Element Structure Definition

The structure of a service template element closely mirrors the structure of the service elements it creates:

  1. It defines a tree-like hierarchy of elements.
  2. It is stored as XML, rather than as Salesforce objects.
  3. Elements can be either new or existing:
    • New elements are freshly created during service provisioning (including attribute creation and value assignment).
    • Existing elements are referenced by their Salesforce object ID and not re-created.
  4. New elements can include attributes defined as name-value pairs.
  5. The service name can be inserted dynamically into attribute values using the [Service::Name].
A screenshot of a sample service template in the Nextian Product Management.
Nextian Product Management – Service templates

The XML syntax used for template definition is explained below:

<service> <!-- beginning of service definition, contains a list of <element> items --->
   
    <!-- new element -->
    <element type="new">
        <!-- these fields will be populated (this is 100% dynamic, custom fields may be included) -->
        <field name="Name" value="/29 IP Block" /> <!-- developer field name and value -->
        <field name="Type__c" value="IP Block" />
        <field name="Managed__c" value="false" />
        <field name="MRC__c" value="8.60" />
    </element>

    <!-- new type element -->
    <element type="new">
      <field name="Name" value="ACCESS-[Service::Name]" /> <!-- generate name using service name wildcard -->
      <field name="Type__c" value="Network Access" />
      <field name="Managed__c" value="false" />
      <field name="MRC__c" value="226.00" />
      <field name="Provider__c" value="0017F00000O7oc4QAB" /> <!-- assign lookup via object id (type must match) -->
    </element>
    
    <!-- existing element, via object id, must be Element__c -->
    <element type="existing" id="a027F00000Y3PAUQA3" />
</service>
Important When creating a new template, it is recommended to create it from an existing service and make modifications as needed — rather than writing XML from scratch.
Was this page helpful?