Session TimeOut

An idle mind is Devil's workshop...an orphaned session is inefficient resource allocation...

"SessionTimeout" is one of the parameters in the eapps.cfg that is more to do with competent usage rather performance. This specifies the time in seconds when the session times out in case of inactivity. The larger the value the longer it takes for the orphaned session to timeout. Orphaned sessions are undesirable beacuse they occupy AOM task slots preventing other users to use that slot.

There are instances when session never times out despite setting this parameter. Following parameters should be kept in mind before setting SessionTimeout parameter.

1 - "Application Message Bar Update Interval"

This parameter is used in Message Broadcasting feature. The value of this parameter should be set to greater than the SessionTimeout parameter.

2 - "Alarm Manager Load Frequency"

The "Alarm Manager Load Frequency" system preference determines how frequently the calendar alarm queries the server for alarm-enabled appointments. The value for this should be set to value greater than the Session Timeout Parameter.

3 - "PushKeepAliveTimer" and "ChannelCleanupTimer"

"PushKeepAliveTimer" is basically used in CTI configurations. The Value for this parameter in the Communication profile should be greater than SessionTimeout .

4 - CommReqTimeout(CTI)

This parameter is used in Communication toolbars. The value of this parameter should be less than the SessionTimeout parameter.

5 - Connidletime

This parameter helps session manager to close connections based on the time the connection remains idle. It is used in conjunction with third party load balancer. The value of this parameter should be greater than the session timeout parameter.

It is always better to specify the SessionTimeout parameter to a value which satisfies own requirement. This avoids dangling sessions and thus efficient resource allocation.

Have a great active year ahead...

"IS UPDATED" in Workflow Policy

Statuary Warning: This is not for the old horses.

My romantics with siebel goes on and so Siebel mysteries. Newbies better be careful while using "IS UPDATED" condition in the workflow policies. It can lead to undesirable/wrong results. Lets consider below problem statement.

"Any service request which is not worked within 2 hours of assignment, i.e. Assigned status , should be escalated."

The obvious solution which comes in mind is to configure workflow policy with duration and Owner Id update condition.

Unfortunately it didn't work for me. The issue when using "IS UPDATED" criteria in combination with Workflow duration is that criteria is considered only at the time of the first update by the user. Until the configured policy duration has completed, all subsequent updates to the record are discarded by Workflow Policy Manager. As a result at any point of time only one record is available in "S_ESCL_STATE" table for this policy. At the end of the configured duration, Workflow Policy Manager looks at the other configured criteria on the policy. If they evaluate to true policy Action is fired. If they do not evaluate as configured, then the record is discarded and the next time the record is updated a new record will is inserted into S_ESCL_REQ and subsequently, S_ESCL_STATE for the duration. At times, this may result in undesirable behavior as follow.

Lets consider we assign a SR to user A at 7:00 AM. As per our configured policy it should be escalated at 9:00 AM if status is "Assigned". User A works on this request and again re-assigns request to user B at 7:30. Now ideally escalation should happen at 9:30 AM and not at 9:00 AM. But if we check "S_ESCL_STATE" table there will be only one record for this policy with END_TM set to 9:00 AM. If user B doesn't work on this request till 9:00 then this request will be escalated resulting in unwanted escalation.

There are multiple workarounds for the above mentioned issue.

a) Workflow Batch processing

b) Batch workflow policies

One potential solution could be to maintain "Last Assigned" date field and set this to current timestamp whenever assignment/re-assignment is happening. Use this date in the searchspec to find records which are in assigned status for more than 2 hours. Create workflow Process Batch Manager RCR with following parameters:

SearchSpec: [Last Assigned] < (Timestamp() - 0.084)

WorkFlow: SR Escalation Workflow

This will process all records which are in Assigned status for more than 2 hours.

DVM on drilldown

Recently we encountered a scenario which involved certain validations on drilldown. The go to solution was to invoke DVM on drilldown method. Lets consider a basic example of SR list applet where we need to perform certain validations when user clicks on SR-Number. Following steps are required to achieve desirable.

1 - Create a DVM rule set with name "Test Orchestration". Add desired rules as per validation requirement.

2 - Create User Property on the SR business component with following values:

Name: Named Method 1
Value:"SRDrill", "INVOKESVC", "Service Request", "Data Validation Manager", "Validate", "'Rule Set Name'", "'Test Orchestration'", "'Enable Log'", "'Y'", "'Object Id'", "[Id]"

3 - Navigate to SR list applet and edit server side script. Add following code in PreInvokeMethod event :
if (MethodName == "Drilldown")
this.BusComp().InvokeMethod("SRDrill");

The key here is if any of the validation fails execution will stop and drilldown will not happen. Data Validation Manager business service returns true/false based on whether validations are passed successfully or not.

ORA-03135: connection lost contact

November started with blues. I recently encountered very strange issue with the custom workflow components. I am not underrating the term strange here but i am in habit of landing into these troubles frequently. My workflows were failing on server intermittently with error log suggesting

ObjMgrLog Error 1 000000044ccc6f90:0 2010-10-31 11:27:23 (oracon.cpp (3255)) SBL-DBC-00108: An error has occurred preparing a Sql statement.

SQLParseAndExecute Execute 5 000000044ccc6f90:0 2010-10-31 11:27:23 ORA-03135: connection lost contact

I was not sure what was causing this failure as there was no issue in the workflow as it was working fine in other environment. The more concerning factor was that there was no specific pattern for the failure of this workflow. But the best part with siebel is regardless of issue your luck never runs out. I found similar post on the siebel support[ID 762888.1] and resolution was to set the below parameter on the custom workflow process manager component level:

Name:OM-Model Cache Maximum parameter

Value: 0

We monitored our workflows for some time and bingo they started running again in good shape. But the change in this parameter comes with disclaimer regarding performance check.

DVM - Length Restriction

Things can be real stinging when something works perfectly on your local and crashes on server. Recently i dated an error of database nature, which i always dread. "Error retrieving next record from the database (SBL-DBC-00104)" was constantly coming on server when we did query on our applet. It was working perfectly fine on my local machine. Server logs were not of much help as it constituted same error.

Things are not always what we see.After some hunting i discovered that issue was because of "Text Length Override" user property which was recently added. We wanted to restrict user with certain character limit in description field but there were existing records in that table where count of characters was greater than the limit which we gave in the user property for Description. So eventually the option of using this user property was ruled out as this Table was common across mulitple BusComps. Once again DVM came to the rescue. We created rule set with expression including Length function. Below expression was used for evaluation and DVM was triggered using Runtime events.

Length Check: IIf([Description] IS NOT NULL,Len([Description])<=1000,'Y')

The lifeline here is the Len function which returns the length of the given field.DVM support multiple functions which could be of immense use in real time scenarios. We will discuss more of DVM in future posts.

Data Validation Manager - Count

Siebel always give multiple ways to achieve desired solution. Recently we got a requirement which could be accomplished using different methods. We approached solution using "Data Validation Manager".

Problem Statement: User should not be able to Approve request if there is any activity associated in Open State.

Soln: A little configuration and DVM rule was good enough to run business.

a) Create a MVL in SR bc using with following Values

Name: Open Activity

Destination BC: Action

Destination Link: Service Request/Action

Type Field: Status

Type Value: Open

Compile BC.

b) Navigate to Application - Data Validation. Create a new rule set based on the BO Service Request. Go to Rules Tab. Create a new rule with following values.

Sequence: 1

Name: Open Check

Expression: Count("Open Activity") = 0

Business Component: Service Request

Apply To: Current Record

Return Code:

The key here is the name of the MVL."Count" function is directly used in the evaluation with MVL name. The best part is it doesn't require creation of calculate field in BC. Moreever DVM rules also require field used in expression to be exposed on applet or force active. They truly say everything positive comes with its own inbuilt negativity. But here the direct use of function in DVM comes as relief and also helps in keeping check at performance.

We will discuss more functions and expressions which could be used in the DVM rulesets till then happy commenting.

UMF - Reloaded

Welcome back to the next (!last) post in UMF series. In this we will discuss how we can capture responses and perform actions from the popup applet. It basically involves two steps:

1 - Creation of business service with different methods which needs to be invoked on selecting responses from message applet.Create a new business service "ResponseService". Add three Methods to this BS:

AddInfo

AssignRequest

OpReq

function Service_PreInvokeMethod (MethodName, Inputs, Outputs)

{

switch(MethodName)

{

case "AssignRequest":

fnAssignReassign(Inputs, Outputs);

return(CancelOperation);

case "AddInfo":

fnAddInfo(Inputs, Outputs);

return(CancelOperation);

case "OpReq":

fnOpReq(Inputs, Outputs);

return(CancelOperation);

}

return(ContinueOperation);

}

The best part is entire payload of the message is passed to the response thus allowing us to use them in response functions.

2 - Now its time to map the business service and methods to the responses. Navigate to Administration - Order Management -> Message Types. Query for "Testing UMF" message. Go to responses tab and map the corresponding Business service and Method to the respective response record.

Once all changes are done. Click on the Popup button and look out for the magic. UMF can be impressive alternate for browser script.

Unified Messaging Service Framework: Wealth of Messages

Many times we have resorted to browser scripts for displaying message and based on the input given have decided steps to follow but with the introduction of UMS the dependency on the browser script can be avoided. We can do wonders with the UMS framework which can really help in orchestration of system.

UMS is highly used in Order Management however Siebel is kind enough to allow us to use this for any other standard BO. However we need certain level of customization and scripting to achieve this. The main advantage of this framework is to invoke popup applets from workflow. I was not sure whether it was possible or not but as they say absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. A more than little help from support web and universal buddy Google made it. The details of Unified Messaging Service is available in OrderManagement guide. Here we will try to construct and invoke message from Service Request List Applet. It will display snapshot of Service Request which will help SR agent to work upon certain actions. Make sure you are working on SIA application. This goes in three steps:

1 - Creation of Message Type to be displayed.

a ) Navigate to Administration- Order Management -> Message Types.Create new record with following fields:

Name: Testing UMF

Display Mode: Active

Group:Internal Error Message

Title: Testing UMF

Short Text: Testing UMF

Full Text: Status: [Status]

Account: [Account]

Deparment: [Department]

Product: [Product]

b ) Navigate to Payload Tab. Define input payload fields as below:

Status

Account

Department

Product

These parameters will be replaced to actual values at runtime.

c ) Navigate to Response Tab this will hold the business service and method name to be invoked on clicking responses. Create following record in Response applet.

Sequence: 1

Name: Assign\ReAssign

Business Service: ResponseService // We will write this business service in later steps. Initially it can be left blank.

Method: AssignRequest

Sequence: 2

Name: Additional Information

Business Service: ResponseService

Method: AddInfo

Sequence: 3

Name: Opinion Request

Business Service: ResponseService

Method: OpReq

Now our Message set is done. Its time to invoke this message from applet. We will keep business service null for time being.

2 - Add the required BC's in the Service Request business object including "UMF Active Message Virtual BusComp", "UMF File Handler","UMF Passive Message Virtual BusComp".Navigate to Service Request List Applet. Add a button on the list applet with method as "Popup". Open script editor for this and add below script. This script will create message hierarchy at runtime to be invoked on button click.

if(MethodName == "Popup")

{

// Local declaration

var obj_UMS; // Business Service "Unified Messaging Service"

var obj_Inputs_PS; // Property Set used as inputs for UMS business service

var obj_Outputs_PS; // Property Set used as outputs for UMS business service

var obj_MessageList_PS; // Property Set used to construct the list of messages to be sent to UMS business service

var obj_Message_PS; // Property Set used to construct the message to be sent to UMS business service

var obj_Payload_PS; // Property Set used to construct the list of payload-value pairs be sent to UMS business service

var str_ErrMsg; // Used to create error message strings

// Variables initialization

obj_UMS = TheApplication().GetService("Unified Messaging Service");

obj_Inputs_PS = TheApplication().NewPropertySet();

obj_Outputs_PS = TheApplication().NewPropertySet();

obj_MessageList_PS = TheApplication().NewPropertySet();

obj_Message_PS = TheApplication().NewPropertySet();

obj_Payload_PS = TheApplication().NewPropertySet();

obj_Payload_PS.SetType("Payload");

//Creating Paload

obj_Payload_PS.SetProperty("Business Component","Service Request");

obj_Payload_PS.SetProperty("Status",this.BusComp().GetFieldValue("Status"));

obj_Payload_PS.SetProperty("Account",this.BusComp().GetFieldValue("Account"));

obj_Payload_PS.SetProperty("Department",this.BusComp().GetFieldValue("Department"));

obj_Payload_PS.SetProperty("Product",this.BusComp().GetFieldValue("Product"));

// Build message property set

obj_Message_PS.SetType("Message");

obj_Message_PS.SetProperty("Score", "100");

obj_Message_PS.SetProperty("Message Id", this.BusComp().GetFieldValue("Id"));

obj_Message_PS.SetProperty("Message Type", "Testing UMF");

obj_Message_PS.SetProperty("Display Mode", "Active");

obj_Message_PS.AddChild(obj_Payload_PS);

// Build message list property set

obj_MessageList_PS.SetType("Message List");

obj_MessageList_PS.AddChild(obj_Message_PS);

obj_Inputs_PS.SetProperty("Source", "SR Messages");

obj_Inputs_PS.AddChild(obj_MessageList_PS);

// Submit message to the unified messaging service

obj_UMS.InvokeMethod("AddMessages", obj_Inputs_PS, obj_Outputs_PS);

return (CancelOperation);

}

we can also write a business service and call that business service from workflow and invoke that workflow on button click. After compilation on button click following popup will appear.

The next important step is to capture responses and define appropriate actions. We will cover this in the next post till then stay tuned.

Generating unique numbers in DataMap

Sometimes data coming in inbound integration from external system cannot be uniquely identified.Similar scenario struck me and was forced to generate unique number at siebel side. One of the option was to parse incoming XML and add unique identifier using Scripting or XSL. Another option was to use "SIS OM PC Service" business service in datamaps and the generated output row_id could be used as user key during the insertion. In the field map following expression is used:

InvokeServiceMethod("SIS OM PC Service", "Get Next RowId","Test='123'" ,"RowId")

However the enigma was not ended here. Further twist was error "Access denied to invoke business service 'SIS OM PC Service' for search specification 'InvokeServiceMethod("SIS OM PC Service", "Get Next RowId","Test='123'" ,"RowId")'" . After some hunting on the support web i realised this security issue. In order to use any business service with InvokeMethod we need to define that business service at following places:

1 - Mobile Web client/Dedicated client: In CFG we need to define following parameter

[Siebel]

BusinessServiceQueryAccessList = SIS OM PC Service

2 - Web Client: We need to define this in Parameter "Business Service Query Access" at enterprise or component level where it is being used.

Name:Business Service Query Access

Value:SIS OM PC Service

Help in need is help indeed thus any help on generation of unique numbers in siebel during inbound are really welcome.

FINS Data Transfer Utilities

The best thing while working on siebel is you are never short of options. Recently we had requirement of updating a Service request from contact. Finally we did that using "EAI Siebel Adapter" business service. However during that time i came across another business service "FINS Data Transfer Utilities" popularly known as DTU business service. As i was not having prior knowledge of it going by the rule of not learning swimming lessons while drowning i decided not to go for it. Lately i have tried to explore this service and trust me it can do wonders.

Here is a sample example update of Service Request from contact. We need to follow below steps in order to understand strength of this business service.

1 - Navigate to Site Map. Go to Administration - Application -> Data Map Administration tab. Create a new Record with following options:

Name: Service Request Test

Source Business Object: Contact

Destination Business Object: Service Request

Here the source business object specifies where data should come and Destination busobject specifies where data should go.

2 -In Data Map Component we specify mapping of the child business component. There needs to be one root business component and other child business component in the map. This is really handy while creating quotes and quote line items from Opportunity. Or any other instance where multiple BC's are under scanner.

Name: SR Update

Source Business Component: Contact

Destination Business Component: Service Request

3 - In Data Map field we specify field to field mapping, data from which source field should go to which destination field. However source/destination field could be of following types based

on our requirement:

Field: BC field

Parameter: Input argument to business service

Expression: combination of BC field or Parameters

The most important thing here is the Key field, which helps in matching source record with destination record during update operation. More of this is given in "siebel finance bookshelf".

4 - Once data map is done, our job is very simple. We need to write a workflow which can call this business service and invoke that workflow on contact write

record. Sample workflow should look like.

Method Invoked is: DataTransfer

Parameters which we have passed are:

Operation - Update : It specifies which operation we need to perform. Values are Insert,Update,Delete and Upsert

InitBO - Contact : Initiator BO

InitBC - Contact : Initiator BC

DataMapObj - Service Request Test : Name of the Data Map

&Status - Closed : Status value we need to set for SR

&SRId - '288-70710' : SR Number for which we need to set status. This could be process property. I have hard coded for testing purpose.

5 - Create a runtime event which invokes this workflow on writerecord of Contact BC. Once reload is done try to see the magic.

This business service is of immense help if used efficiently and can be of real help in scenarios involving update/insert of multiple business components.

Learning Swimming and Siebel.

Auto-Refresh/Auto-Save

I am pretty sure most of us here are sports buff. Me being an ardent cricket lover used to spend 4-5 hours on cricinfo. Life is really cool when the scoreboard says the latest score automatically in every 2 minutes. It would have been real killing if someone had to manually click on refresh button to get the latest updates or for money matters latest update on stocks every n minute.

One of my friend recently experienced same problem while dealing with service requests. The scenario was to have auto refresh of the SR list applet pool in every 2 minutes so that users can pick request to work on, as requests were coming from some other portal. Once again support web was our alley. A little bit of browser script and deal was done. Following steps were taken to achieve this:

1 - Query applet for which auto-refresh is required. Open Browser Script editor. Jump on the Applet_Load event and put below script:

function Applet_Load ()

{

//To Invoke AutoRefresh function in every 2 minutes

setTimeout("AutoRefresh()", 120000);

}

2 - Create a function "AutoRefresh()" in the general section of applet with following code:

function AutoRefresh()

{

var sApplet = theApplication().FindApplet("Service Request List Applet");

sApplet.InvokeMethod("ExecuteQuery"); // this is used to refresh current applet

// condition that ensures that it happens in the desired view only, if applet is being used in other views

if(theApplication().GetProfileAttr("ActiveViewName") == "Personal Service Request List View")

{

setTimeout("AutoRefresh()", 120000); // this is to invoke the above function recursively

}

}

Similarly Auto-Save functionality could be achieved by using following function:

function AutoSave()

{

var sApplet = theApplication().FindApplet("Service Request List Applet");

sApplet.InvokeMethod("WriteRecord"); // this is used to write Record

setTimeout("AutoSave()", 120000); // this is to invoke the above function recursively

}

The main crux here is standard javascript function which takes two input parameters.

setTimeout(String(Function name), Number(Delay))

Function name - Name of the function to be executed

Delay - Number representing delay in milliseconds before the specified function will be called.

The same could be achieved by having a button on the List applet but then why to go for beans when you can have Cake.

Batch Processing

Batch processing is integral part of any development and is must in cases involving escalations,auto-assignments or bulk emailing. Siebel provides multiple ways to do batch processing but one to choose depends on the requirment at hand. Lets consider an escalation scenario which involves SR reassignment to Manager when commit time is reached if it is not closed. The two possible approaches to achieve this are:

1 - Workflow Policies with Batch Mode set to True

2 -Workflow Process Batch Manager component

It can be real dilemma which one to use as they say "you always have choice of selecting action but not the consequence". Both approaches have its own advantages. Lets discuss each of them.

Workflow Policy with Batch Mode

1 - Create a Workflow Policy as following based on "Service Request" object with condition

Status <> Closed

Commit time >= Current

Set the batch mode to True. Specify the action which will run the workflow to reassign SR.

2 - We need to schedule a task on server to execute a batch file or script which executes server manager command lines to execute workmon to run in batch

mode.

Workflow Process Batch Manager

1- Create a Repeating Job for component WorkflowProcess Batch Manager.

2 - Set the SearSpec parameter to "[Status] <> Closed AND [Commit Time] >= Today()"

3 - Set the Workflow Process name to the desired workflow which is used to reassign SR

Technically either of them could be used to perform the desired escalation but me inherently being an follower of KISS(Keep it Short and Simple) principle will go for second option as it is easy to manage Workflow Process batch manager Job as compared to the batch Policies. However, if we have to execute a sequence of action apart from run process then batch workflow policies should be considered. Batch workflow policies are also quite handy in sending consolidated email for multiple requests.

Please feel free to put your thoughts across which one should be used for the cause.

Making buttons/Controls invisible

Sometimes greatest treasures are those which are invisible to eyes. Hiding controls at runtime could be fun and at times very useful.This may help in avoiding creation of multiple applets. Recently i came across a scenario where in one view user was allowed to perform some operation on button click while in other views he should not see buttons. One approach is to have applet Base mode defined in the other view w/o buttons but it fails when mulitple toggles are defined in the applet and applet defined in view is of mode type "Edit". Other option is to make controls invisible. Following code could be useful for making buttons hidden in Form Applet dynamically based on the View type. Again Browser Script is our friend.

function Applet_Load()

{

var sView = theApplication().GetProfileAttr("ActiveViewName");

switch(sView)

{

case "Activity Attachment View":

var ctrlSubmit = this.FindActiveXControl("Submit"); // This is the name of control

ctrlBack.style.visibility = "hidden";//Setting visibility property to hidden

break;

}

}

Siebel give capabilities that our own Mr India will be proud of!!!

Fetching ASCII Code

The key to the most generic character encoding scheme is ASCII. I am sure many of us at some point of time have land up in situation where the ASCII representation is desired. It is must in scenarios while playing with bitwise operators for calculations. Siebel also gives us function which returns ASCII value for any character.

Function:

stringVar.charCodeAt(indexVar)

Example:

var sEnCode = "ABCDEFGH";

var sGetCode = sEnCode.charCodeAt(2)

This will return 67 as output as ASCII representation for C character is 67. More of this function is available on siebel support under document ID 513659.1

Navigating Backward

Going back was never so easy. Siebel makes use of underline javascript functions to go to previous page. It can come handy in many scenarios. Following code could be used on browser side of applet for going backward.

if(name == "Back")

{

history.go(-1);

return ("CancelOperation");

}

Or

if(name == "Back")

{

window.history.back(-1);

return ("CancelOperation");

}

There are multiple ways to achieve this. Some of the OOB business services which could be used to achieve this are "CUT eSales Order Entry Toolkit Service" or "FINS Goto View Service" which has got "GotoView" method which can be used to navigate to destination while maintaining the context.

simply siebel !!!

Bulk Symbolic Strings Creation

Siebel is like an ocean, everyday i learn something new. We all have worked with Symbolic Strings. "Symbolic Strings" are key while configuring Multilingual environment. But at times most of us land up creating "String Override" instead of creating "String References". Same scenario happened with me before i realized it was too late for me to go back and create Symbolic Strings for each applet titles and display Columns. It can be very tidious task to create symbolic strings manually and assigning them to respective columns when the list is huge.

Siebel again came to resuce and after some analysis i found there is a utility in siebel which could be used to generate Symbolic Strings in bulk. Yes Siebel can do it for you.

"strconv.bat" is the Magic Wand here. This batch files is located in the siebel installables folder under Bin. This file basically works in two steps:

1 - It creates list of items which needs to be regrouped for Symbolic string generation for a specified Object type like Applet, List Column or Control.This is export operation.

2- Next step is import operation. In this it creates Symbolic Strings for above exported items in tools and adds references to the symbolic strings on the original exported items.

This batch file is self explanatory and lists the syntax and paramters required to run.Before we start any operation, Following parameters are required to be changed in this batch file.(Before you start take a backup of this batch file...:) )

REM * Parameters used on both export and import

set TOOLS_INSTALL=C:\Program Files\Siebel\8.0\Tools\BIN

set CONFIG_FILE=C:\Program Files\Siebel\8.0\Tools\BIN\ENU\tools.cfg

set TEST_LOCATION=D:\SS

set REPOSITORY=Siebel Repository

set LANG=ENU

set SPLIT_FILE=false

REM * Parameters used on conversion export

set MATCH_MIN=1

set EXCLUDE_NULL=true

set USE_FULL_MATCH=true

set USE_EXACT_MATCH=false

set SKIP_INACTIVE=true

REM * Parameters used on conversion file split

set FILE_SIZE=1000

REM * Parameters used on conversion import

set PROJECT=Test Project

set SKIP_UPDATE_PARENTS=true

set LOG_ERROR_RECORDS=true

set UNLOCK_PROJECTS=false

set DELETE_LOCALES=true

set CHECK_TRANSLATE_FLAG=true

If the number of items for conversion is very large then SPLIT_FILE feature could be used to split files based on FILE_SIZE number. Once parameters are set this file is ready to run. Lets consider we want to generate Symbolic Strings for Applet in siebel Repository. Go to command propmpt and run this batch file with following options:

strconv "Applet" export

This will generate two files in log folder:

Applet_export.log

Applet_conversion.txt

Verify the log file whether records are exported correctly. Once the export is done successfully. Run following import command:

strconv "Applet" import

This will generate two files in log folder:

Applet_import.log

Applet_import.log.txt

Once this operation is completed log in to Siebel tools to verify whether Symbolic strings are generated and Override strings have been removed. The crux of this batch file is "consoleapp.exe" which basically performs import and export operation which is also located under Bin folder. I hope this helps you in generation of Symbolic strings in bulk.

Multiple Drill-downs

Many of us have configured drilldowns in our project and as a deliverable there are scenarios also when we have to capture Drilldown method. This can be easily done by trapping Drilldown method at applet level using "Drilldown" method. However complexity comes when we have multiple drilldowns defined on the applet and we need to capture any particular drill-down field for processing. But Siebel always spring something as life saver. We can capture the drilldown for any particular field using "SWEField" property which comes as input property. Each mapped field have a unique identifier which can be used in drilldown method to check desired field.

First lets try to fetch the SWEField id for any desired drilldown field. I am still not able to figure out how siebel generates this tag, any help on this will be really great. This sample code on browser side helps in fetching the SWEField tag for any field in applet on Drilldown method.

function Applet_PreInvokeMethod (name, inputPropSet)

{

if(name == "Drilldown")

{

alert(inputPropSet.GetProperty("SWEField"));

return ("ContinueOperation");

}

return ("ContinueOperation");

}

There are two drilldowns configured in the below applet Reference and Assigned To.On click of Reference of first record it displays "s_4_2_26_0" .

On click of Reference of second record in list it displays "s_4_2_26_1".

The last number is always incremented by one as we traverse through record set.Similarly on click of Assigned To on first record it displays "s_4_2_67_0" .

on click of second record it displays "s_4_2_67_1".

Lets consider now we want to trap drilldown only on reference field. This can be achieved by using following code:

function Applet_PreInvokeMethod (name, inputPropSet)

{

if(name == "Drilldown" )

{

if(inputPropSet.GetProperty("SWEField").indexOf("s_4_2_26") >= 0)

alert("Siebelish");

return ("CancelOperation");

}

return ("ContinueOperation");

}

But how siebel generates these SWE tags for fields is still a mystery for me. Happy Hunting!!