Siebel Business Process Framework: Task UI Guide > Configuring Task UI > Configuring UI Objects Used in Tasks >

Configuring the Ad-Hoc UI for Task Instantiation

This topic explains how to configure an ad-hoc (traditional) Siebel user interface to run tasks.

Configuring Task Groups

The following procedures explain how to configure a task group.

To add a task group

1. In the Object Explorer (in Siebel Tools), click the Task Group object type.
2. Right-click the Task Groups OBLE, and choose New Record from the pop-up menu.
3. Enter a Name for the task group.
4. For the Project property, select the project to which you want to add task group.
5. If this task group is to contain context-sensitive tasks, check the Require Context BC checkbox.
6. Now you can add task group items, as described in the next procedure.

To add task group items to a task group

1. In the Object Explorer (in Siebel Tools), click the Task Group object type.
2. In the Task Groups OBLE, and select the task group to which you want to add a task group item.
3. Right-click the Task Group Items OBLE, and choose New Record from the pop-up menu.
4. For the Type property, select Task.
5. For the Action Invoked property, select the task you want to invoke.
6. If you checked the Require Context BC checkbox when defining this task group, select a Context Business Component.

   The Context Business Component property of the task group item is used to associate a business component with a task. A task can require that the context business component be the business component of one of the applets in the current view in order to execute that task.

7. (Optional) You can specify a Sequence.

   The Sequence allows you to specify the order in which to arrange the tasks in the group.

Determining Visibility of a Task Group

The top-level Task Group object references tasks that can be launched when the business component is attached to an active and visible applet. In addition, the task must be defined as a task in the running Siebel application (for example, CallCenter). The display names for the tasks are sourced from the associated task objects.

Information in the Action pane is rendered based on the properties of the Task Step and Task Group objects.

NOTE:  To make a task available for every view, add the task to a task group associated with the Task Pane View.

The tasks in the Context pane are rendered based on the following:

• Association between view and task group. If the task or a group of tasks belongs to a task group associated with the relevant view, it is rendered.
• Application attribute. If the Application attribute does not filter out the task, the task is rendered.
• Require Context BC attribute. This attribute indicates that the task group is to contain context-sensitive tasks. When a task group to which a task belongs is a candidate to render, the context business component can constrain the display of a task as follows:
  • If the task does not require any context business component, it is displayed.
  • If the task requires a context business component, it is shown only on the view in which the context business component is the business component one of the applets.
• Responsibilities. The end user must have the appropriate responsibility assigned in order to view the relevant task.

A task group, if used across multiple views, will have the same display name. This is the group display name.

NOTE:  While a group display name is the same for all tasks in a task group, an individual task will have the same display name regardless of the task group with which it is associated.

Configuring Buttons for Task Instantiation

The following procedure explains how to configure buttons on applets that users can click to initiate a task (for example, a button labeled Update Contact Info in your ad-hoc My Contacts list applet). For more information about configuring buttons, see Configuring Siebel Business Applications.

To configure a button for task instantiation

1. In Siebel Tools, add a control to the applet.
2. For the HTML Type property, select MiniButton.
3. Specify a Display Name so it can be displayed.
4. For the Method Invoked property, enter LaunchTask.
5. For the Task Name property, enter the name of the task to be invoked.

Configuring Menus for Task Instantiation

The following procedure explains how to configure menus on applets to initiate tasks. For more information about configuring menus, see Configuring Siebel Business Applications.

To configure a menu for task instantiation

1. In Siebel Tools, create a new command:
   1. Provide a Name for the command that reflects the action it performs.
   2. For the Business Service property, select Task UI Service (SWE).
   3. For the Target property, select Server.
   4. For the Method property, enter LaunchTask.
   5. For the Method Argument property, enter the name of the task.

      NOTE:  You must create a new command for each task, because the task to launch is specified in the properties of the command.

2. Add a menu item to the applet's menu that invokes the created command for the task.

Configuring iHelp Links for Task Instantiation

There are two types of links that you can use in the iHelp pane: an iHelp item (traditionally called iHelp task), and a Task UI task. To display a Task UI task link in the iHelp pane, the task must be associated with an iHelp item on iHelp pane. For information about configuring iHelp items, see the Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

To add a link for instantiating a task through iHelp

1. Configure an iHelp item in the Administration - iHelp screen using the procedures described in the Siebel Applications Administration Guide.
2. In Administration-iHelp all iHelp items, select an iHelp item to associate with the Task UI task.
3. Click Revise, and then click the More Info tab.
4. Select the appropriate task in the Related Task field.
5. Click Activate to activate the iHelp item.

   NOTE:  If the Activate button is unavailable, check the Active flag in the Responsibility tab for the appropriate role to enable the Activate button.

6. Click the iHelp icon to see the link to the task displayed under its associated iHelp item.