Siebel Business Process Framework: Task UI Guide > Customizing Task UI >

Defining the Context for a Task Step

You can create a search specification on a Siebel operation step or a task view step that filters data. You define a Task Step Context object, which is a child of the Task Step object type. For more information, see Siebel Object Types Reference.

To define the context for a task step

1. Open the Task Editor.

   For more information, Opening the Task Editor.

2. In the Task Editor, choose a Siebel operation step or a task view step.
3. In the Multi Value Property Window, click the Task Step Context tab.
4. In the Multi Value Property Window, right-click the list area, and then choose New Record.
5. Enter a Name for the task step context, and then choose a Type.

   If you set Type to Expression in Step 5, then enter the name of a business component in the Expression Business Component field.

6. Enter a Search Specification for the context.

   CAUTION:  It is recommended that you define the search specification for the Siebel operation step as efficiently as possible so that the specification matches only the smallest set of rows that are necessary to meet the business requirement. A search specification that identifies a large set of rows can severely degrade performance.

   • If you set the Type field to Literal, then enter a literal value in the form of an expression. For example, enter the following text:

   = 100

   • If you set the Type field to Expression, then enter an expression. For example, enter the following text:

   [Status] LIKE '*Open*'

   The Expression Business Component evaluates the expression. For example, you might use the following search specifications for a Siebel operation step that performs a query operation:

   "Repeatable " + timestamp()

   "Iteration " + [&Iteration]

   The Expression Builder does not examine the format. Make sure you enter an expression that includes the correct format.

7. Optional. Create a filter business component.

   For more information, see How Siebel CRM Uses a Filter Business Component.

Example of Defining the Context for the Step of a Task UI

Figure 15 illustrates an example that includes an update operation.

Figure 15. Example Task UI with Update Operation

In this example, the OptyListView task view step lists records in the Opportunity business component. The Siebel operation step named Update Revenue does the following:

• Performs an update operation on the Opportunity business component.
• Includes an input argument named Primary Revenue Amount of type Literal with a value of 50000.

If the user clicks Query, sets a criteria, and clicks Go, then Siebel CRM refreshes the view to display only the records that meet the query criteria. For example, the user might query for all records that includes a Lead Quality that is set to poor. If the user chooses one of these records and clicks Submit, then Siebel CRM sets the revenue amount to 50000 for the record in the Opportunity business component.

How Siebel CRM Uses a Filter Business Component

A filter business component provides the group of records where Siebel CRM performs the context search. Siebel CRM uses the following logic to identify the records that it displays:

• If the Is User Search Spec property is FALSE, then the user can only query records that Siebel CRM displays in the view, by default.
• If the Is User Search Spec property is TRUE, then the user can query all records. The Search Specification property determines the default records.

Table 21 describes example properties of a context search. In this example, the Is User Search Spec property is FALSE, so Siebel CRM displays only the records that include Opty as part of the name.