Siebel Field Service Guide > Agreements > Process of Setting Up Agreements >

Creating Agreements from Orders and Quotes

When a user clicks the Auto Contract button from either a quote or an order, the agreement created contains a large amount of information taken from the original record. This data is carried from the quote or order to the new agreement.

The process for copying information from orders and quotes to agreements uses signals and data maps. See Siebel Order Management Infrastructure Guide for more information on signals and data maps.

Data Copying Process Flow

Data mapping and signals work together to call the ISS Copy business service, allowing the copying of appropriate data to be performed. The following is a description of what occurs in this process.

1. An administrator makes sure that the signals are set up appropriately.
2. An administrator defines a data map. This definition is stored in the Siebel database.
3. A user makes a request (for example, by clicking the Revise button). The request triggers a signal (ReviseCopyAgreement), which then launches the ISS Copy Service business service.
4. The ISS Copy Service business service retrieves the variable map definition, either from the database or from the cache.
5. The ISS Copy Service business service issues the required queries and business service calls to construct a property set.
6. The controller workflow invokes the ISS Copy Service business service's Copy method, passing the ReviseAgreement data map as a parameter.
7. The ISS Copy Service business service writes the updated field values back to the Siebel database.

See ISS Copy Service Business Service for more information about this business service.

Using Signals to Control Data Copying

In earlier Siebel releases, Order Management and Agreement functions were hard-coded. However, in version 7.8, every interaction between order management and agreement components occurs through an application protocol interface (API) invocation. These API invocations are called signals. A signal is a request to perform a business function.

Signals can be configured or redirected. A signal action property specifies the business service or workflow to invoke when the signal is raised. Signal action parameters are the configurable input arguments used to signal action workflows or business service methods. The business service methods and workflows are defined using the Administration - Order Management screen > Signals view.

To review the signals which control the copying of data from quotes and orders to agreements

1. Navigate to the Administration - Order Management screen > Signals view.
2. In the Signals list, query for the following three signal names:
   • AutoAgreeFromOrder. This signal is invoked when the user clicks the Auto Contract button on the Service Order screen > List > Agreements view. It instructs Field Service to copy the current order to an agreement using the ISS Copy Service business service.
   • AutoAgreement. This signal is invoked when the user clicks the Auto Contract button on the Quotes screen. It instructs Field Service to copy the current quote to an agreement using the ISS Copy Service business service.
   • ReviseCopyAgreement. This signal is invoked when the user clicks the Revise button on the Agreements screen > Line Items form. It instructs Field Service to copy the agreement record and the fields on the agreement, and then lock the original agreement object.
3. In the Versions list, drill down on the latest workspace for each of the above signals.

   The Actions view appears.

4. Note the following information in the Actions list:
   • The Sequence field shows the order in which the calls to the business services are made.
   • The Service Name field shows the names of the workflows called from the signal.
5. (Optional) If you wish to change the sequence of calls by adding additional signal actions, make the required changes in the Actions list.

Using Data Maps to Define the Data for Copying

Data maps align the fields from the source object to the destination object. The process that maps the fields copied between objects is called MapName.

AutoAgreeFromOrder and AutoAgreement are the two data maps that map the quote and order data to the agreement when the ISS Copy business service is called. These data maps are passed into the business service as a parameter. They can be extended if it is required that more data from the quote or order be passed to the agreement.

Alternatively, if users want to create an order or quote from an agreement, administrators can create a new signal calling the ISS Copy business service and then map between the agreement and the quote or order. For example, this could be done to create a quote for a renewal. The signal could then be called from behind the Renewal button to automatically create the quote or order.

To review the data mapping behind the copying of data from quotes and orders to agreements

1. Navigate to the Administration - Application screen > Data Map Administration view.
2. In the Data Map Object list, query for the following data maps:
   • AutoAgreeFromOrder. This data map is used for mapping order data to the agreement.
   • AutoAgreement. This data map is used for mapping quote data to the agreement.
3. Note the following information in the Data Map Component list:
   • The Source Business Component field shows the source business components for the order or quote.
   • The Destination Business Component field shows the destination business component for the agreement.

     For example, in the AutoAgreeFromOrder data map, the Order Entry - Line Items source business component maps to the FS Agreement Item destination business component.

4. (Optional) If you want to make any changes to the mapping, select the new source and destination business components in the Data Map Component list.