Siebel Database Upgrade Guide > Migrating Siebel 6.x UI Customizations >

About Migrating to the Siebel Web Client

Upgrades from: Siebel 6.x.

Environments: Development environment only.

As of Release 7.0.x, the Siebel Web Client is used as the deployment framework for all Siebel Business Applications. Siebel Web Client runs in a standard browser on the end user's client computer. The browser connects through a Web server to the Siebel Server, which executes business logic and accesses data from the Siebel Database.

Example of the Web Client UI

Figure 5 shows a standard Siebel 6.x Windows Client. Figure 6 shows a view that has been migrated from the Windows Client to the Web Client. This view is running in a browser.

Figure 5. Contact List View—Windows Client

Figure 6. Contact List View—Web Client

Web Client Migration Wizard

When you upgrade to Siebel 7.7.x, standard, uncustomized applets and views are automatically converted to Web-based layouts that can be rendered in a browser. Applets and views that you have created or modified are not converted automatically.

The upgrade does not convert applets or views that you have created or modified. To migrate created or modified applets and views, you must run the Web Client Migration Wizard. The wizard does the following:

• Identifies created or modified applets and views.
• Puts a comment in the Comments field of each. This identifies them so you can query for them.
• Provides a model applets and model views. These models provide Web templates that determine the layout of the applet or view.
• Migrates applets and views to a Web-based layout using the selected Web templates.

The Web Client Migration Wizard converts applets and views as a batch.

Web Layout Wizard

The Web Layout Wizard allows you to migrate created or modified applets and views individually. You can select specific applets and views for migration. Then you select the desired model applet or model view to be used for the migration.

Recommended Migration Strategy

The recommended strategy for using the two wizards is as follows:

• Run the Web Client Migration Wizard in Mark Applets and Views mode to identify which applets and views it will migrate. Review the marked applets and views, and select the desired model applets and model views.
• Expose hidden properties of applets and views. This improves the accuracy of the migration.
• Test the Web Client Migration Wizard against a few applets and views before running the wizard against the entire repository. Verify all model applets and model views work correctly.
• Migrate all the created and modified applets and views as a batch using the Web Client Migration Wizard.
• Review the migrated applets and views.
• Remigrate individual applets and views or groups of applets and views as needed using the Web Layout Wizard.

NOTE:  Using the Web Layout Wizard as the only way migrate your applets and views is time-consuming and is not recommended.

Model Applets and Views

The Siebel 7.7.x repository contains model applets and views. The Web Client Migration Wizard and Web Layout Wizard use these to migrate created and modified applets and views.

Before using model applets, compare the applets you intend to migrate with the layout of the model applets. Modify model applets as needed. For example, you can modify model applets to use different Web templates, controls, or control mappings.

Modifying model applets used for converting to grid-based layout is not recommended.

If you create new model applets, verify that you have defined all the Applet Web Template Items that you will need. Also, verify that you have assigned a unique HTML sequence number to all controls and list columns.

Before using model views, compare the views you intend to migrate with the layout of the model views. Modify the model views to meet your requirements.

Table 49 lists preconfigured model applets and views available in Siebel 7.7.x.

How the Migration Is Done

The Web Client Migration Wizard and Web Layout Wizard map items from the dedicated client layout to the Siebel Web Client using the following information from model applets and views:

• Modes to map applet Web templates. Modes determine the kind of actions available in applets to users. For example, some applets are read-only. Other applets allow users to edit data. Typical modes include Base, Edit, and Edit List. The mode also determines which buttons appear in Web templates. For example, the Edit button appears in applets set to Edit mode, but does not appear in applets set to Base (Read Only) mode. For more information, see Configuring Siebel Business Applications.
• Web templates to use for each mode. Templates contain placeholders for applets and are used to render Siebel views. The mode selected determines the Web template to be used. For more information about Web templates, see Configuring Siebel Business Applications.

  For chart and tree applets, the wizard only uses the Web template information. For this reason, any applet of the appropriate type may be used as a model applet for chart and tree applets.

• Buttons that appear on migrated applets. Web applets typically contain additional buttons that were not used by their dedicated client predecessors. For example, the Next and Previous buttons used to scroll through record sets in the Web client did not appear in the dedicated client. During migration, the wizards automatically propagate buttons contained in the model applet so that these types of buttons do not require manual work.
• Grid-based template and applet controls. The grid layout conversion process converts a grid-based template and a set of applet controls with pixel-based coordinates into a Web-enabled layout that closely matches the original 6.x layout. For created or modified form applets that are converted to grid-based layout, you must manually map the buttons.

Form Applets and Grid-Based Layout

Many form applets are converted to grid-based layout during upgrade. The following summarizes how grid-based applet Web templates differ from standard applet Web templates:

• You can modify the layout of the form using Siebel Tools without having to modify the Web template.
• With grid-based templates, labels and controls behave as separate items in the Web Layout Editor. This allows you to place them independently in the applet layout. However, labels and controls are really a single object in the repository with one set of shared properties.
• Grid-based templates do not automatically compress empty space in a column.

There are two applet Web templates that support grid layout. See Table 50.

Not all form applets can be converted to a grid layout.

For a particular Applet Web Template mode, if the Web template type is not Applet Template—Form or Applet Template, the applet is not converted to grid layout.

If the Web template type is Applet Template—Form or Applet Template, but either the Applet name or the Web template name is specified in the awtcvtcfg.txt file (located in the binary subdirectory of the root Siebel Tools installation directory), the applet is not converted to grid layout.