestor. If not, you will have to convey the comment to the requestor in some other way.
You can click New Requestor Comment on a request as often as you like; each time, MainBoss will give you a chance to record a comment about the request. New Requestor Comment therefore gives you a good way to keep track of problems, delays, and other special situations that arise during the course of a request, and to keep the requestor informed about these situations.
Each requestor comment is recorded in the request's State History section. For more on state histories, see Editing Request State History Records.
For more on requests, see Requests. For more on viewing requests, see Viewing Requests. For more on editors in general, see Using Editors.
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