In our previous article, we have discussed about what is Siebel Open UI and its benefits. Here we will talk about Siebel Open UI Architecture and its various building blocks. Also we will discuss architectural difference between Siebel HI and Open UI client.

Siebel Open UI Architecture key components:

It includes all components of traditional Siebel client, plus Open UI specific components.

1. Application Object Manager(AOM)
2. Siebel Web Template(SWT) file
3. JavaScript(JS) file
4. Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) file
5. Open UI client
   – Proxy
   – Presentation Model
   – Physical Renderer
6. Manifest file

We will discuss all these one by one.

1. Application Object Manager (AOM)

– This is the most important server component. In Open UI, it behaves exactly the same way like our traditional Siebel client. AOM processes user requests with the help of other components like Data Manager, Siebel Web Engine.

– In our previous module, we have already discussed that below two parameters must be set to TRUE for Open UI Object Manager component.

EnableOpenUI = TRUE
HighInteractivity = TRUE

Our Recommendation: Instead of updating the existing object manager directly, copy it and add above two parameters to enable Open UI mode . Also you create a new virtual directory in Siebel Web Server to support Open UI Object Manager.

2. Siebel Web Template(SWT) file

– Siebel Web Template file defines the layout and format of the elements to display on UI. It provides the placeholders for Siebel objects like views, applets, controls but does not contain any data. These SWT files are nothing but HTML files with Siebel tags. Siebel Open UI uses newer version of SWT files that no longer contain any explicit layout information.

Original SWT file has explicit tags like tables, boundaries where Open UI SWT file has ‘div’ tag. It allows CSS files to control the layout.

– SWT files are located under \siebsrvr\WEBTEMPL

• WEBTEMPL folder contains original SWT files
• OUIWEBTEMPL folder, inside WEBTEMPL contains Open UI related SWT files
• CUSTOM folder, inside OUIWEBTEMPL contains all custom SWT files

To know more about Siebel Web Template, read this: Overview of Siebel Web Templates

3) Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) file

– CSS is a style language that defines the layout of web pages, such as font, color, height, width

– Benefits of CSS:

• Reusable, one CSS file could be used for multiple web pages
• Modify style definition in one place and change will be reflected in all web pages
• Different layout for different media types like mobile, desktop
• Easy to build, notepad is sufficient to write css file

– Open UI uses CSS to build the layout of HTML files dynamically.

– CSS files are located in the web server under \webmaster\files\<lang> and \eappweb\PUBLIC\<lang>\FILES.

– For Siebel developer client, path is \client\PUBLIC\<lang>\files.

4) Java Script (JS) file

– JavaScript is a client side programming language used in web applications. It enhances the users experience of the web pages.

– In Siebel Open UI, JS files are used to add client side businessand validation and render the application in the web browser

– Oracle provided JS files deliver out of box functionalities. Developers can build custom JS files to leverage the functionalities.

– Beside Javascript, developers can use JQuery also.

– JS files are located in Siebel Server under \siebsrvr\public\<lang>\<build>\SCRIPTS

• SCRIPTS folder contains original (High Interactivity) JS files
• siebel folder, under SCRIPTS contains Open UI related vanilla JS files
• custom folder, under \SCRIPTS\siebel contains all custom js files
• 3rdparty folder, under SCRIPTS contains all 3rd party provided js files

– For Siebel developer client, JS files are located in \client\<lang>\<build>\SCRIPTS

Note: Traditional browser script is different from Open UI related JavaScript. Developers can use both in Siebel Open UI. But Oracle recommends to use JavaScript only for client side validation.

5) Siebel Open UI client:

– Open UI client is a Siebel engine that runs within the browser to enhance user experience and data validation

• Binds data to the presentation layout
• Caches data locally
• Applies client side business logic

– It consists of 3 elements

• Client Proxy
• Presentation Model (PM)
• Physical Renderer (PR)

5.1) Client Proxy

– It works as an interface to the Siebel Server.

– It gets run-time data and metadata from Siebel server and passes it to Presentation Model.

• Run-time data is the actual data from Siebel database that users see in views/applets
• Metadata specifies the column name and other details like required, readonly

– It is Oracle provided and must not be modified by users.

5.2) Presentation Model

– It is a JavaScript file that determines what business logic to be applied on metadata and run-time data coming from Siebel server.

– It captures client interactions such as

• Did the user leave a control?
• Did the user click on the link?

– It is collection of Properties and Method

• Properties: It contains information about current state of each user interaction.
• Method: It defines the characteristics that modify the state of the object. For example – if user chooses value A for the field X, then apply method to hide field Y.

– It supports different logic for different platforms

5.3) Physical Renderer

– It is a JavaScript file that Open UI uses to render application on the browser
– It can display the same set of records in different ways

• List Applet
• Carousal
• Calendar
• Mind Map

– Like Presentation Model, it also supports different behaviors for different devices like Desktop, Mobile

6) Manifest file

– It uses an unique key to determine which JavaScript file/s to download to the client

– Earlier version of Siebel Open UI Innovation Pack 2013 (8.1.1.11) has three manifest files under \seibsrvr\OBJECTS directory

• Core_manifest.xml: As delivered listing of JS files and should not be modified by developers
• Custom_manifest.xml: It specifies the key name and JavaScript file mapping
• Manifest_extensions.map: It is the place to register Applet/key combination

– From Open UI Innovation Pack 2013, you do not need to modify manifest file anymore. Rather you configure it from Open UI client itself – Administration-Application||Manifest Administration.

We will discuss more about Presentation Model, Physical Renderer and Manifest File in subsequent modules.

Graphical presentation of Siebel High Interactivity Architecture Vs Siebel Open UI Architecture (Source: Oracle)

Major changes in Siebel Open UI Architecture:

1. Open UI supports all modern browsers, not just Internet Explorer
2. ActiveX controls are replaced by JavaScript controls
3. ActiveX proxy is replaced by JavaScript proxy
4. In Siebel Open UI Architecture, layout is not part of Siebel Web Templates any more

So far we have discussed various building blocks of Siebel Open UI Architecture and how it differs from Siebel HI client. If you have any doubt, please fell free to comment below.

Next we will discuss the architectural flow with an example – Navigating to My Opportunities view. Suppose you have clicked on ‘My Opportunities’ to open My Opportunities View. Now Siebel Open UI performs below steps to render ‘My Opportunities View’ on the browser.

Step 1: Presentation Model passes the request to the client proxy

Step 2: Proxy sends the request to Siebel Server

Step 3: Siebel Server processes the request and sends the result back to proxy

Step 4: Proxy reads the manifest file and downloads all required JS files

Step 5: Presentation Model applies the business logic on the result set and sends it to Physical Renderer

Step 6: Physical Renderer prepares the final HTML file with the reference of CSS files

Step 7: Result is displayed on the browser

Step 1: Presentation Model passes the request to the client proxy

– Presentation Model captures the event ‘on mouse click’ and sends the request to client proxy

Step 2: Proxy sends the request to Siebel Server

– First proxy checks the client cache memory for the necessary data to fulfill client request

– If required data is available in the cache memory, it directly goes to Step 4. Otherwise proxy sends the request to Application Object Manager on Siebel Server to get the record set.

Step 3: Siebel Server processes the request and sends the result back to proxy

– Application Object Manager processes the request and sends back the record set to proxy

– Record set contains metadata and runtime data

• Metadata: Object definitions like Columns, Applets, Views
• Runtime data: Actual user data from Siebel database

Step 4: Proxy reads the manifest file and downloads all required JS files

– Proxy reads the manifest file and downloads all JS and corresponding CSS files to display opportunity records.

Step 5: Presentation Model applies the business logic on the result set and sends it to Physical Renderer

– Once data is received and files are downloaded, Proxy sends the notification to Presentation Model

– Presentation Model executes JS files to apply business logic on received data

Step 6: Physical Renderer prepares the final HTML file with the reference of CSS files

– Presentation model sends the notification to Physical Renderer to generate HTML files with the reference of CSS files.

Step 7: Result is displayed on the browser

– The final HTML page ‘My Opportunities View’, embedded with JavaScript, CSS and Data, is displayed on the browser.

This ends our module 2 on Siebel Open UI Architecture. Hope you have got a fair understanding!

If you have any question regarding Siebel Open UI Architecture, Please feel free to comment below.

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<< Module 1: Siebel Open UI and its benefits   Module 3: Presentation Model Customization >>

Watch our YouTube Video on Siebel Open UI Architecture:

Drag and Drop data migration in Siebel Open UI list applet –  sounds interesting?

Well,

You know, data migration is an integral part in any project. Most of the cases, data migration is performed by developers.

But what would you say if end users can do data migration instead of developers?

Let me explain:

With every innovation pack, Oracle releases new and exciting Siebel Open UI features.

One of such features is – Drag and Drop data migration in list applet.

This Siebel Open UI feature was first introduced with Innovation Pack 2013.

Bear with me, because I’m going to show you it works…

You know,

To import data from a spreadsheet into Siebel application, you can use EIM Import or COM object or Business Service.

However, EIM is the most preferable and reliable process for data migration in Siebel.

But,

Main drawback of all three approaches is that none of them can handle adhoc data request.

What does that mean?

Let’s assume a business scenario:

Suppose a company runs campaign on adhoc basis and captures prospects’ details.

Now to process further, company needs to bring those prospects into Siebel system.

So, either employees of that company have to do manual entry or give the data file to Siebel experts.

Bottom line is that to start work on prospects, company has to wait some time.

That’s not good!!

I know,

You can write batch job or business service to automate the process but that has also a limit. You can not build EIM job for every future data file.

Now imagine another scenario:

A company has a preformatted spread sheet for all employees to capture prospect details. Employees enter details in that spread sheet and just drag and drop it in Siebel application to import data.

Less dependency and no waiting time!!

Isn’t that great?

Let’s see how we can drag and drop records in Siebel Open UI.

A word of caution:

This drag and drop feature works only in list applet, not in form or tree applet.

To discuss all steps, we have built a sample spreadsheet that we will try to import here.

Steps to drag and drop data migration in Siebel Open UI:

Step 1: Verify List Applet

Very first step is to get the list applet name where you want to activate this functionality.

You know how to get the applet name, right?

Just navigate to that applet and click on Help –> About View.

As we are trying to import account records here, our applet name is ‘SIS Account List Applet‘.

Step 2: Add applet user properties

To enable this feature for a particular applet, you must add two new applet user properties.

So, you login into Siebel tools and query for the applet in Object Explorer.

Now, add above two applet user properties and compile it.

Remember:

User property ‘ClientPMUserProp‘ can have more than one value. You use comma as separator to add new value.

Now, the list applet is ready for drag and drop data migration.

Step 3: Identify mandatory columns and compare with spreadsheet

You know, almost every object like Account, Contact, Opportunity has few mandatory fields. Such fields are marked with a red asterisk ∗.

During data import, you have to take care all these required fields, otherwise it will fail.

So, before dragging records, make sure that all mandatory columns are present in the spreadsheet as well as record set.

In our example, Account Name is the mandatory field that we have to take care.

Important notes:

• Data rows should start immediately below column header row in the spreadsheet.
• Sequence of column headers in the spreadsheet does not matter. You can include column header in any order but name should be same as list applet column name.

Step 4: Verify Drag and Drop data migration functionality

To test Drag and Drop functionality, you select the cells that include header and data rows in the spreadsheet and drop it in the list applet.

Siebel can take some time to complete the job if the record set is large.

Once the process is completed, verify records have been created or not.

You can see in the below image. We have two accounts in data file as well as application.

If you are using Microsoft Excel, then follow below steps to drag and drop records

• Position the cursor over a corner of the selection area until MS Excel displays the cursor as a four-way arrow
• Right click and hold down the right mouse button
• Drag and release the selection area in the list applet

Wait!!

It’s not over…

You must read below important points –

1. Using drag and drop functionality, you can not import data in MVG field. If the selected record set has any column to populate MVG field, import process will fail.

So before importing data, make sure that there is no column for MVG field in your spreadsheet.

2. You must take care static picklist values also. If the spreadsheet contains values for any static picklist field and it does not match with any of LOVs, Siebel will throw error – ‘Wrong field values or value types detected in field XXX‘.

So before importing values for picklist field, make sure that same value is already present in LOVs.

3. Though the column header sequence in the spreadsheet does not matter but header name matters a lot. It should match with applet column name.

4. If a column is not displayed in list applet, data for that column will not be imported. However, data for other fields will be imported without any error.

5. Siebel will throw user key error if you try to import more than one record with same set of user key values. But all other records will be imported without any error.

Now it’s over…

Though it is not frequently used Siebel Open UI feature, but quite interesting.. isn’t it?

It can save time, also increase productivity.

Frankly speaking,

We have never activated this drag and drop data migration method in production environment for any customer.

If the end users do not take care data migration properly, it may cause data integrity issue also.

What about you?

Do you think, this drag and drop Siebel open UI feature can help customers to speed up process? Will it create more data related issues?

Please leave your feedback in the comment section below.

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