Only an Administrator (a permission admin or super user) can add an extended field.
    If you are the administrator, follow the given steps to add a field.
1. Once you login as administrator, click on the “Administration” link on the top   right corner of the main page (search page). 
 
2. Enter the BA user module. Click on the Fields tab which is second from left in the same line as BA user tab.
 
3. You will have the Fields page in before you. Just below the Fields tab, you may see the link “Add extended field.”    Click this link.
 
4. A window opens after doing this.  It contains two labels: Fields and Type.        
A. Field: It has a blank space on the right where you need to enter the name of the field you want to create. 
B. Type:  It has a dropdown box besides it.  This, by default, has the field type as bit.  The Field type signifies which kind of data is to be entered under the field name created.
 
For example.  If you are creating a field called Birth date, its type is usually date.
                       If you are creating a field called Name, its type is text.                     
# Refer the administrator manual for detail of all the types shown here.

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This happens when you leave a space before or after the name of field. This can only be fixed by modifying the values in the database. Check the 'fields' table in the database and modify the value.

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Please check if you are getting an error that says "Cannot run indexer because indexer.lock exists". The indexer creates this file to avoid multiple threads doing indexing, and if the Indexer is killed midway (System shuts down abruptly), this file still remains there. Therefore, the best way is to manually delete this file.

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This generally occurs when your 'Microsoft Outlook' uses the 'Microsoft Word' to edit the message.

Please follow these steps to avoid this problem.

1. In Microsoft outlook, go to Tools -> Options and select the 'Mail Format' Tab
2. Now, uncheck both 'Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages' and 'Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to read Rich Text e-mail messages' if checked.
3. It should look like the screenshot.
   
   

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Inline User Commands (IUCs) are a very easy way to set or change various fields in a request without using the web interface. These are designed to assist the email interface to map all the fields to the fields available in the web interface.

Acceptable values vary with the kind of field which is to be updated. For fields which take a single value, the value must have the notation:

/descriptor:value

For a field which can accept more than one value, the value can be absolute or relative, as defined in the following table:

For absolute notation, specify a slash and one of the descriptors, followed by a colon (:), an equal sign (=), and/or white space, and then a value. If there are multiple values, separate them with a comma, a semicolon, or white space. For example:

/category:purchasing
 /status closed
/Assigned To = jones bart

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There are two sets of keyboard shortcuts.

a. On the search View

KEY	Action
CTRL+1	Switches to TQL Mode: A special mode which is only for  advanced users
CTRL + 2	Switches to ‘Simple Search Interface’
CTRL + 3	Switches to ‘Advanced Search’
CTRL + 4	Switches to ‘All Domain Search’
CTRL + 5	Switches to ‘My Requests’

b. On the individual Request details Page

KEY	Action
CTRL+ALT+O	Opens Options/Settings
CTRL+ALT+A	Opens Add Request Form
CTRL+ALT+Left Arrow	Go to previous request
CTRL+ALT+Right Arrow	Go to next request
CTRL+ALT+U	Toggle the update mode.
CTRL+ALT+H	Help
CTRL+ALT+M	My Requests
CTRL+ALT+X	Expand/Collapse
CTRL+ALT+Y	Toggle Highlighting
CTRL+ALT+R	Takes the focus to the request text box located at the top of the page.

c. On the Update Page

Key	Action
CTRL+ENTER	Submits the action

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‘tBits’ allows you to update and raise new requests through MS Outlook. You should, however, know the email id of the domain to which you are sending the request.
One can set the following fields using the email interface:

1. Subject: The subject of the mail message becomes the subject of the request.
2. Body: The body of the message becomes the body of the request.
3. Severity: The default severity is medium. The severity can be increased using the exclamation point icon

   in Outlook. The severity can be decreased using the down arrow icon

   in Outlook. The exact mapping of these Outlook settings to tBits severities is configurable in each Domain, so the high severity icon might map to High in one Domain and Critical in another. You can also set the severity via IUCs.

4. Subscribers: Any user added in the To: field of a new request submitted by email becomes a subscriber to that request; a user in the CC: field receives that message only, and not subsequent replies. On replies to a request, however, no subscribers are added from the To: or the CC: fields of the email. If you specify other users on a reply, they receive only that mail message.

      5.  Note: To avoid sending duplicate email, use the IUC /sub or            /cc in the body of the message rather than using the To: or               CC: field in email.

6. Attached files: Any files attached to the email message are attached to the request as well.

You can set or update other fields via the web interface. Alternatively, you can set them within the description text or via email using IUCs.

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1. Select a field name; depending on the values supported for that field. 2. For list type fields like the Category or Severity, you can select Including or Excluding 3. Select one or more values to include or exclude in the search. However, if you select All, no query is added, as Including All is equivalent to not specifying the field. 4. For fields which take an email ID, such as the Subscriber and Submitted By fields, you can select Including or Excluding. You can enter the email ID; auto complete is enabled for this. 5. For fields with a boolean value like Private or Notify by email, select True or False. 6. For fields which take a date like Logged Date or Due Date, select an indicator for the way you would like to specify the time. • If you select On, Before, or After, select a date with the date browser. • You can select a specific day like Today, Yesterday, or Tomorrow. • You can select a date range like Last week or Next year. • You can select a date range like Last 'n' months or Next 'n' hours. You will be prompted for a value for n; use that to specify how many hours (or days, weeks, months or years). 7. You can specify a text field like Subject. Select the type of match you would like: Exact phrase, All the words, Any of the words, None of the words. Enter the text to search for in the text box. 8. You can specify that a field has a value by selecting: is not empty, or that a value has not been specified by selecting is empty. 9. If you have to search for any member of a mailing list in your search, select Including members of. To exclude them, select Excluding members of. This selection exhaustively expands any nested mailing lists to include the actual members in the search. If you want to search for specification of the mailing list itself, then select Including. 10. When you have specified the search criteria for a field, click ‘Add to query’; the resulting query is displayed in the query text box. You can build up a query by repeating this process as often as you like. You can also type directly in the query text box, or you can use the provided logical and grouping buttons to your command: And, Or, Not, (, ). When your query is complete, click Search to conduct the specified search.

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Search is the default search level. It provides the ability to search by the standard fields for all Domains, as well as by the person who last updated the request. First specify the Domain, as the fields are cleared on changing Domains You can execute search request in one of the following ways: By specifying the search string: 1. Specify a search string which applies to the parts of the request specified. 2. Specify the location from where you want to search the request from the pull-down menu to the right of the search string For example, you can specify the subject, the summary, or all text 3. All words are "and"ed together; that is, all the words specified must be present in the text for search to select a request. 4. You can select values for any of the request fields as well. The various data you provide for the request fields are also "and"ed; that is, all must be present for search to select a request. 5. You can search for any character within the subject of a request, but within the description of a request, only for alphanumeric characters. By specifying the request number # Every request has a unique request number. If this is specified, a single request is displayed and other search fields are ignored. 1. Enter a number in the Request field. 2. If you know the Domain prefix and the request number, you can specify the Domain prefix, then #, then a request number to display the request without selecting the Domain. For instance, you could have the Domain 'B' open, but if you enter A#123 in the Request field, then 'A' Domain request 123 is opened. To Save your Search results: You can click on Save Search, to save a search. You give it a name, which you can select later. The saved search applies only to the Domain which was open when you saved the search. This feature is described in detail below: 1. Make your search using the search interface, and click on the Save Search tab (at the bottom of the search interface) 2. A dialog asking you to name your search will appear 3. Provide a name. 4. Check the checkbox next to Set as default if you wish the search parameters provided in this search to be set by default whenever you use the search interface. 5. Check the checkbox next to Mark as shared if you wish to share this search with other users of this Domain. By default the search is private; it cannot be shared with other users. 6. Domain analysts can check the checkbox next to Mark as public to make the search public. It will be displayed with other saved searches for any user of this Domain. 7. Click Save. Note: • The search is saved for you for this Domain. This feature is particularly useful for creating a default set of search parameters. • There cannot be two saved searches of the same name for a single user or within a Domain. If there is both a user-defined search and a Domain search with the same name, the user-defined search is given priority. • You can save a search as a shared search or a public search, so it can be used by other users of the Domain as well. By default it is saved as a private search, visible only to you. A shared search can be accessed by other users, but only if you inform them of its existence. tBits only displays the searches you have defined yourself and public searches. Important Notes about Search • You can enter multiple request numbers, Submitted by, Assigned To, subscribers, etc. by separating them with a comma or a semicolon. tBits uses a comma to separate entries within a field, so it will provide a new drop-down selection menu for selecting a possible entry after each semicolon or comma. Once you have clicked Search, it will also understand entries separated by a comma or semicolon. • If you enter "" (two double quotes with nothing between them) into any search field, you will receive results whose corresponding entries are blank. Note that if you just leave a field blank, your search will simply ignore that field, rather than return entries for which the entry is blank. • You can use a comma (,) to escape autocompletion if you need to enter a value that does not exist in the list used for autocompletion (for example, finding requests assigned to users who no longer work here).

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Updating a request can be done by following the given steps: 1. You can search for any particular request through the powerful search functions provided in the system. 2. If you point the cursor on the Request number, you will get three options: a. View Request: click on this option to view the request with all it’s updates. Thereafter, you can click on the ‘Update Request’ button that takes you to the update request page. b. Update Request: Clicking on this link will directly take you to the ‘Update Request’ page. c. Add Sub-request: If you want to add a sub-request to any particular request, click on this link. It will take you to the ‘Update Request’ page, and the parent request field will be automatically set to the request number. 3. You can also click on the subject line of the request. This will let you view the entire request with all it’s updates. Thereon, you can click on the ‘Update Request’ link to update the request. 4. Once you go the the ‘Update Request’, you can make changes to any field of the request the same way you do when you create a new request. The ‘Update Request’ page is the same as the ‘New Requests’ page. 5. All the changes you make to the request like changing the severity level, or adding or removing assignees are logged by the system to help you keep an accurate track of the request at any point in time.

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A request can be raised through the system following these easy steps: 1. After logging in through your username and password, click on the ‘New Requests’ tab. 2. You will be directed to a new page. 3. Check the ‘Private’ box if you want the message to be viewed by users in your business area only. If it is a general issue you wish everyone to see or refer to, don’t check this box. 4. Select the relevant office you want to send the request to from the ‘Office’ field. This is useful if you have offices spread geographically connected by ‘tBits’. 5. Select the primary category of your request using the ‘Category’ field. 6. Select the severity of the request using the ‘Severity’ field. This will help you prioritize your requests according to their importance and various other constraints like time limit, nature of content in the request etc. Thus you can organize your work load more efficiently. 7. Every request is meant for some user who will take some action on that request. This user is the Assignee for that request. You can assign multiple users to a single request. In the ‘Assignee’ field, give the name of the user whom you want to assign the request to, . An ‘auto-complete’ function displays the list of all the assignees designated by the administrator, name starting from the letter you typed. You can then select the assignee for this request. NOTE: There are situations when a group or a team is given the collective responsibility of a request but there is a team leader or a user who is primarily responsible for that request. Such a user is a ‘Primary Assignee’, and can be marked by an ‘asterisk’ (*) before the user name in the ‘Assignee’ field. 8. Give the name of the logger who is the initiator of the request. This will be you in almost all cases. 9. Set the status of the request according to the stage of processing the request. After fully processing a request, you may wish to mark it as ‘Closed’. 10. Specify the type of your request. It can be a request, a question, a complaint, a grievance, etc. 11. Select the ‘notify by email’ check box if you want the assignee, Cc and subscribers to be notified by email about your request. Select the ‘Logger(s)’ check box if you want the system to send you a copy of the request you just submitted by email. 12. If you want any user to see this particular request but not the subsequent or previous updates on it, type that username in the Cc box. 13. If you want any users to be kept up-to-date about your request at every stage of processing, type the username in the ‘Subscribers’ box. 14. Mention the subject in the subject line as you do in an email. The subject line should reflect the nature of the request for more clarity. 15. You may also attach any file by clicking on the ‘Attachments’ link. 16. If this request is a sub-request of any other request, you can specify the ‘Parent’ link by clicking on the ‘Parent’ link. Every request by default is a parent request. 17. If there exists similar requests posted previously, you may want to refer to them. In such cases, you may link that request to your request by clicking on the ‘Link Requests’ link. 18. Sometimes, it may be prudent to add a short and precise summary for a lengthy and complicated request or issue to enhance other users’ clarity and understanding. This can be done by clicking on the ‘Add Summary’ link. 19. Write the body of the request in the description field. 20. Spell check it to remove any accidental errors in spelling. 21. You may also want to save the request as a draft. This is particularly useful if the request is of a fixed format and nature and is repetitive. All the fields set by you gets saved along with the request description and attachments. 22. click on the ‘Submit’ button to submit the request you have just composed

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