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Siebel Connector and Integration of Siebel UCM Applications
Siebel Connector for Information File Applications, known as Siebel Connector for Universal Customer Master Applications, describes a set of configurable components for integration among enterprise applications and Siebel UCM Applications.
The Siebel Connector for Universal Customer Master Applications comprises five prebuilt business services:
- FINS CIF Transaction Manager
- FINS CIF Converter
- FINS CIF Dispatcher
- FINS CIF Security Manager
- FINS CIF Publish/Subscribe Service
FINS CIF Transaction Manager
The FINS CIF Transaction Manager executes operations specified in Universal Customer Master Application message instances as Siebel database transactions. The FINS CIF Transaction Manager also:
- Evaluates heterogeneous commands and executes the transactions.
- Invokes business services, including Siebel eAI, that are configured in its user properties. These business services can be invoked multiple times.
- Translates Universal Customer Master Application command elements to Siebel Adapter actions and combines return results as a single property set.
Table 1 lists the user properties for FINS CIF Transaction Manager.
Table 1. User Properties of FINS CIF Transaction Manager
Name
|
Value
|
Description
|
DispatcherMapName
|
CIFDispMap
|
Transaction manager uses this map to tag the Body information for other components. This value can be set as a runtime input argument as well.
|
IgnoreSvcMethodArgs
|
true or false
|
Allows runtime input arguments.
|
XXX (Operation)
|
ServiceName/MethodName/Argument
|
Type of operation to use. For details, see FINS CIF Transaction Manager. |
The FINS CIF Transaction Manager uses the pre-built methods described in Table 2 to process inbound messages.
Table 2. Pre-built Methods for FINS CIF Transaction Manager
Name
|
Value
|
Description
|
Execute
|
Execute Transaction
|
Used for inbound or outbound purposes, as long as the integration object instance is provided. Note that you should use the Execute Outbound method when Row ID is the only available input.
|
FINS CIF Transaction Manager business service uses combinations of user property, method and method arguments to achieve different tasks. Table 3 lists the method arguments available to use with FINS CIF Transaction Manager business service.
Table 3. Method Arguments for Use with FINS CIF Transaction Manager
Argument
|
Default Value
|
Description
|
OnlyIOI
|
FALSE
|
Used for Inbound integration. The inbound message may contain header, body, and envelope portion. When Transaction Manager takes the proper operation against the Siebel application, the integration object instances for response is generated as well. Information from the request message is dropped if this value were set to true. Therefore, the FINS CIF Converter, and others, do not need to deal with the overhead. If this is not set to true, then request information is still carried over.
|
XMLHierarchy
|
N/A
|
Property set in CIF integration object hierarchy.
|
TurnOffCIF
|
true or false
|
Allows runtime input argument to turn off Siebel UCM Applications specific operations. Setting this parameter to true will cause the CIF Transaction Manager to bypass the Unique ID generation for Party UID feature and the cross-referencing feature.
|
Although these arguments are available for use by FINS CIF Transaction Manager, not all can be used with each method. Table 4 lists the arguments for each method.
Table 4. Execute Method Arguments
Argument
|
Display Name
|
Data Type
|
Type
|
Optional
|
Method: Execute
|
OnlyIOI
|
Only produce Integration Object Instance
|
String
|
Input
|
|
StatusObject
|
Status Object
|
String
|
Input
|
Y
|
TurnOffCIF
|
Turn Off CIF features
|
String
|
Input
|
Y
|
XMLHierarchy
|
XML Property Set
|
Hierarchy
|
Input / Output
|
|
FINS CIF Converter
The FINS CIF Converter converts Siebel UCM Applications messages received to a property set for inbound communication. The converter iterates through the requests and responses in the message to construct any error information (if any), and also constructs the envelope and header section of the message. Table 5 lists the user properties for this converter.
Table 5. User Properties for FINS CIF Converter
Name
|
Value
|
Description
|
EscapeNames
|
true or false
|
If set to true, the converter replaces illegal XML name characters with escape characters. Otherwise, it ignores illegal XML name characters. The default value is true.
|
HierarchyFormat
|
XML Hierarchy
|
Format of the property set input or output. For internal use.
|
XMLEnvIntObjectName
|
<integration object name>
|
Name of an integration object that defines the content and hierarchy for the envelope and header section of CRMML. The default envelope integration object is Siebel UCM Applications Envelope.
|
This service provides several ready-to-use methods as described in Table 6.
Table 6. Methods for FINS Converter
Methods
|
Display Name
|
Description
|
PropSetToXMLPropSet
|
PropSetToXMLPropSet
|
Converts an integration object hierarchy to XML hierarchy.
|
XMLPropSetToPropSet
|
XMLPropSetToPropSet
|
Converts an XML hierarchy to an integration object hierarchy.
|
GenerateErrorPropSet
|
GenerateErrorPropSet
|
Constructs the XML hierarchy to respond to the external systems when undesired operation or configuration errors occurred.
|
For each method defined, the FINS CIF Converter business service takes input arguments and produces output arguments. These arguments are described in Table 7.
Table 7. Arguments for the FINS CIF Converter
Argument
|
Default
|
Description
|
Escape Names
|
True
|
Indicates whether to remove the escape characters or invalid XML characters from the XML hierarchy.
|
XML Hierarchy
|
N/A
|
Property Set in external integration object or XML hierarchy.
|
Truncate Field Values
|
True
|
Truncate field values.
|
Contains Inline Attachments
|
True
|
Indicates the message contains attachment documents.
|
ErrorMessageText
|
N/A
|
The actual error text to be set to the <ErrorDescription> element in CRMML fault section.
|
ErrorCode
|
N/A
|
The actual error code to be set to the <ErrorId> element in CRMML fault section.
|
ErrXMLHierarchy
|
N/A
|
Input hierarchy will contain the request XML hierarchy to be associated with when generating the respond XML hierarchy. This argument can be ignored.
Output hierarchy will contain the XML hierarchy with <ErrorInfo> aggregate generated.
|
CIFSystemContainer
|
N/A
|
Property Set storing the sending system information for constructing response messages.
|
FailSecurityHierarchy
|
N/A
|
Property Set storing the operations which fail the security system check.
|
Each FINS CIF Converter method uses a group of these method arguments to convert the data for the next service in the integration process. Table 8, Table 9, and Table 10 display the arguments for each method.
Table 8. Argument Specifications for the PropSetToXML Method
Name
|
Default Display Name
|
Data Type
|
Type
|
Optional
|
XMLHierarchy
|
<IgnoreEmptyTag>
|
Hierarchy
|
Input/Output
|
No
|
FailSecurityHierarchy
|
FailSecurityHierarchy
|
Hierarchy
|
Input
|
Yes
|
CIFSystemContainer
|
CIFSystemContainer
|
Hierarchy
|
Input
|
No
|
Table 9. Argument Specifications for the XMLPropSetToPropSet Method
Name
|
Default Display Name
|
Data Type
|
Type
|
Optional
|
ContainsInlineAttachments
|
Contains Inline Attachments
|
String
|
Input
|
Yes
|
TruncateFieldValues
|
Truncate Field Values
|
String
|
Input
|
Yes
|
XMLHierarchy
|
XML Hierarchy
|
Hierarchy
|
Input/Output
|
No
|
CIFSystemContainer
|
CIFSystemContainer
|
Hierarchy
|
Output
|
No
|
Table 10. Argument Specifications for the XMLToPropSet Method
Name
|
Default Display Name
|
Data Type
|
Type
|
Optional
|
ErrorMessageText
|
Error Message Text
|
String
|
Input
|
No
|
ErrorCode
|
Error Code
|
String
|
Input
|
No
|
XMLHierarchy
|
Err XML Hierarchy
|
Hierarchy
|
Input/Output
|
No
|
FINS CIF Dispatcher
The FINS CIF Dispatcher is responsible for receiving and dispatching inbound messages. It receives the inbound message and scans the message for any operations specified in its rule sets dispatcher map, and associates the integration objects for the connector components. It then parses the envelope of the message, converts it to the header property set, and passes the integration objects for the specified action, the envelope layer property set, and the XML message to the connector components for further processing. Table 11 lists the user properties for FINS CIF Dispatcher.
Table 11. User Properties for FINS CIF Dispatcher
Name
|
Value
|
Description
|
DispatcherMapName
|
<integration object name>
|
Name of an integration object that details the dispatching rules and syntax for the CRMML standard. This map is usually created along with the other integration objects by the wizard. The default map name is "CIFDispMap".
|
XMLEnvIntObjectName
|
<integration object name>
|
Name of an integration object that defines the content and hierarchy for the envelope and header section of CRMML. The default envelope integration object is "CIF Envelope".
|
XMLFaultObject_O
|
<path to fault section or element>
|
This allows dispatcher to identify a fault section with the first token and further confirm it with the value of second token if applicable. Extra fault objects can be added by incrementing the name with _1, _2, and so on. An example for the value for this user property name is XMLFaultObject_1 and value is //IOI/@cmdstatus;fail.
|
The CIF Dispatcher business service provides ready-to-use methods and method arguments described in Table 12.
Table 12. FINS CIFDispatcher Methods
Method
|
Display Name
|
Description
|
DispatchMessage
|
Dispatch Message
|
Validates the incoming XML message. If the message conforms to the dispatching rules, integration object names and other necessary information will be attached. It also checks for the respective envelope, header and fault section of the message and identifies them.
|
For each method defined, the FINS CIF Dispatcher business service takes input arguments and produces output arguments. These arguments are described in Table 13 and Table 14.
Table 13. FINS CIF Dispatcher Method Arguments
Argument
|
Default
|
Description
|
XML Hierarchy
|
N/A
|
Property Set in XML hierarchy.
|
Table 14. Method Arguments for DispatchMessage Method
Name
|
Display Name
|
Data Type
|
Type
|
Optional
|
XMLHierarchy
|
XML Hierarchy
|
Hierarchy
|
Input/Output
|
No
|
FINS CIF Security Manager
The FINS CIF Security Manager acts as the gatekeeper of the Siebel Universal Customer Master Application. It verifies the System ID in the message header against the System Registrations in the Siebel Universal Customer Master Application before the system can perform its desired operations. After a system passes the registration verification process, the FINS CIF Security Manager cycles through the heterogeneous commands in the body. The FINS CIF Security Manager checks the privilege of the individual operations in the body sections against the privileges in the Customer Information for the particular object and operation. For any fail operation instances in the body, it is removed from the XMLHierarchy and attached to the FailSecurityHierarchy. Table 15 lists the user properties for the FINS CIF Security Manager.
Table 15. User Properties for FINS CIF Security Manager
Name
|
Value
|
Description
|
IXMLOperation_ADD
|
Insert
|
Insert operation field Name value pair.
Checks the Insert field for privilege if the FINS CIF Dispatcher tags the business process as an IXMLOperation_ADD operation.
|
IXMLOperation_DELETE
|
Delete
|
Delete operation field Name value pair.
Checks the Delete field for privilege if the FINS CIF Dispatcher tags the business process as an IXMLOperation_DELETE operation.
|
IXMLOperation_QUERY
|
Query
|
Query operation field key value pair.
Checks the Query field for privilege if the FINS CIF Dispatcher tags the business process as an IXMLOperation_QUERY operation.
|
IXMLOperation_UPDATE
|
Update
|
Update operation field key value pair.
Checks the Update field for privilege if the FINS CIF Dispatcher tags the business process as an IXMLOperation_UPDATE operation.
|
The FINS CIF Security Manager processes only inbound messages. Table 16 lists and describes the method that process inbound messages.
Table 16. Process Method for FINS CIF Security Manager
Name
|
Display Name
|
Description
|
SecurityCheck
|
Security Check
|
Supports only inbound requests to the Siebel Connector for Universal Customer Master Applications. This method checks the System ID in the Envelope against the Siebel Universal Customer Master Application for System Registration. It also checks the individual business process in the body for privileges to perform operations specified.
|
FINS CIF Security Manager business service uses a combination of user property and method arguments for its methods to achieve different tasks. Table 17 lists the method arguments available to use with FINS CIF Security Manager business service.
Table 17. Method Arguments for Use with FINS CIF Security Manager
Argument
|
Display Name
|
Description
|
SecurityEnforced
|
N/A
|
Use to turn on or off the Security checking process. When this value is set to false the FINS CIF Security Manager will bypass the registration verification process and the operation privilege checking process. FINS CIF Security Manager will perform its security checking operations only when the value is set to true.
|
XMLHierarchy
|
N/A
|
Property set in CIF integration object hierarchy.
|
FailSecurityHierarchy
|
N/A
|
Property set in Siebel UCM Applications integration object hierarchy. It includes failed system registration verification body instances or individual business processes that have no privilege to perform the operation specified.
|
Table 18 lists the detailed arguments for the method Security Check.
Table 18. Arguments for Method Security Check
Argument
|
Display Name
|
Data Type
|
Type
|
Optional
|
Method: SecurityCheck
|
SecurityEnforced
|
Security Enforced
|
String
|
Input
|
N
|
XMLHierarchy
|
XML Hierarchy
|
Hierarchy
|
Input or Output
|
N
|
FailSecurityHierarchy
|
Fail Security Hierarchy
|
Hierarchy
|
Input
|
Y
|
FINS CIF Publish/Subscribe Service
The FINS CIF Publish/Subscribe Service supports both Real Time and Daily Batch publish types. The Real Time publish module takes the Siebel Connector for Universal Customer Master Applications output message, which could include heterogeneous body segments with different business object types, as an input message. It dynamically constructs a unique output message for each system based on the Business Object type that the system registered in the Publish/Subscribe administration view. The Real Time publish module sends the constructed messages to the registered systems through a registered protocol type.
Similarly, the Daily Batch publish module publishes the synchronization information of registered Business Object types. The module constructs messages according to Siebel UCM Applications message specification to the registered system through registered protocol types at the registered publish time.
Both publish modules then update the Last Publish time to the system in the Publish/Subscribe table.
The FINS CIF Publish/Subscribe Service has no user properties.
The FINS CIF Publish/Subscribe Service uses the pre-built methods described in Table 19 to publish messages.
Table 19. Method for FINS CIF Publish/Subscribe
Name
|
Display Name
|
Description
|
PublishMethod
|
Publish
|
Dynamically routes to Real Time or Daily Batch publish style according to the incoming message style.
|
FINS CIF Publish/Subscribe Service uses a combination of methods and method arguments to achieve different tasks. Table 20 lists the method arguments available to use with FINS CIF Publish/Subscribe Service business service.
Table 20. Method Arguments for Use with FINS CIF Publish/Subscribe
Argument
|
Display Name
|
Description
|
XMLHierarchy
|
N/A
|
Property set in CIF integration object hierarchy. It is the input of real-time publish.
|
Account
|
N/A
|
Input of Account integration object name to be used during Daily Batch publishing time. It is the keyword for identifying the integration object associated with CIFAccount messages.
|
Contact
|
N/A
|
Input of Contact integration object name to be used during Daily Batch publishing time. It is the keyword for identifying the integration object associated with CIFContact messages.
|
Household
|
N/A
|
Input of Household integration object name to be used during Daily Batch publishing time. It is the keyword for identifying the integration object associated with CIFHousehold messages
|
Although these arguments are available to be used by FINS CIF Publish/Subscribe Service, not all can be used with each method. Table 21 and Table 22 list the arguments for each method.
Table 21. Argument Details for Publish Method (Real Time)
Argument
|
Display Name
|
Data Type
|
Type
|
Optional
|
XMLHierarchy
|
XML Hierarchy
|
Hierarchy
|
Input
|
|
Table 22. Argument Details for Publish Method (Daily Batch)
Argument
|
Display Name
|
Data Type
|
Type
|
Optional
|
Account
|
Batch Account Integration Object Name
|
String
|
Input
|
|
Contact
|
Batch Contact Integration Object Name
|
String
|
Input
|
|
Household
|
Batch Household Integration Object Name
|
String
|
Input
|
|
NOTE: For Daily Batch, configure one of the integration objects to be used in each batch publish workflow.
Transport Adapter
Transport Adapter is a prebuilt business service providing an interface between Siebel eBusiness Applications and external applications. Transports allow Siebel UCM Applications to exchange data with external applications using standard technologies for both synchronous and asynchronous communication protocols. Transports provide connectivity to virtually any communication protocol that can represent data as text or binary messages, including MQSeries from IBM, and HTTP.
For details on transport adapters, see Transports and Interfaces: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume III.
Siebel EIM and Integration of Siebel UCM Applications
Siebel EIM is an important component of Siebel UCM Applications. It bulk imports and exports data residing in other back-office systems into Siebel UCM Applications and consolidates and replicates information from these sources. Siebel EIM provides a schema abstraction and has high throughput. Some features of Siebel EIM include:
- Denormalized interface tables
- Declarative mapping defined in Siebel Tools
- Automated SQL generation
- Support for parallelized import
For further information about Siebel EIM, see Siebel Enterprise Integration Manager Administration Guide.
