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Siebel Order Management Guide > Business Service Methods Reference > Product Manipulation Toolkit Business Service Methods > Delta MethodThis is one of the Product Manipulation Toolkit Business Service Methods. It generates the actions necessary to change an existing customizable product (asset) into a new customizable product. The set of actions can be written to a quote or an order. Delta compares two complex assets (original and modified) and returns a quote or order. The return contains line items that specify the actions required to change the asset from the original state to the final state. NOTE: An update occurs if a field in the product or any of its attributes changes. The list of fields being compared is defined by the Delta Line Item Compare Field user properties. This list of fields is configurable to support customer extensions to the database. Arguments[in] Hierarchical property set containing the final Asset (output returned from call to PMT business service method Reconfigure Product Instance Method). [out] Hierarchical property set containing a quote or order header, complex line items, and attributes. ReturnsProperty Set containing the complex quote or order. RemarksBecause Delta is used frequently, you may be able to use the additional information about the method presented below. The Delta method uses the following user properties:
For descriptions of these user properties, see User Properties used by PMT Methods. Before Delta is invoked, the system must call two other methods:
During Delta processing, the method:
Delta compares a user-configurable set of fields. This includes the parent component ID to make sure that changes to the customizable product structure are reflected as an update. Increasing Quantities of an Asset Component If the user edits a customizable asset and increases the quantity of an existing component, the result is two line items. The first line item represents the original asset. The second line item adds new copies of that asset. If the original line item is changed, the Delta action is Modified or NULL. Action Field in the Quote and Order Attribute Tables Delta logic populates an Action field in the quote attribute and order attribute tables. This field allows order provisioning logic to determine which of the attributes of a service product has changed. For example, a delta quote can be represented as shown in Figure 24: In this example, the call forwarding number changed but the number of rings did not. Action Codes Reset Upon Delta Line Item or Attribute Changes When a delta-enabled field in a line item changes (because of direct user input or a process such as repricing) or an attribute of a line item changes, the action code is automatically set. This is shown in Table 16. NOTE: The customer should make the Action field Read-Only to avoid possible violations of configuration rules that could be caused by changing the action code of a line item. The Delta method has been extended to support Alias Action Codes. Delta replaces one of the standard action codes (Add, Update, Delete, -) with an alias action code if a certain condition is met. For example, an action code of Update may be replaced by Suspend if the status field changes from Active to Suspended. Alias action codes are evaluated for components but not attributes. Alias action codes are specified by the Alias Action Code user properties. When performing a modify order in Siebel Customer Order Management 7.5, you can view the changes made to a product but only the end state, and values prior to the modify are lost. Downstream provisioning systems require both the prior and current values. For example, a change in bandwidth from 56K to 1024K might require a new piece of equipment to be installed at the wire center whereas a change form 2048K to 1024K is simply a downgrade using the existing equipment. The Delta method has been extended to store the values of fields prior to their being changed. The prior value is the value of the field in the initial property set being considered by Delta. Service Item Unique Keys (Asset Integration Id) The Delta and Apply method operations depend upon the unique keys to each service item. Typically, the unique key is an invariable combination of fields in the service item record. Because no combination of user-entered fields is certain to be unique or invariable, the Siebel application provides a hidden Asset Integration Id field that stores a unique identifier for each service item. The asset integration ID links the service item to the quotes and orders that modify it. On creation of a quote to add a new service item a new asset integration ID is generated from the row ID of the quote line item The quote is converted to an order at which time a new asset integration ID is generated from the row ID of the order line item. This occurs only if the action code of the quote line item is 'Add' to enforce uniqueness if multiple orders are created from the same quote. When the completed order is converted into an asset the asset integration ID is copied from the order line item to asset. When the asset is subsequently modified (Modify or Disconnect) the asset integration ID is copied to the quote and order line items. Each action types is implemented as a soft-coded list of values. This soft coding supports a multilingual user interface and allows for industry specific terminology. The action types supported by the Siebel application are listed in Table 17.
ExamplesGenerating a Delta Quote to Update an Asset The following example shows how this method generates a delta quote to update an asset.
Generating a Delta Quote to Add a New Asset The following example shows how this method generates a delta quote to add a new asset.
Generating a Delta Quote to Disconnect an Asset The following example shows how this method generates a delta quote to disconnect an asset.
Generating a Delta Property Set to Add More Assets The following example shows how this method generates a delta property set to add additional copies of an asset.
Identifying Changes in Product Structure The following example shows how this method is used to change a product structure.
See Also:Methods Apply Method, Trim Method, Reconfigure Product Instance Method, Set Output Header Method, and Set Product Instance Method and workflows SIS OM Edit Delta Quote Line Item, SIS OM Edit Service Order Line Item, SIS OM Edit Complex Asset Workflow, SIS OM Disconnect Asset Sub-process, SIS OM Suspend / Resume Asset Sub-process. |
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