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Overview of the Web Configuration Process

Like other forms of software configuration, configuring a Web application is not a completely serial process. During some phases, it makes sense for multiple pieces to be configured concurrently. Furthermore, some tasks—most obviously testing and debugging—are iterative, more like a loop than a straight line. For this reason, feel free to modify the simplified, rather linear process recommended in this chapter to suit the needs of your team.

Configuring Siebel Web applications is a modular process that separates style and structure (style sheets and templates) from the binding (HTML display objects) to data. Style and structure are reusable across multiple HTML display objects, using Siebel templates. This means that modifications to the style and structure can be easily propagated to all HTML display objects.

Figure 37 depicts the relationships between style sheets, templates, HTML display objects such as applets and views, Business Object Components, and the final HTML output.

Figure 37.  Relationships Between the Components in a Siebel Web Application

Using Siebel Tools and a text editor or HTML authoring tool, the Web application developer does the following:

  1. Configures in Siebel Tools the business objects, applets, views, and all of the other normal elements of a Siebel application. Normally, you will be altering the definitions of objects in an existing application.

    Identify the views, applets, and other parts of the Siebel Web application which you want to modify. Using Siebel Tools, configure HTML Display Objects (applets and views) that:

    • Define new views and applets for your Web application
    • Contain drilldowns to each other where appropriate, for example, from summary views to detail views
  2. Associates the views and applets with Siebel Web Template (.SWT) files.

    Use Siebel Tools to map the applets and views to their respective templates.

  3. Modifies or create new .SWT files as necessary to integrate the appropriate corporate layout and formatting.
  4. Establishes mapping between controls and list columns to corresponding placeholders in template files.
  5. Compiles the repository changes into an .srf file.
  6. Tests and debugs the application.
  7. Deploys the application.
    1. Copies the template files to the webtempl directory in the Siebel Server installation.
    2. Copies all new HTML and images to the public directory on the Web server machine.
    3. Adds a link from the existing Internet or intranet site to the application.

 Siebel Tools Reference
 Published: 20 October 2003