Configuring Siebel Business Applications > Configuring Menus, Toolbars, and Icons >

About Menus and Toolbars

Menus and toolbars are user interface elements that allow the user to initiate an action. For example:

• The application menu is a menu that provides the user a way to perform a task consistently across a Siebel application. Siebel CRM displays it in a frame near the top of the Siebel client in the browser window. This menu includes submenus, such as File, Edit, View, Navigate, Query, Tools, and Help.
• The application toolbar is a toolbar that provides the user a quick way to access some of the more commonly performed tasks. Siebel CRM displays it just beneath the primary tab bar, as illustrated in Figure 80. Some icons on the application toolbar are redundant with menu items in the application menu.

Figure 80. Menu and Toolbar in Siebel CRM

Applet Menu

An applet can contain a menu. An applet menu is a contextual menu that includes a number of menu items. Each menu item in an applet menu provides the user a way to perform a task in the context of the applet. It is located in the upper left corner of an applet. To view an example applet menu, in the Siebel client, click the Accounts screen tab, and then the Accounts List link. In the Accounts List applet, click Menu. The menu that Siebel CRM displays is an example of an applet menu. If you click it, then Siebel CRM displays a pop-up contextual menu.

How Siebel CRM Handles a Menu or Toolbar Action

If the user clicks a menu item or toolbar icon, then Siebel CRM calls a method. This method can exist in one of the following ways:

• In a service on the browser or server
• In a class in the browser application, such as an applet or business component class
• In a class in the server infrastructure, such as a Siebel Web Engine frame manager

The menu item or toolbar icon is defined to target the following items:

• A method name
• A method handler
• A service (optional)

A web template involves toolbar tags. For more information, see Using Web Templates to Customize Toolbars and Siebel Developer's Reference.