Siebel Database Upgrade Guide > Upgrading to eConfigurator Version 7 > Approach 1: Using the Standard Upgrade Tool >

Postupgrade Tasks

After you finish the automatic upgrade process, you should take the following steps to review your upgraded results before releasing to production. Some steps are recommended, and others are required. Taking these steps will make sure that your models function properly in the new environment. Due to the different model design paradigms, you may need to revise or recreate a certain amount of new configuration data to make use of the new Siebel 7 features. See Limitations for information about preparing data and implementation changes.

Checking Configuration Rules (Required)

All the rules in eConfigurator version 6.x are upgraded as-is, but with "Inactive" status. Since eConfigurator version 7 uses a new model design paradigm, you should examine all your rules to verify that they still make sense. You can do this by modifying each rule and clearing the "Inactive" check box.

You also can create new rules that replace the upgraded rules. Creating new rules can have the following advantages:

• It is easier to write advanced rules in Siebel 7 using the new rules designer.
• Some rules can be consolidated or may not be needed because of new features in Siebel 7.
• Rules created in the Siebel 7 rules designer are easier to maintain.

Siebel eConfigurator version 7 provides an enhanced rules designer—Product Rule Manager—for you to create your rules. For modifying the upgraded rules, the Advanced Rule in the Product Rule Manager is particularly useful. For more information on Product Rule Manager, see Product Administration Guide.

There are a few considerations to keep in mind when you review and modify your rules:

• The items of the rules are specified as paths instead of Cfg IDs. Use the Advanced Rule in the Product Rule Manager and its picklist capability to replace them individually.
• Second- and lower-level categories are gone. You may need to change the references based on the new the relationship structure.
• Selection rules are no longer applicable. Assign proper relationship cardinalities and use the new UI designer features to simulate these rules.
• Some items in a Release 6.x model, such as virtual products and properties, are not supported in the Siebel 7 customizable product. You may want to use the new Siebel 7 features (such as product attributes) to reimplement the functions of these items. Following implementation of the new features, you may come back and create more rules.

The rules descriptions are preserved through the upgrade process and can serve as a good reference when you try to re-create a rule using the Product Rule Manager.

NOTE:  All rules are upgraded with Inactive status. You should test the rules extensively before releasing your upgraded customizable products. For more information about Product Rule Manager, see Product Administration Guide.

Verifying Scripts (Required)

Some Release 6.x eConfigurator scripts may no longer make sense after they are upgraded to eConfigurator version 7. Also, some event types are not supported in Siebel 7. You may have to rewrite or remove these scripts. For more information, see the sections on scripting in Product Administration Guide.

Verifying Attributes Upgraded from Virtual Products (Recommended)

Every virtual product is upgraded into a new attribute and assigned to a class. The attributes can be exposed in the upgraded customizable product through Product UI Designer. You should visit these newly created attributes to see if they serve the functions that you intend.

To remove or modify attributes

1. Navigate to Application Administration >Class Administration view.
2. Find the class that corresponds to the virtual product you are verifying attributes for. The class should have the same name as the upgraded model product.
3. Modify or remove attributes as desired.

For more information about managing classes and attributes, see Product Administration Guide.

Exposing Resources in the Run-Time User Interface (Recommended)

The resources will be upgraded, but they will not show in the selection pages in a configuration session. You may choose to use Product UI Designer to place the resource items in the appropriate UI groups. For more information, see the section on customizable products in Product Administration Guide.

Rearranging Your Customizable Product Structure (Recommended)

Since the upgrade script flattens your previous model structure, you may want to rearrange your product components by creating relationships. You can do this freely within the Siebel 7 administration environment. In rearranging your customizable product structure, note the following:

• If you remove a product item from the upgraded customizable product or move it to another relationship, you may become unable to properly edit the upgraded quote using this customizable product with the configurator.
• In Release 6.x, a model can have a component product that is also associated with the model as a model product. In these instances, after upgrading, you will have a customizable product that has itself as a component product. Since this is not supported in Siebel 7, when you check the corresponding upgraded quotes eConfigurator and ePricer may not function properly. You may consider redesigning the customizable product to avoid this self-nested situation. For example, consider removing the component that is a customizable product and recreating the quote using the newer version of customizable products.

Validating and Releasing Upgraded Customizable Products (Required)

Before releasing your customizable products to production, you should thoroughly review and test them. Make sure to follow a careful process of transitioning from development to production to verify that all models function correctly before your end users start using them.

CAUTION:  Do not touch the upgraded quote (for example, do not click the Reprice button) before the customizable product is examined and released.

Using the New eConfigurator Version 7 Features (Recommended)

If you have completed all the postupgrade tasks described above, you should be able to achieve a working eConfigurator environment. To implement the features new to Siebel 7, you should thoroughly understand them and you should have completed proper model planning. For more information, see Product Administration Guide.

This section highlights two important new features that you may want to take advantage of to help transition your models to Siebel 7. The first is the product class system and dynamic attributes. The second is the data-driven UI.

Using the New Product Class System and Dynamic Attributes

Do the following to take advantage of the new product class system and dynamic attributes.

• Create a class system and define appropriate attributes for the classes. Some of the previous properties can be recreated here. Set appropriate defaults.
• Assign products to the appropriate classes. These products inherit the dynamic attributes defined on the classes.
• Assign classes to the relationships created by the upgrade script. Do this as follows:
  1. Remove all the products in the relationship.

     This makes the relationship's domain type selectable.

  2. Change the relationship's domain type to Class or Dynamic Class.
  3. Assign products from the desired class to the relationship.

     This procedure is required if you want to write configuration rules on the relationship that refers to the dynamic attributes of all the items. For a complete set of eConfigurator version 7 feature descriptions, see Product Administration Guide.

• Create new rules or modify existing rules as needed, to make use of the new features and customizable product structure.

Using the New Data-Driven UI

The upgrade script uses default UI themes and controls for all the customizable products upgraded. You may use the Siebel 7 Product UI Designer to choose or define more UI themes and elements so that your run-time product presentations are richer. For more information, see the section on customizable products in Product Administration Guide.