In this usecase, we want to count how many times a User Request was re-open.
For this will:

1. add a counter field to UserRequest,
2. desactivate history tracking (optional)
3. modify UserRequest lifecycle to call the method during the transition from resolved to assigned
4. modify the presentation to display the counter
5. add a label for the counter field

Prerequisite: You must be a Combodo's customer

• Go to class UserRequest, tab Schema to create a new field
  • Enter reopen_counter as field Code (lower letter only, no blank, dash or other non alphabetical characters),
  • chose Number (Integer) for type,
  • Define a label
  • Deactivate history tracking (optional)

• Go to the tab Lifecycle:
  • Select in the drawing the transition from resolved to assigned
  • In the right panel, click on the button at the bottom of the list of actions.
  • In the dialog box
    • Select the method AddValue,
    • Select “reopen_counter” in the Target field (the newly created counter field)
    • Enter 1 in the Value

• Go to tab Presentation to add the "reopen_counter" to the details of the UserRequest in the Console

Prerequisite: You must be familiar with the Syntax used in Tutorials and have already created an iTop extension.

For readability, we present this 6 steps with 6 different blocks of XML, but in reality, you just need to write one XML structure with all of them.

itop_design

  <classes>
    <class id="UserRequest" _delta="must_exist">
      <fields>
        <field id="reopen_count" xsi:type="AttributeInteger" _delta="define">
          <sql>reopen_count</sql>
          <default_value>0</default_value>
          <is_null_allowed>true</is_null_allowed>
        </field>
      </fields>
    </class>
  </classes>

You may decide that it is useless to record in the history, each time reopen_count counter is changed
Then add <tracking_level>none</tracking_level> to the field definition and it will do the job. This is just an option, you don't have to do it. If you don't define that tag, iTop will track the changes made on that field, as it is the default when omitted.

itop_design / classes / class@UserRequest / fields

        <field id="reopen_count">
          <!-- No tracking level, mean no entry in History log for this field -->
          <tracking_level>none</tracking_level>
        </field>

Let's increment the counter each time the ticket move from resolved to assigned states.

For this we will benefit from an existing method

itop_design / classes / class@UserRequest / lifecycle / states

          <!-- When we are in "resolved" state of UserRequest lifecycle -->
          <state id="resolved">
            <!-- We look at the possible transitions from that state -->
            <transitions>
              <!-- if an "ev_reopen" stimulus is applied -->
              <transition id="ev_reopen">
                <actions _delta="redefine">
                  <!-- Because an action has no id, you must redefine ALL actions for that transition -->
                  <action>
                    <!-- Execute on current object the method with id="AddValue" -->
                    <verb>AddValue</verb>
                    <!-- with the following parameters -->
                    <params>
                      <!-- attribute code of the counter to increment -->
                      <param xsi:type="attcode">reopen_count</param>
                      <!-- also the default value is set in PHP, it must be done again in XML -->
                      <param xsi:type="int">1</param>
                    </params>
                  </action>
                </actions>
              </transition>
            </transitions>
          </state>

If the method that you want to trigger does not exist within the available methods, you can create yours:

class:UserRequest

public function MyLifecycleMethod($sAttCode, $iIncrement=1)
{
   // Defensive programming, ensure that: the field code is valid on current class
   if (MetaModel::IsValidAttCode(get_class($this), $sAttCode)
   // and the increment provided is numeric
   && is_numeric($iIncrement) 
   // and the field code correspond to an Integer type of attribute 
   && (MetaModel::GetAttributeDef(get_class($this),$sAttCode) instanceof AttributeInteger))
   {
       $iNew = $this->Get($sAttCode) + $iIncrement;
       $this->Set($sAttCode, $iNew);
   }
   return true;
}         

Remember that PHP method need to be embedded in a XML structure

Let's add this reopen_count on the UserRequest details page, in the 3rd column and in the SLA report fieldset

In order to be able to write such delta XML, you need to decide

• in which column of the details to display that field: col:col1 / col:col2 / col:col3, if there are columns defined.
• retrieve the fieldset code, if any defined
• guess a rank to use to position a particular field after or before another one, in default datamodel rank have a 10 increment between fields within a common container: fieldset, column or page (?).

itop_design / classes

    <class id="UserRequest" _delta="must_exist">
      <presentation>
        <details>
          <items>
            <item id="col:col3">
              <items>
                <item id="fieldset:Ticket:SLA">
                  <items>
                    <item id="reopen_count" _delta="define">
                      <rank>80</rank>
                    </item>
                  </items>
                </item>
              </items>
            </item>
          </items>
        </details>
      </presentation>
    </class>

itop_design / dictionaries / dictionary@EN US / entries

<entry id="Class:UserRequest/Attribute:reopen_count" _delta="define">Reopening counter</entry>