For Item ribbon tab configuration of Config Item view buttons, you have the option of either having the button reference 

  • A specific version of the Config Item, or 
  • Always reference the latest version of the Config Item


Which you prefer will depend on your use case. This article describes how to set the configItem attribute for these two options.


Prerequisites


Referencing a Specific Version

To have the button reference a specific version of the Config Item, use the xID for configItem


Note: Keep in mind that if you use the xID and do decide to change the button to point to a different or later version, you will need to manually change the xID in the Item ribbon tab configuration.


In this example, a MergeButton includes two graph Config Item views and they both point to a specific version of a graph. There is also a report Config Item view that points to a specific version of a report.



Referencing the Latest Version

To have a Config Item view button always reference the latest version of the Config Item, use the Ref Id for configItem. The Ref Id is a combination of the name (Id) of a Config Item and the SID of the Configured Type (i.e., the item type for which the Config Item is configured). The Item ribbon tab configuration does not need to be updated manually should a new version of a Config Item be made. Also, when using the Ref id instead of the xID, the configuration will not need to be updated should it be imported into another database.


Note: If the Id (name) of the Config Item is changed, the Item ribbon tab configuration would need to be updated.


Creating a Ref Id

Open the Config Item and navigate to the Description tab. 

Enter a name for the Config item in the Id field. Then, click Validate and Save



The Id will now be added to the Ref Id which already contains the SID of the Configured Type. In this example, a chart is configured for items of type JTSP. The chart has been given an id value of "C1-2020". The resulting Ref id is "JTSP:C1-2020" and can be used in Config Item View button configuration. When a new version of the chart is made, this Ref id value remains constant (unless, of course, the Id is manually changed to another value). 



Use the resulting Ref Id in Item ribbon tab configuration.



In the above XML snippet, the ItemViews in the MergeButton use the Ref id and will always point to the latest version of the two Config item charts.