Displaying the System and User Descriptions in the Activity Log
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Overview
This article provides instructions for changing the Activity Log to display the system generated description.
To understand the value of this customization you must first understand that the Act_Log table has a description field and an action_desc field. The action_desc field is automatically filled by the system. The description field is the field that the user can fill in when initiating an Activity from the Activities Menu. However, if the user does not fill in the description field, the system will automatically fill it in with the same data that it puts in the action_desc field.
The field that is displayed in the Activity Log is the description field. You can see this by clicking on an item in the Activity Log and viewing its details. You will see a User Description and a System Description. This customization will display will continue to display the User Description in the Activity Log, but if the user elects to enter a description and it is different than the System Description, then the System Description will also be displayed.
Example:
A user performs a transfer and enters a description stating Transferred due to lack of resources. By default the Activity Log would display what the user entered and you lose teh ability to see Transfer 'group' from "Group A" to "Group B". This customization will allow you to see both.
Procedures
Step 1. Edit list_alg.htmpl Form
Near the bottom of the file, look for the following two lines: <source lang="html4strict"><pdm_macro name=lsCol attr=description fmtfunc=UnEscapeDesc justify="line" escape=JS2 startrow=yes colspan=4> <pdm_macro name=lsEnd></source> Then place this code between them: <source lang="html4strict"><pdm_macro name=lsWrite text="pdm_if \"@{list.action_desc}\" != \"@{list.description}\""> <pdm_macro name=lsCol attr=action_desc fmtfunc=UnEscapeDesc justify="line" escape=JS2 startrow=yes colspan=4> <pdm_macro name=lsWrite text="/pdm_if"> </source> For r11.x releases it is recommended that you edit your pages via the Web Screen Painter.
Step 2. Clear the web cache
The final step is to clear Service Desk's cache. Publish your changes via the Web Screen Painter. The process of publishing automatically initiates a pdm_webcache.
