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How Siebel CRM Defines Read-Only Behavior for a Business Component Field

This topic describes how Siebel CRM defines read-only behavior for a business component. It includes the following topics:

• How the BC Read Only Field User Property Works
• How the Field Read Only Field User Property Works
• How the Parent Read Only Field User Property Works
• How the Parent Read Only Field: Business Component Name User Property Works
• Guidelines for Using a Business Component User Property With the Admin Mode Property

You can turn on or turn off the read-only status of a business component or business component field while Siebel CRM is running, depending on the value that the field of the current record contains. For more information, see Defining Read-Only Behavior for a Business Component.

Table 13 describes the business component user properties that you can use to define read-only behavior. For more information about user properties, see Siebel Developer's Reference.

How the BC Read Only Field User Property Works

The BC Read Only Field user property specifies a Boolean field that, if TRUE, modifies all fields that reside in the current record to read-only. It prevents the user from updating or deleting the record but it does not prevent the user from adding a new record to the business component.

The BC Read Only Field user property includes the following properties:

• Name. Contains the following value:

  BC Read Only Field

• Value. Contains the name of a field that resides in the parent business component of this business component user property. This field must be contain a TRUE or FALSE value.

Example of Using the BC Read Only Field User Property

Assume Siebel CRM must prevent the user from updating an inactive account. The Inactive Account field in an account record is a TRUE or FALSE field that, if TRUE, indicates that the account is inactive. To configure dynamic read-only behavior for the Account business component, you can add a business component user property to the Account business component. This example business component user property contains the following properties:

• Name. BC Read Only Field.
• Value. Inactive Account.

How the Field Read Only Field User Property Works

The Field Read Only Field user property is similar to the BC Read Only Field user property because it tests the field that you define in the Value property, and it enforces a read-only restriction if the value of the test field for the current record is TRUE. Unlike the BC Read Only Field user property, the Field Read Only Field user property restricts only one field in the business component record rather than restricting all fields in the entire business component record.

The Field Read Only Field user property includes the following properties:

• Name. Contains an expression in the following format:

  Field Read Only Field: fieldname

  where:

  • fieldname is the name of the field where Siebel CRM applies a read-only restriction.

    For example:

  Field Read Only Field: Account Status

  You must include only a single space between the colon and the field name.

• Value. Contains the name of the test field. This is a TRUE or FALSE field that resides in the parent business component of the user property.

You must create one Field Read Only Field user property for each field that you must make conditionally read-only.

How the Parent Read Only Field User Property Works

The Parent Read Only Field user property, like the BC Read Only Field user property, places a read-only restriction on an entire business component rather than on a single field. This restriction occurs if a TRUE or FALSE test field includes a TRUE value. Unlike the BC Read Only Field and Field Read Only Field user properties, the Parent Read Only Field user property places a restriction on a child business component of the business component that contains the test field. In the other user properties, Siebel CRM places the read-only restriction on the business component that contains the test field, or on another field in the same business component.

You can use the Parent Read Only Field user property to do the following:

• Restrict the child records that Siebel CRM includes in a multi-value group.
• Restrict the child records that Siebel CRM includes in a master-detail view. You must make sure that Siebel CRM does not use the restricted business component in the context of some other business object.

The Parent Read Only Field user property includes the following properties:

• Name. Contains Parent Read Only Field.
• Value. Contains an expression in the following format:

  business component name.field name

  where:

  • business component name is the name of the business component where the test field resides. For example, Account.Inactive Account.
  • field name is the name of the test field. This field is the TRUE or FALSE field that Siebel CRM evaluates.

You add the user property as a child of the business component that Siebel CRM restricts according to a condition. The business component that contains the test field must be a parent of the restricted business component through a link or through a series of link relationships.

If you use the Parent Read Only Field user property, then the value of the Link Specification property of the test field must be TRUE. If it is not TRUE, then the dynamic read-only functionality does not work. If Siebel CRM displays the child record in the multi-value field in the parent business component, then the Link Specification property of the field does not have to equal TRUE.

Example of Using the Parent Read Only Field User Property

Assume that if the account record includes a Type of Competitor, then Siebel CRM must not update the Account Address Mvg Applet. To do configure this requirement, you add the same calculated field that the Example of Using the BC Read Only Field User Property topic describes. You then add a user property to the Business Address business component with the following values:

• Name. Parent Read Only Field.
• Value. Account.Competitor Calc.

This configuration causes the Account Address Mvg Applet to be read-only if the account record is for a competitor.

How the Parent Read Only Field: Business Component Name User Property Works

The Parent Read Only Field: business component name user property allows a child business component to do a TRUE or FALSE test on multiple parent business components. The behavior of the Parent Read Only Field: business component name user property is similar to the behavior of the Parent Read Only Field user property. The name rather than the value specifies the parent business component. If the calculated value of the field is TRUE or Y, then the child business component is read-only. For more information, see Siebel Developer's Reference.

Guidelines for Using a Business Component User Property With the Admin Mode Property

Do not use a business component user property with an applet that resides in a view if the Admin Mode Flag property of this view contains a check mark. If this Admin Mode Flag contains a check mark, then Siebel CRM does the following:

• Turns off all insert and update restrictions for the business components that the view uses, including the restrictions that the business component user property defines.
• Ignores the Sales Rep and Personal visibility modes of the business component.
• Makes records that do not include a primary team member visible.
• Does not override pop-up visibility.

You can include a check mark in the Admin Mode Flag property only if the view is part of a screen that contains only administration views. You can create a list view where the Admin Mode Flag property contains a check mark if this list view drills down to a detail view that Siebel CRM does not mark as an administration view. This configuration allows you to share a detail view with a list view that is not an administration view.

CAUTION:  All views and drilldowns in a screen that is granted Admin Mode will behave according to the Admin Mode due to their subordinate relationship to the screen. If a view is a child of a screen that is in Admin Mode, and if the Admin Mode Flag property of the view does not contain a check mark, then Siebel CRM still displays the view in Admin Mode.