Hi all,

My turn to ask a question now.... Im dumbfounded as to why this is happening and wonder if anyone can spot what I am doing wrong.

I've authored a Management Pack that adds the Support Group field to the Manual Activity class and I've edited the form to show this new field and remove some white space.
The new form looks like this: 


I've then extended the Manual Activity class to include the Incident Tier Queue list and have used the binding of the new form picker to the Support Group class extension.

However,
When I load the MP (All Successful return codes) I get the extension but not any edits to the form.
The new tab appears with the new class value. 

But the form customizations just dont appear.

There are no errors when I seal the MP and it imports without an issue.
I've even created a new MP that just has some basic form changes for the manual activity form (resize of existing controls) and they dont show up either.  

I'm stumped..

&n

You probably need to restart the console :D

What happens is that the form is cached locally when opened. Changes to the form will therefore not show before the console is rest

Hi again,

I put my results here. For the future, please avoid using unsealed MP for a class extension. It has to be sealed to let other MPs reference it. Before using my MPs, please remove your MP, then import ManualActivity.SupportGroup.mp, and then TechNet.SCUtils.managementpack.xml. All sources are there. Good luck :)

Alas, even after a server reboot it does not work.

I've even tried it on a totally different SCSM environment to see if it was my lab environment that was screwed up but no luck there either.

Does anyone know of any trick that stops edits to the Manual Activity form?

Hi,

It's clear that you has successfully extended the class. Unfortunately it's almost impossible to figure out what happened with your form without your form. Can you upload your MPs somewhere like SkyDrive and put here the link?

Very true.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=45114B7EAD8D54B5!20093&authkey=!ALiTtUr7Zp-RO7s&ithint=file%2cxml

This MP was created with the Authoring Toolkit so has all the usual mess in there that is not needed, but I've left it in there.

I'm very interested in why the normal basic form editing techniques that I have used on many other forms in the past, just do not work on Manual Activities....  Really odd.

I agree. The Unsealed MP that I have in the link is just for others to see if they can work out my mistake. When I put it in to my environment it is a sealed MP.

As for your MP, after importing the ManualActivity.SupportGroup.mp I see the Support Group appear on the extension tab:

But after importing the Technet.SCUtils.managementpack.xml there is no form change to the manual activity.

This is exactly the same result that I am seeing when I use my management pack.

Just to prove it was not a silly mistake, I've even tried creating a MP that just changes the size of one of the controls or changes the color of the title, but none of them ever show.

Marat, When you import your 2 MP's do you get the form to show on manual activities?

Well, It seems that something wrong with your SCSM lab. My MPs work pretty nice in my lab:

I have tried my MP on more than one SCSM environment with the same result.

Could there be a difference in between our two environments?

Your MP references v7.5.2905.0 of Management Packs (SCSM 2012 SP1) and my MP references v7.5.3079.0 (SCSM 2012 R2)

Do you have an R2 environment to test on?

That screenshots were from SCSM R2. I created the MPs in SCSM 2012 SP1 AT just because the tool was installed there.

This is very strange then.

Neither your MP (Which we know works in your environment) or my Management Pack (Which I have no idea if it works anywhere) do not show the form edits in both my environment and in my customers environment.

There are no errors showing up on either the import of the MP or in the event log.

I've tried creating the MP on two different PC's and sealing it with 2 different keys.

I am totally out of ideas.....

As a last ditch effort to get my head around this I thought I'd try to at least hide the Extensions tab for the custom Manual Activity form that I have created.

After doing the usual edits to the XML (http://marcelzehner.ch/2011/07/26/remove-the-extensions-tab-on-the-incident-form/) I sealed the MP and imported it.

When I load the Manual Activity form, not only is the Support Group list picker control still missing but the Extensions tab is still visible.

This is telling me that the custom form I am trying to load is just being ignored.

What would cause a custom form MP to be ignored?

What happens when there are 2 MP's that both create custom forms with the same base form? Which one wins?

The system shouldn'd allow to import the second MP with customization for the same form. If the first customization MP is sealed you have to target the second customization to the custom form instead of the original one. If the first customization is not sealed, you have to edit the first customization MP.

Thanks Marat.

I confirmed that by trying to import two different MP's with customisations to the Manual Activity base form and the import process will not allow me to import the second one, so I know it must not be that causing the issue.

Why the SCSM environments I am working in are not recognising the custom forms is still a mystery.

In an attempt to see if it is an issue with my form, I created a new one with basic changes and (after cleaning out all others) imported it.
The dbo.Form table in the database shows the custom form and it's edits.

And as you can see from the result below, there is the default form and the custom form that I have based on the base form.

FormId	ManagementPackId	FormName	FormAccessibility	FormTarget	FormConfiguration	FormAssembly	BaseForm	FormTypeName	TimeAdded	LastModified
0A0F845D-7A5C-5371-D567-44BD2C847D95	D7005B5D-1A68-0B59-DBBF-14D44E026516	AAAAAAMA.Form	0	86B91B1A-E295-4F3B-F6E3-F22580BD5611	<Category>Form</Category>	5DB0D44D-F54A-61FF-A30F-3E712223DD11	NULL	PreviewForms.ManualActivityPreviewForm	49:48.4	49:48.4
04EFD15B-0CF8-B87B-74A6-9FCC01DA399E	E1C49C63-6E43-C066-8192-2941312F7022	CustomForm_46e2f2b0_06ee_47f2_9a5c_adef96fa6e4d	0	713F059F-40FD-44E5-C25A-8EC70954A495	<Category>Form</Category><Customization><PropertyChange Object="ActivityDescription" Property="MinHeight"><NewValue>100</NewValue></PropertyChange><PropertyChange Object="StackPanel25" Property="Margin"><NewValue>10,5,0,0</NewValue></PropertyChange></Customization>	NULL	77F0146D-C387-47ED-636B-C529EAAACC29	Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm	36:42.5	36:42.5
77F0146D-C387-47ED-636B-C529EAAACC29	7B8D32DB-BDB4-CABF-B947-C013C0E00BAA	Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm	0	D651BF4A-9F5D-0374-3E91-EB91111865C3	<Category> Form </Category><FormStrings><FormString ID="Label_ActivityType">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Label_ActivityType"]$</FormString><FormString ID="Label_ActivityCreated">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Label_ActivityCreated"]$</FormString><FormString ID="Label_ActivityParentWorkItem">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Label_ActivityParentWorkItem"]$</FormString><FormString ID="Label_ActivityImplementer">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Label_ActivityImplementer"]$</FormString><FormString ID="Label_ImpactedConfigurationItems">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Label_ImpactedConfigurationItems"]$</FormString><FormString ID="TabItem_General">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.TabItem_General"]$</FormString><FormString ID="TabItem_History">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.TabItem_History"]$</FormString><FormString ID="Button_Open">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Button_Open"]$</FormString><FormString ID="Button_Add">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Button_Add"]$</FormString><FormString ID="Button_Delete">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Button_Delete"]$</FormString><FormString ID="GridViewColumn_Type">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_Type"]$</FormString><FormString ID="GridViewColumn_ID">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_ID"]$</FormString><FormString ID="GridViewColumn_Name">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_Name"]$</FormString><FormString ID="GridViewColumn_Status">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_Status"]$</FormString><FormString ID="GridViewColumn_Owner">$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_Owner"]$</FormString></FormStrings>	45B568D6-C468-3352-E5AD-232AEC8558A2	NULL	Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm	00:16.3	33:51.9

The only thing that looks slightly odd is the fact that in the Category of the base form, there are lots of spaces in front of and after the Form text.
When this is copied out and pasted in to an editor two of the characters are Carriage Returns.

<style type="text/css">.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:8px;padding:8px 5px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;overflow:hidden;word-break:normal;} .tg th{font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-weight:normal;padding:10px 5px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;overflow:hidden;word-break:normal;} </style>

When I then run an SMTrace while creating a template from this form I get these results:

GetForm called with params: id = 77f0146d-c387-47ed-636b-c529eaaacc29
Scanning method - GetAutoIncrementRange.\n
Checking for uber admin.\n
Scanning method - IsUserAdministrator.\n
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Label_ActivityType"]$
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Label_ActivityCreated"]$
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Label_ActivityParentWorkItem"]$
Checking access within scope - 597f9d98-356f-4186-8712-4f020f2d98b4.\n
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Label_ActivityImplementer"]$
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Label_ImpactedConfigurationItems"]$
Checking access within scope - 0f9d808c-3bb2-446c-8c73-aa9a583b546b.\n
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.TabItem_General"]$
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.TabItem_History"]$
Checking access within scope - 9a98e4f8-21ca-4cd8-a0b2-bf0e815e48c7.\n
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Button_Open"]$
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Button_Add"]$
Checking access within scope - e042002a-a844-49b1-a6f1-0343dfc94c66.\n
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.Button_Delete"]$
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_Type"]$
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_ID"]$
Checking access within scope - 615ed4a6-42ed-4cb1-9674-41ef6951e521.\n
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_Name"]$
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_Status"]$
Checking access within scope - 7ec18f11-6d26-4744-b856-f245835f67b0.\n
Input string: $MPElement[Name="Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_Owner"]$
Checking access within scope - f9917c1a-d272-4cf0-ad5d-529e9fb93303.\n
Checking access within scope - a6921721-b189-47b0-95cc-538a6f3f613a.\n
Access granted for method:operation:instance - IsUserAdministrator : User_IsAdministrator__Check : t.EnterpriseManagement.ServiceManager.ActivityManagement.Forms.ManualActivityForm.GridViewColumn_Owner"]$.\n
Access granted for method:operation:instance - GetAutoIncrementRange : Object__Get : trator__Check.\n
Query definition name = GetAutoIncrementRange, command text = dbo.p_GetAutoIncrementValueRange\n

So from this trace I can see that the console is calling the form, but it is calling the base form not the customized form.....

(sigh)

Can you include the forms target class? Because that is the only explanation I can think of. I sometimes think I extended a class, but then I realize later that I didn't.

Brett,

it seems to be some mess with management packs. It's especially strange that you had the same story in two SCSM envs. I think that Operations Manager log on the management server has to have some red alerts after any update for the management packs with some explanation.

Brett - Do you have any 3rd party apps installed in your environments? Especially apps that change/extend preview forms for Manual Activities like the Cireson Preview Pane app? Or did you extend preview forms for Manual Activity class by yourself?

The same happened to me when I had custom preview forms installed. It seems that somehow if the first form found for a class is an overview form, it is not correctly skipped and the default (uncustomized) OOB form is loaded instead of your own customized form. Removing customized preview pane did it for me.

Hope this helps!

Hi Stefan,

This is exactly what I was testing when you posted this!  :)

I built a clean SCSM environment and my Management Pack worked. Then I was in the process of adding each Cireson MP one at a time to see if it broke.

You have allowed me to short cut this and go straight to the MP in question and BINGO!

The Cireson Preview Form for Manual activity stops the customisation of the manual form.
Removing this one MP has fixed the issue and the form can now be modified.

I will get in touch with Cireson and report it as a bug as the other forms are not impacted by their preview forms.

Thanks everyone for your time and effort on this one.

Brett