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Recommended Configuration Guidelines for Siebel Handheld

The Siebel Handheld Client application performs best if you use the following guidelines:

• Keep the number of views in your application to 30 or fewer.
• For optimal usability, limit each view to one or two applets.
• To minimize horizontal scrolling, limit the number of columns displayed in a list applet to no more than ten.
• There is no limit on the number of fields in form applets of single-applet views. However, to minimize scrolling, keep the number of fields to 20 or fewer.
• For each screen, create a view called My * or All * as a single list-applet view. For example, for the Activities screen, create a My Contacts view that has the Contacts list applet only.
• For each screen, create a single-applet More Info view. Create this applet as a form applet. For example, for the Contacts screen, create a More Info view that has the Contacts form applet only.
• Use a form applet for the parent for each parent-child view.
• In a multi-applet view, limit the number of fields in form applets to five or fewer. Add additional fields only if the field width is short—for example a check box field. Reduce the number of fields if the fields are multiline—for example, a Comments box that contains three lines of text.
• Do not include read-only check boxes in form applets. It is very difficult for users to discern that the check box is not editable.
• Limit the number of views within a screen to 12 or fewer so that the View drop-down list is not too long and unwieldy.
• Limit the number of screens to six or fewer so that the Screen drop-down list is not too long and unwieldy.
• Keep query names to about 15 characters or fewer, so that they fit in the Queries drop-down list. For example, North American Organization is too long for a query name, so you should change it to a shorter name, such as N. American Org. The number of characters is a general guide because characters vary in width (for example, W is wider than i).
• Keep screen names to about 15 characters or fewer, so that they fit in the Screen drop-down list. The number of characters is a general guide because characters vary in width.
• Keep view names to about 30 characters or fewer so that they fit in the View drop-down list. The number of characters is a general guide because characters vary in width.
• Limit the size of the dbfile.txt file to less than two megabytes (MB). The RDBMS on the handheld device is approximately three times the size of dbfile.txt. If the data files are so large that they cannot be imported into the database with the available memory, users cannot successfully synchronize their data.