Integrating Product Configuration

This chapter provides an overview of integration and discusses how to:

Click to jump to parent topicUnderstanding Integration with PeopleSoft Enterprise Order Capture Applications

A customer or service agent using a PeopleSoft CRM Order Capture application can sign in to Order Capture, create a new order or open an existing one, click the Configurator icon on the Order page, display the product configuration page, make changes to the order, save it, and pass the configuration and order data to the CRM system for storage or further processing. Users can perform these operations from PeopleSoft Enterprise Order Capture and Order Capture Self Service.

Integrating Advanced Configurator enhances:

When integrated with Order Capture applications, Advanced Configurator:

Insurance and Financial Products

Agents can use Order Capture to take applications for financial services and process them. If the services are configurable, the configuration interface appears for selections to be made. When the session is complete, the agent returns to the order form and continues. Customers can perform these actions through Order Capture Self Service.

Similarly, insurance products such as coverages and deductibles are more efficiently ordered and maintained when you use the integrated Advanced Configurator.

Service Products

Users can quote and order services through Order Capture. If the services are configurable, the user can access the configuration page from the order or quote in the same way as any other configurable product.

See Also

PeopleSoft Enterprise Advanced Configurator for CRM Preface

Click to jump to parent topicWorking with PeopleSoft Advanced Configurator

This section provides an overview and discusses how to:

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicSetting Up Advanced Configurator for Integration

Perform the following steps to set up your PeopleSoft Advanced Configurator integration with PeopleSoft CRM.

  1. Install PeopleSoft Advanced Configurator Server and deploy the desired solutions on this Configurator Server.

    See PeopleSoft Enterprise CRM 9 Installation Guide

  2. Navigate to PeopleTools, Integration Broker, Gateways, and click the Search button on the Gateways search page.

    This accesses the Gateway ID: LOCAL page.

  3. Enter the Gateway URL as http://<< PeopleSoft Web Server >>/PSIGW/PeopleSoftListeningConnector, and click Save.

    Note. Remember that the URL is case-sensitive.

  4. Load the Connector information by clicking the Load button.

    A Loading Process was successful message appears.

  5. Click OK to continue.

  6. A grid appears.

    This grid displays all of the loaded connectors. For each connector ID, a connector class name exists.

    Click Save.

  7. Click the Refresh button next to Refresh Integration Gateway.properties file.

    A Gateway Refresh Process was successful message appears.

  8. Click OK to continue, then Save.

  9. Access the Node Definitions page from PeopleTools, Integration Broker, Node Definitions.

  10. Open node PSFT_CFG.

  11. On the Connectors tab for the new node name, (where the value of Gateway ID should be LOCAL and Connector ID should be HTTPTARGET), change the “PRIMARYURL” property to be the URL of your Advanced Configurator server. (The URL is case-sensitive.)

    Note. Advanced Configurator integration does not support URLs beginning with https for use with Secure Socket Layers (SSL).

  12. Save these settings.

  13. Enter PSFT_CFG in the Message Node Name field.

    You may want to set up two nodes: one for internal-facing applications and one for Self Service (external) applications. If so, you can create another node that is identical to the shipped PSFT_CFG node in every respect other than its name and the associated URL.

  14. Navigate to the Installations page (Set Up CRM, Product Related, Advanced Configurator, Installation) and identify an internal node, an external node, or both.

    The internal node is used for all internally facing applications. The external node is the one that is used for all Self Service applications.

  15. Navigate to the Schemas page (Set Up CRM, Product Related, Advanced Configurator, Schemas) to create schemas and link them to solutions on the PeopleSoft Advanced Configurator Server.

    See Creating Advanced Configurator Schemas.

  16. When you set up items, products, or packages in the PeopleSoft CRM Item Definition and Product Definition components, be sure to link them to the correct PeopleSoft Advanced Configurator schemas that were established in step 5.

    See Defining Items, Setting Up Products.

Click to jump to parent topicSetting Up Order Capture to Integrate with Advanced Configurator

This section discusses how to set up Order Capture to integrate with Advanced Configurator.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicPage Used to Set Up Order Capture to Integrate with Advanced Configurator

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Installation Table

CFG_SETUP

Set Up CRM, Product Related, Advanced Configurator, Installation, Installation Table

Use the Installation Table page to associate configuration messaging nodes with CRM Applications and enable Configurator debugging

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicAssociating Advanced Configurator Messaging Node and Enabling Debugging

Access the Installation Table page.

The Installation Table page enables you to specify the PeopleSoft Enterprise Integration Broker Messaging Node for internal CRM applications, such as Order Capture. You also can specify an external node for customer-facing applications such as Order Capture Self Service. Be sure to specify at least one node; otherwise, an error message is generated. Order Capture and Order Capture Self Service use these nodes to call out to the Advanced Configurator server at run time.

Integration Broker Setup

Configurator Server Node

Select Define External Node Only, Define Internal Node Only, orDefine Internal/External Nodes, depending on whether you want to use Advanced Configurator with internal applications, self-service CRM applications, or both. When using both internal and external CRM applications, you can define a separate node for the self-service application so that transactions are stored on a separate, secure server.

Note. The Internal Node and External Node fields appear or disappear depending on your selection.

Internal Node

Enter a configurator node name. This node is used to integrate the configurator server with internal-facing CRM applications, such as Order Capture.

Note. Nodes are available from the drop-down list, which prompts against the PSMSGNODEDEFN table.

External Node

Enter a configurator node name. This node is used to integrate the configurator server with customer-facing CRM applications, such as Order Capture Self Service.

Configurator Debug Information

Debug

When you turn debugging on, raw configuration details are displayed in XML format at runtime. Specifically, this means that when you have completed your configuration session, you are presented with two pages prior to returning to the application that invoked PeopleSoft Advanced Configurator. These two pages contain an XML request and an XML response. The XML request page displays the XML data that was sent to the configurator server to retrieve information about the configuration; the XML response page displays the XML data that was returned by the configurator server. This is a useful tool for debugging your schemas because you can quickly verify that XML configuration details are being returned from the calling application just as you would like them to be. When you turn debugging off (default), you do not see the two XML pages prior to returning to the calling application from your configuration session.

The Configurator Solution Tester also enables this request and response XML to be displayed, as well as providing further debugging options.

Note. Log files are available from the appropriate directory on the configurator server when Configurator Debug is activated. For example, if your Advanced Configurator server is running on Microsoft Windows, the logs are stored in C:\bea\weblogic81\config\CalicoDomain\logs.

Click to jump to parent topicCreating Advanced Configurator Schemas

This section provides an overview of configurator schemas and discusses how to:

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicUnderstanding Configurator Schemas

Configuration schemas establish the display, pricing, and configuration details for specific a configuration and what information to retrieve from the configuration models on the configurator server. Three schema setup pages are available for Advanced Configurator: Display, Price, and Request Details.

The Request Details page enables you to specify in detail what the request will look like that goes from Order Capture to the Advanced Configurator server and in turn, what details on the configuration will be returned to Order Capture from the Advanced Configurator server (all by way of XML). Finally, it enables you to specify what XSLT StyleSheet to use when rendering the configuration details to the user in HTML on the line details page of Order Capture.

External Solutions and Internal Solutions

Two types of configurator schemas are available: externally created solutions and internally defined solutions. External and internal solutions can be distinguished like this:

External Solution

Enables you to direct runtime data from the model to an HTML-based UI that is built specifically for this solution with JSP and external HTML editing tools (such as Macromedia Dreamweaver).

Note. Templates for Macromedia Dreamweaver are bundled with the Advanced Configurator application.

Internal Solution

Enables you to define the user interface from within the PeopleSoft CRM schema setup pages.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicPages Used to Create Advanced Configurator Schemas

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Display

CFG_SCHEMA_DISPLAY

  • Set Up CRM, Product Related, Advanced Configurator, Schemas, Schema Setup

  • Set Up CRM, Product Related, Advanced Configurator, Schemas, Display

    Select Internal Solution.

Define the Configuration User Interface to be displayed at run time.

Price

CFG_SCHEMA_PRICE

Set Up CRM, Product Related, Advanced Configurator, Schemas, Price

Specify options to return the configuration list price, as well as to establish recurring pricing for configured products.

Request Details

CFG_SCHEMA_OUTPUT

Set Up CRM, Product Related, Advanced Configurator, Request Details

Define the configuration details to be sent to and received from the configurator server.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicCreating Schemas for External Solutions

Access the Display page.

Schema ID

The schema ID is a unique identifier for the configuration schema. The schema ID is the identifier that is associated with an item or product so that the system knows how to properly configure the product or package.

Note. The schema ID should match the solution ID if you are using an external solution.

Description

Enter a description for the schema ID.

Solution Properties

Frame Dimensions

Specify the width and height of the embedded, runtime configuration page in pixels.

Note. When you save the page, validation logic ensures that neither page width nor height are fewer than 800 pixels.

Solution Type

Select External Solution to select from the existing (externally defined) sets of configurator solutions on the configurator server.

External Solution

When the solution type is External, you use a predetermined list of solutions, each of which already has the user interface display set. Click the Lookup button to select an external (predefined) solution from a list of all the current configurator solutions that exist on the configurator server.

Solution Tester

Select to launch the Configurator Solution Test tool, which displays the user interface for this solution ID.

Model Tester link

Select to test model functionality for the underlying model of this solution ID.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicCreating Schemas for Internal Solutions

Access the Display page.

Note. This page appears when you select a solution type of Internal Solution. This page enables you to specify your own solution type instead of choosing one from the default list that is available when you select an external solution.

Schema ID

The schema ID is a unique identifier for the configuration schema.

Description

Enter a unique description for the schema ID.

Solution Properties

Frame Dimensions

Specify the width and height of the runtime configuration page in pixels.

Note. When you save the page, validation logic ensures that neither page width or height are fewer than 800 pixels.

Solution Type

Select Internal Solution, which enables you to define your own solution without returning to the environment of the PeopleSoft Advanced Configurator.

Note. When you select Internal Solution, the page is updated to display additional sections, which are explained subsequently.

Configuration Type

Select Component when the solution contains a single model. Select Compound if the solution contains multiple models. If you select Component, the list displays only the solutions on the server that contain a single component model. Likewise, selecting Compound displays a list of the solutions on the server that contain multiple models.

Note. If you select Component, all fields on the Display page will be available for updating.

If you select Compound, the only modifiable fields will be the Compound ID, Model Version, Page Title, Validation on Return, and Captions fields. You need to have the individual component schemas already defined.

Model ID or Compound ID

Select a model ID (or, in the case of a compound model, a compound ID) for the internal solution.

Use Most Current Version

Select to use the most current model.

Note. When you select this check box, the Model Version options disappear.

Solution Tester

Click to launch the Configurator Solution Test Tool, which launches the model, any database connections, and the actual user interface. Use this tool to verify that the results from the business logic are properly displayed and to check and tune presentation layout (if it is a custom UI) and navigation. This link is keyed by solution ID.

Model Tester

Click to test constraints and conditions that are defined in the model. A test UI is launched, so you can divide testing into two phases: business logic (model constraints and calculations) and presentation (UI, using the Solution Tester). This link is keyed by solution ID.

Display Properties

Page Title

Enter a title for the configuration display.

Restore Policy

You can select a restore policy that selects either the original model version or the most current model version. This option gives you control over whether the user's older, saved configurations are run against the newest model version if the user requests a saved configuration to view or to use as the basis for a new configuration. The problem to consider is whether the new model, which can change substantially through updates, can properly display and process configuration data that is produced by an older model.

Page Information

Tab

You can control the number of tabs that appear on the page. Enter the number of the tab here, and make your selections for the content of the tab in the Control Setup section.

Tab Caption

Define a label for each tab.

Number of Columns

Define the number of column controls that you want to appear in the configuration page for this tab.

Control Setup

Sequence

Determine the sequence of the controls that are displayed on the tabs that you create for the configuration page.

Type

Select Configuration Attribute, Expression, External Variable, or Selection.

Name

Enter a name for the configuration attribute, expression, external variable, or selection.

Attribute

Define the attribute that appears in the drop-down list or as a radio button selection.

Caption

Enter a descriptive caption that appears on the page.

Control Type

Select to render the control type as either a dropdown list, or radio button.

Field Processing

Select whether this runtime page uses dynamic or deferred processing. The Dynamic option causes the page to refresh automatically when the user enters data and presses the Tab key to move out of a field. The Deferred option leaves processing until the user clicks the Submit button.

Control Size

Specify the maximum number of characters to allow in the control. This option appears if the control type is Configuration Attribute or External Variable.

Display Options

These options appear only for control type Selection.

Show Violations

Select to display red violations text on the selections.

Show Eliminated

Select to show options that are constrained away by previous selections. If this check box is cleared, invalid selections will not appear at all.

Show Delta Price

If you have pricing information, select this check box to display pricing change in the form of how much has been added to or subtracted from the price. This is also known as the ability to show plus-minus pricing.

Captions

Return, Return to Manager, Cancel, Update, and None

Specify the text to use on the labels of the action buttons. These buttons will be viewable on the configuration page. Return, Cancel, Update, and None are available for component models. Return, Cancel, and Return to Manager are available for compound models.

Miscellaneous

Validate on Return

Select to check the validity of the configuration before returning to the calling CRM application.

Show Configuration List Price

Select to display the list price at the top of the configuration page.

Show Application Violations

Select to show violation messages during product configuration. These violation messages appear at the top of the configuration page in a red text and red button format.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicEstablishing Configuration Display and Pricing Options

Access the Price page.

Price Mode

The Price Mode group box appears when you specify Configurator in the List Price Source option.

Mode

Indicates which price mode, Standard or Advanced, is employed to define the pricing schema as shown on the Configuration List Price grid. Clicking the Advanced link makes operators and expressions available to further define each control's pricing.

Click Standard to change the mode from Advanced and remove the operators and expressions. See the following explanation.

Pricing Properties

List Price Source

Select Configurator or Product Definition to indicate whether to draw pricing data for the controls from the configurator model or from the product definition.

Selecting Configurator displays the Configurator List Price grid, in which you specify the controls to be priced and their definitions. The product definition contains this information already.

Configuration List Price

The configuration list price is a list price. PeopleSoft Enterprise Pricer can act further on this price and may place a surcharge on it or discount it, depending on the setup in the Enterprise Pricer application. However, you can operate on these values using the Operator drop-down described subsequently. In addition, the values that are represented on each of the rows in the grid are summed to yield the total price.

This section is available only when you have selected Configurator in the List Price Source field.

Type

Select Expression to identify and define an expression from the configurator model to be used to deliver a list price. Select Selection to indicate that an attribute of the specified selection is the source for a list price for that selection.

Note. When the Type is Expression, Name is the only field available for editing. The Delta Price Only check box remains available for selection.

Name

Type or select a name for the selection or expression from the Name lookup list. Names are supplied by the model.

Attribute

Select the attribute of the specified selection from which to take the list price value.

Operator

Appears when Price Mode is set to Advanced. Use the Operator drop-down list to define an expression to operate on the list price that is passed to it from the left-hand side of the row.

Delta Price Only

Select to return delta price information for the selection or expression. Delta information is a price value that indicates the difference, plus or minus, that the picking of a particular selection had on a price. Delta pricing must be enabled in the model as well.

Recurring Price Source

Select Product Definition to indicate that recurring pricing information is to be taken from the product definition. Select Configurator to define the source for recurring pricing for the product. The Recurring Price grid appears when you select the Configurator option.

Recurring Price

Recurring and Expression

Select expressions, defined in the configurator model, for:

  • Recurring Price: Select an expression that provides a value for a recurring charge to be added to the list price.

  • Recurring Frequency: Select an expression that defines which recurring frequency to use when you add the recurring charge order line, for example, MNTHLY.

  • Frequency Description: Select text that describes the recurring frequency in words, such as Monthly.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicSpecifying Request Details

Access the Request Details page.

You should recognize that the Request Details page is affected by the Configuration Type option on the Display page, but is not affected by Solution Type. The option to include components, connections, and structure in the configuration details is not available for the configuration type of Component. However, all options on the Request Details page are available to the user when the configuration type is Compound.

Request Details

Request Message

Specify a Custom XML or Default XML output. Configuration details are in XML, and a default XSLT is provided with Configurator. Select Custom XML to access a text entry field where you can define a request.

Define Request

When you select Custom XML, the Define Request link appears. Click the link to access a text entry field into which you can enter the XML request.

Render With

Enter Custom Stylesheet or Default Stylesheet stylesheet to determine how the information that is returned by the request is displayed. When you select the Custom option, the Define Stylesheet link appears and you can define your own stylesheet.

By using a custom stylesheet, you can change the order in which the information is displayed or the amount of information displayed. For example, a custom stylesheet could be used to display expressions first, followed by selection points, and then conflicts. Or you could display just the selection points with selections and not bother to display the actual domain members that are selected or their quantity.

Define Stylesheet

Click to define a custom XSLT stylesheet for this schema ID. The link accesses a page containing a large text entry field into which you can insert a text defining a stylesheet.

Request Properties

Configuration Details

Select this check box to request configuration details that are provided by Configurator. When you select this box, a Configuration Details group box appears and enables you to make detailed selections. The Configuration Details options determine what is included in part of the default xml request.

Package Components

Select to choose name and attribute options for package components. A Package Components grid appears at the bottom of the page. A package component is one of many products that will eventually make up a package. For example, a computer product may actually consist of several products such as a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, as well as the actual computer.

Product Selector

Select to choose name and attribute options for product selections. A Product Selector grid appears at the bottom of the page. The option replaces the product ID on the order capture line with the product ID that is specified in the chosen selection point.

Purchased Components

Select to choose name and attribute options for purchased components. A Purchased Components grid appears at the bottom of the page. Selecting this option categorizes purchased components for display purposes; no additional processing is performed.

Manufactured Components

Select to choose name and attribute options for manufactured components. A Manufactured Components grid appears at the bottom of the page. As with Purchased Components, selecting Manufactured Components categorizes manufactured components for display purposes; no additional processing is performed.

Routing Operations

Select to choose name and attribute options for routing operations. A Routing Operations grid appears at the bottom of the page. As with Purchased Components, selecting Routing Operations categorizes routing operations for display purposes; no additional processing is performed.

Delta Information

Requests the display of the differences between this configuration and the last submitted configuration. Differences include additions, deletions, and changes to selection points, expressions, and externs.

Compound Violations

Select to return a list of configuration violations for a solution based on a compound model. This check box is displayed only when you select a configuration type of Compound on the Display page.

Configuration Details

Options in this section of the page determine what information about the configurations that are generated under this schema will be returned to, and stored in, Order Capture. The first three fields—Components, Connections, and Structure—are available only when you select a configuration type of Compound on the Display page.

Components

Select All Components or None.

Connections

Select All Connections, Filtered List, or None.

Structure

Select Include Structure or None.

Selections

Select All Selections, Filtered List, or None.

Expressions

Advanced Configurator uses Boolean, date, string, and numeric logic as key parts of its configuration capabilities. Select this check box to return values that are calculated by expressions (in the model) during the configuration session.

External Variables

Advanced Configurator can retrieve external data for the configuration session at runtime. Select this check box to return external value details during the order capture configuration session.

Configuration Attributes

Configuration attributes data is normally not essential to the function of the Configurator, and includes data such as a person's name, phone, or email. Select this check box to return configuration attribute data at runtime.

Display Options

Display Component Violations

Select to return component violation information at runtime.

Display Selection Violations

Select to return selection violation information at runtime.

Package Components

The Package Components grid appears when you select the Package Component check box in the Request the Following section, which is described subsequently. If the product is a package item, then you can select which of the package components and their attributes to include in the request details.

Click to jump to parent topicAccessing the Advanced Configurator Solution

This section provides an overview of how to access Advanced Configurator, a sample product configuration, and discusses how to view configuration details.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicUnderstanding How to Access Advanced Configurator

You can access the Advanced Configurator from:

The following table identifies the Collaborative Selling entry points from which you can access PeopleSoft Advanced Configurator:

Application/Access Point

Page Name

Navigation

Order Capture (RO_CAPTURE)

Entry Form Order (RO_FORM)

Create Order/Create Quote, Entry Form

Add a (configurable) product to the order line, and click the Configurator button.

Order Capture Self Service (RE_CART)

Shopping Cart (RE_CART)

Add a (configurable) product to the shopping cart, and click the Configurator button.

Product Catalog (RB_CATALOG)

Product Details (RB_PROD_DTL)

Access a product catalog, select a product from the Product Display page, and click the Configurator button.

Users can configure their products and product packages by clicking the Configurator button within the calling application. When the product is configured, the configuration is saved to the database. This occurs for both simple and compound configurations. When the configuration session is complete, and order information is updated, the system returns the user to the main calling application.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicSample Product Configuration

The following example illustrates a configuration session that is initiated from within Order Capture. It shows the custom user interface for a complete sample solution that is supplied with Advanced Configurator.

Example of a configuration user interface

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicViewing Configuration Details

Advanced Configurator enables you to extract information from individual configurations for additional processing and record-keeping. A common use of configuration details is the populating of the line details of an order or quote. When you set up the schema for the solution, you specify whether you want to extract configuration information and which data you want. Advanced Configurator delivers the data in XML form. Because you also specify an XSLT or stylesheet in the schema, the XML formatted data is rendered in a meaningful form.

Example of configuration details used to populate an order

Click to jump to parent topicSetting Up Configured Packages and Products

This section discusses how to set up configured packages and products.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicPage Used to Set Up Configured Packages and Products

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Product Definition

PROD_DEFN

Products CRM, Product Definition, Definition

Set up package or product configuration.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicSetting Up Configured Packages and Products

Access the Product Definition page.

Configured

Select to indicate that the package or product is configured.

Schema

Advanced Configurator schemas appear in schema search.