Siebel IP 2015 : Siebel Composer Overview

What would you say if you see your traditional Siebel Tools has turned into Web based Siebel Tools (Siebel Composer) ?

Well, that made me crazy!

But it’s true! With Siebel IP 2015, Oracle has released web based Siebel tools  – Siebel Composer.

After Siebel Open UI, this is another major feature introduced by Oracle to compete with other could based CRM applications.

But…

Remember,

Oracle recommends to use Siebel CRM Composer only in isolated developer mode as current release is not ready for production environment.

But, nevertheless this is a big step to make Siebel more popular and interesting among developers and business users.

In this article, we will discuss Siebel CRM Composer in details.

That’s enough intro…

Let’s start our discussion with Siebel Composer definition.

Siebel Composer is the web version of Siebel Tools that runs on server. You can access it in any browser using Siebel Open UI client.

Currently it includes some of the functionalities of Siebel Tools. For example, using Siebel CRM Composer, you can make a field read-only or change field label without Siebel Tools.

We will discuss these functionalities in the later part of this article.

Siebel CRM Composer interface:

To give users an inconsistent look, Oracle has built Siebel Composer interface same as Siebel Business Application user interface.

The items in the first level object explorer (ex: Applet, Business Component) in Siebel Tools are available as screens. You can select any object from side menu icon in the top left corner of the screen.

Lower level objects of the object explorer appears as views and sub views under the screens in Siebel Web Tools.

All attributes of Siebel objects come as fields in Siebel composer.

For example: Name property of Applet object appears as Name field under Applet screen.

In Siebel CRM Composer, you navigate between screens and views in the same way that you do in Siebel application. You can add, update or delete records in the same way you do in any Siebel Open UI business application.

Now,

You might be wondering:

Siebel Composer looks like any other Siebel application.

So, does that mean, lock or unlock object/s is not required anymore before doing any changes?

How to compile changes in repository?

Well…

Same as Siebel Tools, developers must lock an object before modifying it and unlock once modification is completed.

Steps to lock/unlock an object in Siebel Composer:

• Select the object
• Click on ‘Lock Object’ from applet menu
• Modify the object
• Click on ‘Unlock Object’ to unlock the object.

That simple!

But unlike Siebel Tools, you do not compile any object in repository file. Once objects are modified in Siebel Composer, navigate to Administration – Runtime Configuration > Publish view and publish all changes.

You can publish objects in two ways –

1. Click on ‘Publish All’ to publish all modified objects at a time

2. To publish individual object, select the record and click on ‘Publish’

Now all your changes will be available in repository metadata table.

To verify your changes –

1. Either you can navigate to Administration – Runtime Configuration > ‘Published Version’ view and check the object record. Object with latest version must be available under ‘Published Version’ view.

2. Or log in to Siebel application and verify all changes. If you were already logged in to application before object modification, then log off and log in again to see changes.

You know about AOM (Application Object Manager), right?

Remember this:

Siebel Web Tools Object Manager (ENU) is the AOM component for Siebel CRM Composer. Currently this component is available only in U.S. English language.

Now,

You have fair idea about Siebel Web Tools.

But you must know other advantages of Siebel Composer as well.

Benefits of Siebel CRM Composer over Siebel Tools:

1. No compilation, no downtime

Really?

If you add or modify any object in Siebel Tools, you have to compile it into repository file. Then you down the server, replace .srf file and restart the server again to see changes in Siebel Application.

Well,

There are some exceptions where you do not need to compile objects ( like workflow) in Siebel Tools. But except few, almost all objects need compilation.

But in Siebel Composer, there is no need of object compilation. You just login into Siebel Web Tools, do required changes and publish it.

All changes will be available in server without any compilation and downtime.

Like Siebel Tools, you can lock/unlock objects in Siebel composer also to stop simultaneous update.

It expedites the overall Siebel configuration process as well.

2. Improved user interface with easy navigation

Like other Siebel applications, Siebel Web Tools has screens, views, applets and fields. It has a separate object manager that helps you to open it as a web client. Due to its enhanced user interface, navigation among objects is easier than Siebel Tools.

3. More efficient web page rendering

How?

For Siebel Tools, Siebel web templates have deeper hierarchy structure in Siebel Business Application. It makes Siebel application difficult to render on different devices like desktop, mobile devices.

But web templates for Siebel Composer have flatter hierarchy structure. It makes web templates flexible to render across wide range of devices.

Flatter hierarchy also helps to reduce server roundtrip to render web pages.

Unlike Siebel Tools, you do not modify .swt files to configure web template files here.

Now you just add or update records/fields in the Web Template Item view of Web Template screen. Also it is not necessary to use table tag to position fields in web template files.

4. More elements for building user interface

Siebel CRM composer includes all objects/properties of Siebel Tools as screens/views/fields. Plus it has few extra fields that are not available in Siebel Tools.

For example:

Template Item Holder Name field is available in Applet Web Template Item view, View Web Template Item view and Web Page Item view. This field captures the name of Item Identifier and helps to identify it easily.

To know the list of new fields available in Siebel Composer, click here.

5. Required less network traffic

Let me tell you how…

You know, Siebel composer has flatter hierarchy of web templates. Also it renders only the necessary elements in user interface. This needs less network bandwidth to deliver web pages in UI.

And last but not least…

6. Enhanced file loading

Besides existing presentation model and physical renderer for views or applets, PM and PR are available for web pages as well. In Siebel Composer, files for PM, PR or framework (required to start the Siebel application) are loaded from manifest.

Now you know what all extra benefits you can get from Siebel Composer (IP15).

Next let me explain:

Siebel Tools objects that are included in Siebel Composer Developer Preview (IP 15):

And:

Siebel Tools objects that are not included in Siebel Composer Developer Preview (IP 15):

You know what?

Once you upgrade your Siebel application to IP15, all file based contents for Siebel web templates turn into table based contents. Due to this web template migration, Incremental Repository Merge for IP15 takes longer time than earlier version.

Also make sure that the ‘EnableResponsive‘ parameter is set to ‘TRUE‘ for all Siebel applications that use responsive web design feature. By default, value of this parameter is set to ‘FALSE‘. This parameter enables Siebel CRM Composer for that Siebel application.

And…

How to modify this parameter value?

To change the parameter value, navigate to Administration – Server Configuration screen and search for the component of the Siebel application. Then you go to component parameter list and update the parameter value.

Now we are at the end of the discussion…

But wait a minute:

Before closing this article, let us tell you few features that would come in future releases.

As per Siebel Composer Bookself published by Oracle, below features will be included in future releases

• WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) display and drag-and-drop functionality in the user interface.
• Drop-down lists of values for some fields to replace free form text fields in which you enter data.
  • Access to Siebel CRM Composer from within the Siebel application.
• Management of a multi-user development environment for Siebel CRM Composer.
• Publication of repository changes in a development, test, and production environment, where the changes are implemented without having to restart the server.

Just to summarize:

Siebel Composer is a good initiative to move Siebel application on the cloud. It also makes configuration process faster and easier.

To know more, please refer Siebel composer bookself.

You know, Siebel IP 2016 has been released recently. In out next article, we will discuss all new features of Siebel Composer – IP16.

What do you think? It is good for Siebel future or not?

Please leave your comment below!

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