Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide > Adding Workflow Process Steps > Adding Steps and Connectors >
Adding a Business Service Step
A business service step is a type of workflow process step that allows you to run a predefined or custom action in a workflow. The following items are examples of predefined business services:
- Notification. Siebel CRM can use the Outbound Communication Server business service to send a notification to an employee or a contact.
- Assignment. Assignment Manager can call the Synchronous Assignment Manager Request business service to assign an object in a workflow process.
- Server task. You can use the Asynchronous Server Requests or the Synchronous Server Requests business service to run a server component task.
For a list of some of the more commonly used predefined business services, see Predefined Business Services. To define your own custom business service, you can use Siebel Tools or the Administration-business service view in the Siebel client. You can use Siebel VB or Siebel eScript to define your own custom business service that you call from a workflow process. To add a business service step
- Add a business service step to a workflow process.
For more information, see Adding a Step to a Workflow Process.
- Make sure the step you added in Step 1 is still chosen in the Process Designer.
- In the Business Service Name property, choose the name of the business service that this workflow process must call.
This drop-down list contains the business services that are defined in Siebel Tools or the Siebel client. For more information about defining a custom business service, see Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.
CAUTION: A business service that Siebel CRM calls from a workflow process must not include a browser script. A business service only works with a server script. If Siebel CRM runs a business service, and if this business service includes a browser script, and if a workflow process calls this business service on the Siebel Server, then the business service might fail.
- In the Business Service Method property, choose the method that calls the business service. The choices available for this property depend on the business service you defined in Step 3.
- Make sure the business service step is chosen.
- Use the MVPW to define input arguments and output arguments.
For more information, see Defining a Step Argument in the MVPW.
Making a Business Service Visible to a Workflow Process
A business service includes the business service, business service method, and business service method argument. Each of these objects include a Display Name property and a Hidden property. To display each object in various drop-down lists in Siebel Tools, the Hidden property of the object must be set to FALSE. For example, Siebel Tools displays the methods and arguments that you define in a business service in the drop-down lists in the Arguments list. Siebel CRM does not hide a business service that you define in the Siebel client, by default. To make a business service visible to a workflow process
- In Siebel Tools, in the Object Explorer, click Business Service.
- In the Business Services list, locate the business service you must modify.
- In the Properties window, change the Hidden property to FALSE.
- In the Object Explorer, expand the Business Service tree, and then click Business Service Method.
- In the Business Service Methods list, locate the method you must modify, and then change the Hidden property to FALSE in the properties window.
- Repeat Step 5 for each method, if necessary.
- In the Object Explorer, expand the Business Service Method tree, and then click Business Service Method Arg.
- In the Business Service Method Arguments list, click the argument you must modify.
- In the Properties window, change the Hidden property to FALSE.
- Repeat Step 9 for each method argument, if necessary.
Using the Pass By Reference Feature with a Business Service
You can use the PassByRef user property on a predefined business service. For more information, see Using the Pass By Reference Feature with a Sub Process. To use the Pass By Reference feature with a business service
- In the Object Explorer, click Business Service.
- In the Business Services list, locate the predefined business service you must modify.
You cannot use the Pass By Reference feature with a custom business service. You can use it only with a predefined business service.
- In the Object Explorer, expand the Business Service tree, and then click Business Service User Prop.
- In the Business Service User Prop list, add a user property using values from the following table.
- Make sure the Pass By Reference check box for the business service step contains a check mark.
If you do not do this, then the Workflow Engine returns an error.
How a Business Service Calls a UNIX Shell Script
A Siebel process that runs on UNIX runs as the user process that starts Siebel Services. If a workflow process calls a business service that calls a UNIX shell script, then this shell script runs as the Siebel Service Owner account.
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