Siebel Financial Services Connector for ACORD P&C and Surety Guide > Configuration Roadmap > Configuring the Workflow Process >

Configuring an Outbound Siebel Connector for ACORD XML

The following procedure shows how to construct a workflow to handle an outbound message.

To create an outbound connector

1. Start Siebel Financial Services.
2. Open the Siebel Workflow Administration view.
3. Create a new record in the Workflow Process view.

   The keyboard shortcut is CTRL+N.

4. Give the workflow a name.

   The name must be unique within the project. The other values are optional, so for this example, they are left blank.

   In the example, the name is ACORD Add Auto Policy Outbound Workflow. The complete workflow is included in Sample Workflows.

5. Click the Process Designer tab.

   The Process Designer provides a blank working space onto which you will drag the step symbols and connectors that create the workflow.

   For complete details about using this working space, and information about workflows in general, see Siebel Business Process Designer Administration Guide.

6. Drag Start, Stop, and Business Service steps onto the work area, and name them appropriately.
7. Use connector arrows to connect the Start and Business Service steps.

   Continue until you have created a workflow with the required components. Figure 6 shows the structure of the finished workflow.

   Figure 6. ACORD Add Auto Policy Outbound Workflow

Adding Process Property Values

You need to create Process Property values for the workflow, to be used in later configurations.

To create process properties

1. Click the Process Properties tab.
2. Enter the values shows in Table 27.

Configuring the FINS ACORD XML Transaction Manager

Now that the workflow structure exists, you can configure the components. The first outbound component is the transaction manager.

To configure the transaction manager

1. Name the transaction manager appropriately (it must be unique within the workflow).
2. Choose the type of business service from the multi-value group (MVG) window.

   For this component, choose the FINS ACORD XML Transaction Manager.

3. Choose the method.

   The example uses the Execute Outbound method because the data is being sent out from the Siebel data source.

4. Establish the input and output arguments.

   As for all Siebel business services, create a new record (CTRL+N) for a new argument. Select from the available input arguments. Add all required arguments first, then go on to any optional arguments. See Siebel Connector for ACORD XML for input and output specifications.

   Following are the input argument settings for the example transaction manager configuration.

   Input Arguments	Type	Value	Property Name	Property Data Type
   DispatcherMapName	Process Property		ACORD DispMap Integration Object Name	String
   IXMLMapPath	Process Property		ACORD Message Full Name	String
   PrimaryRowId	Process Property		Object Id	String
   SiebelFINSOperationOut	Process Property		SiebelFINSOperationOut	String

   Following are the output argument settings for the example transaction manager configuration.

   Property Name	Type	Value	Output Argument
   PropSet TransMgr Out	Output Argument		XML Hierarchy

Configuring the FINS ACORD XML Data Transformation Engine

The second component is the data transformation engine (DTE).

To configure the DTE

1. Name the DTE appropriately (it must be unique within the workflow).
2. Choose the type of business service from the multi-value group (MVG) window.

   For this component, choose the FINS ACORD XML DTE.

3. Choose the method.

   The example uses the Transform to External Hierarchy method because the data is moving from a Siebel internal system to an external system.

4. Set the input and output arguments.

   These arguments include the DTE map name, created during the configuration of the internal and external integration objects.

   Following are the input argument settings for the example DTE configuration.

   Input Arguments	Type	Value	Property Name	Property Data Type
   XML Property Set	Process Property		PropSet TransMgr Out	Hierarchy

   Following are the output argument settings for the example DTE configuration.

   Property Name	Type	Value	Output Argument
   PropSet DTE Out	Output Argument		XML Property Set

Configuring the FINS ACORD XML Converter

The third component is the converter.

To configure the converter

1. Name the converter appropriately (it must be unique within the workflow).
2. Choose the type of business service from the multi-value group (MVG) window.

   For this component, choose the FINS ACORD XML Converter.

3. Choose the method.

   The example uses PropSetToXMLPropSet because the converter is converting a property set from the DTE into a standard XML property set.

4. Set the input and output arguments.

   Following are the input argument settings for the example converter configuration.

   Input Argument	Type	Value	Property Name	Property Data Type
   Client Application Name	Process Property		ACORD Client Application Name	String
   Client Application Operation	Process Property		ACORD Client Application Operation	String
   Client Application Version	Process Property		ACORD Client Application Version	String
   Is Signoff	Process Property		ACORD Signoff	String
   Service Provider Name	Process Property		ACORD Service Provider Name	String
   XML Property Set	Process Property		PropSet DTE Out	Hierarchy
   initsignon	Process Property		initsignon	String
   sessionsignon	Process Property		sessionsignon	String
   signoffRq	Process Property		signoffRq	String

   Following are the output argument settings for the example converter configuration.

   Property Name	Type	Value	Output Argument
   PropSet Converter Out	Output Argument		XML Property Set

Configuring an XML Hierarchy Converter

The fourth component is a hierarchy converter. For information about Siebel hierarchy converters, see Siebel Business Process Designer Administration Guide.

To configure an XML hierarchy converter

1. Name the hierarchy converter appropriately (it must be unique within the workflow).
2. Choose the type of business service from the multi-value group (MVG) window.

   For this component, choose the XML Hierarchy Converter.

3. Choose the method.

   This example uses the XML Hierarchy to XML Document method because, for an outgoing message, the final conversion is from an XML hierarchy to an XML document that can be accepted by any XML-compliant converter at the external location.

4. Set the input and output arguments, XML Hierarchy name, and XML document name.

   Following are the input argument settings for the example hierarchy converter configuration.

   Input Argument	Type	Value	Property Name	Property Data Type
   XML Header Text	Process Property		ACORD DOCTYPE	String
   XML Hierarchy	Process Property		PropSet Converter Out	Hierarchy

   Following are the output argument settings for the example hierarchy converter configuration.

   Property Name	Type	Value	Output Argument
   XML Document	Output Argument		XML Document

Configuring a Transport Mechanism (Optional)

The fifth component is a transport mechanism. Although not shown on the diagram, this example uses the MQSeries transport. For information about transport mechanisms supported by Siebel Systems, see Transports and Interfaces: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume III.

To configure an MQSeries transport

1. Name the transport component appropriately (it must be unique within the workflow).
2. Choose the type of business service from the multi-value group (MVG) window.

   For this component, choose the EAI MQSeries Server Transport.

3. Choose the method.

   This example uses the Send method.

4. Set the input and output arguments, including the Physical Queue Name, the Queue Manager Name, and the Message Text.

   Following are the input argument settings for the example MQSeries transport configuration.

   Input Argument	Type	Value	Property Name	Property Data Type
   Message Text	Process Property		XML Document	String
   Physical Queue Name	Literal	TO_ACORD_QUEUE
   Queue Manager Name	Literal	SHAN

   This step completes the outbound workflow. The outbound ACORD XML connector can be used as the basis for any workflow that is used to send an outbound request message.