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Conditions & Roles

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In this lesson, you will learn:

  • How the Condition field decides when an action shows
  • How to limit an action to certain roles
  • Common condition examples

1 Show it only when it makes sense

An Assign to me button on a closed incident? Or on an incident already assigned to you? That’s confusing. 😕 A condition hides a UI action when it doesn’t make sense.

Key term: UI action condition

A server-side line of script that must be true for the action to appear. If it’s false, the button or link is hidden.

How the condition and roles decide if Assign to me appears. The condition is current.active and current.assigned_to is not the current user, and the Requires role list has itil. On an active incident assigned to Sam, viewed by an itil user, the button shows. On a closed incident, it's hidden because the incident is not active. For a user without itil, it's hidden because of the role.
Figure 1. The button shows only when the condition is true and the user has the role.

2 Writing conditions

Conditions use current (the record) and gs (system helpers). Join checks with && (and) or || (or).

current.active == true && current.assigned_to != gs.getUserID()
Condition Shows the action when…
current.active == true The record is active
current.state == 6 The incident is Resolved
current.isNewRecord() The record isn’t saved yet
gs.hasRole('itil') The user has the itil role
current.canWrite() The user is allowed to edit the record

📝 Note: An empty condition means the action always shows (on the places and records you picked).

3 Limiting by role

  • Requires role: use the UI action’s Requires role related list to add roles. Only users with one of those roles see the action.
  • In the condition: add gs.hasRole('itil'). This is handy when you need role checks mixed with other checks.

⚠️ Heads up: Hiding a button isn’t security. A user could still change the record another way. Protect data with ACLs (Chapter 42), and use conditions to keep the screen tidy.

⭐ Remember: Condition true + right role = action shows. Empty condition = always shows.

4 Let’s try it: hide the button when it’s useless

  1. Open your Assign to me UI action.
  2. Condition: current.active == true && current.assigned_to != gs.getUserID(). Update.
  3. Open an incident assigned to you. Is the button gone? Open one assigned to Sam Lee. Is it back?
  4. In the Requires role related list, add itil. Impersonate a user without itil (Lesson 6.4). Can they see it?

5 Quick recap

  • The Condition must be true for the action to appear
  • Use current and gs in conditions
  • Limit by role with Requires role or gs.hasRole()
  • Hiding a button isn’t security. Use ACLs for that

6 Check yourself

Think of your answer first. Then tap to check.

1 Write a condition that shows an action only for active records. Show answer

current.active == true

2 The Condition field is empty. When does the action show? Show answer

Always (in the places and on the records you picked).

3 Is hiding a Delete button enough to stop people deleting records? Show answer

No. Use ACLs to secure the data.

Nice work! You finished this lesson. 🎉

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