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Overview of Workflow Policy Objects


Workflow policy objects provide the context in which Workflow Policies operate. The workflow policy object, through the workflow's policy components, defines the set of tables and columns that can be monitored by a policy and how each table in the workflow policy object relates to the other tables. This collection of columns and the relationships between the tables of the workflow policy object represent the entity within Siebel Tools that you must monitor.

Siebel Tools provides visibility to many predefined workflow policy objects for common business needs, such as Opportunity, Service Request, and Contact. You can modify some predefined workflow policy objects through administrative screens in the Siebel client. You can also use Tools to create custom workflow policy objects to meet your specific business requirements.

Relationships Between Workflow Policy Objects

The relationships between Workflow Policy Objects, Workflow Policy Columns, and Workflow Policy Programs are illustrated in Figure 17.

Figure 17. Relationships of Workflow Policy Objects, Programs, and Columns

Relationships between workflow policy objects include:

  1. Workflow Policy Object. A workflow policy object is a collection of workflow policy components. A workflow policy object is defined by the workflow policy object's parent-child relationship to workflow policy components and workflow policy component columns.
  2. Workflow Policy Component. A workflow policy component is a logical mapping of a database table that defines the Siebel database tables that you can monitor. Workflow policy components define the relationships between the primary workflow policy component and other policy components of a workflow policy object. Except for the primary workflow policy component, each workflow policy component defines a relationship to another workflow policy component. This relationship is defined by specifying a source policy column and a target policy column. The source and target columns on a workflow policy component identify foreign key relationships between the tables.

    A primary workflow policy component is a workflow policy component that other workflow policy components are directly or indirectly related to. From these workflow policy components, the workflow policy columns that are available for monitoring in the workflow policy can be defined. Each workflow policy object has one and only one primary workflow policy component. The other workflow policy components of a workflow policy object are related to the primary workflow policy component directly or indirectly.

  3. Workflow Policy Component Column. A workflow policy component column defines the columns in the Siebel database table that you can monitor. You expose these columns for monitoring when you define workflow policy conditions for a workflow policy.

To define a workflow policy object and the workflow's components, familiarize yourself with the Siebel Data Model. For more information, see Siebel Data Model Reference. For information about tables and how tables are related, see Siebel Data Model Reference.

Visualizing the Hierarchy Between Workflow Policy Objects

Each workflow policy component can expose a number of workflow policy component columns. In the Object Explorer, a Workflow Policy Component Column is the child object of a Workflow Policy Component, which is itself a child object of a Workflow Policy Object. To view this hierarchy, see About the Workflow Policy Object Hierarchy in Siebel Tools.

Example Entity Relationship Diagram for a Workflow Policy

Figure 18 displays the entity relationship diagram for four Service Request Workflow Policy components. The diagram illustrates each of the components, their relationship to one another, and which columns are of interest. Service Request is the primary workflow policy component, and the other three components are joined directly or indirectly to it.

Figure 18. Example Entity Relationship Diagram for a Workflow Policy

About Workflow Policies and Monitoring Tables

Workflow Policies can monitor only Siebel tables. You cannot use a Workflow policy to monitor database tables that are external to Siebel.

CAUTION:  Do not monitor the S_DOCK_TXN_LOG table or Enterprise Integration Manager (EIM) table columns. An EIM table is prefixed with EIM_, or ends with _IF. Most tables can be monitored except S_DOCK_TXN_LOG and EIM tables.

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