Bookshelf v7.5: Defining Symbolic URL Arguments

Symbolic URL Arguments allow you to configure Portal Agents in several ways. You use Symbolic URL Arguments for two purposes, to define data to be sent to an external host and to submit commands to SWE that affect the behavior of Portal Agents.

When defining arguments that send data, such as authentication requirements, the Argument Name and Argument Value are appended to the URL as a attribute-value pair. You can define symbolic URL arguments that send data as constants or that dynamically retrieve data from the Siebel database. Symbolic URLs allow you to retrieve data from the user's instantiated Siebel business component, such as Service Request or Account, or retrieve data from the Siebel Personalization business component, such as the user's ZIP Code or Language.

NOTE: See Determining the Login Requirements for information about how to determine required data for applications that use form-based authentication.

Symbolic URL Arguments also allow you to implement commands which you use to define the behavior of Portal Agents. See Portal Agent Command Reference for usage descriptions of available commands.


Field	Description
Name	Name of the argument. For arguments of type Constant, Field, and Personalization Attribute, this field defines the exact field name expected by the external application. It is the first part of a attribute-value pair appended to the URL. For argument types of commands, the Name can usually be anything. The only exception to this is for the EncodeURL and PreloadURL commands. See Portal Agent Command Reference.
Required	When this field is checked (default) the argument must have a value. If you are configuring an argument that does not have a value, uncheck the Required field. If an argument has no value and the Required field is checked, the request is not sent because there is no value to append to the URL.
Argument Type	They Argument Type determines the source of the data to be send along in the HTTP request. Possible values are: Constant. Sends the value defined in the Argument Value field in the request. Field. Sends the value of a single-value or multi-value field from the current Siebel business component. Personalization Attribute. Sends the value of a field from the Personalization business component. URL Argument. Data comes from the named argument of the current request. Language Value. The user's current language setting; for example, ENU. Command. Implements commands that allow you to affect the behavior of the symbolic URL. For a complete list of commands see Portal Agent Command Reference. Field - All Values. Data from all records in the working record set for the current business component are sent in the request. This argument type is only valid for eContent Services functionality, such as multiple stock ticker retrieval.
Argument Value	The value of the argument varies depending on the Argument Type. Descriptions of possible values for each argument type are described below. If the Argument Type is: Constant, the Argument Value is the second part of the attribute-value pair that is appended to the URL. Field, the Argument Value defines a field name from the current business component. The data from this field is the second part of an attribute-value pair that is appended to the URL. Profile Attribute, the Argument Value defines a field name on the Siebel personalization business component. The data from this field is the second part of an attribute-value pair that is appended to the URL URL Argument, the Argument Value defines the name of the argument on the incoming SWE request. Language Value, the Argument Value is left null. Command, the Argument Value typically defines the name of the command. See Portal Agent Command Reference. Field - All Value, the Argument Value defines the field name on the current business component from which data is to be retrieved.
Argument Value	Although this field is rarely used, it can be used to identify additional arguments.
Substitute in Text	When this field is checked (not checked by default) the value of this argument is substituted for the name of the argument returned in the body of the response HTML You can use this for argument substitution in the text of a document with values form the database.This option is rarely used.
Sequence	Determines the sequence of the arguments. In some cases the target host requires arguments in a particular order.

NOTE: If the disposition type of the symbolic URL is Server Redirect, then there is a required argument and several optional arguments that provide the data necessary for SWE to construct the header in the 302 Response. See Server Redirect for the details.