Dynamic Defaults in Advisor Applications

When Advisor generates an Input UI page, each UI control in the page automatically defaults to the value specified as default in the corresponding Feature table. Default settings in the pageset can be overridden with the dynamic default functionality. This is the equivalent of changing which line in a Feature table is the default.

Using dynamic defaults, you can link to a recommended solution from a Results page and override the default settings for the UI controls on the new Display page. You can set the UI control values to new defaults based on the responses to Advisor questions. In the car example, if the user indicates interest in a two-seater model, in the new Input UI page for the recommended product you can automatically set a UI control displaying number of passengers to 2.

Creating Dynamic Defaults for Advisor Applications

Use the following steps to create dynamic defaults.

• Determine what UI Controls (and the Feature tables that populate them) need to be changed on the new Input UI page to reflect the choices made at the Needs Analysis level.

• In a Configuration table, create an output column to store pageset IDs or URLs of recommended products.

• In the same table, create an output column to store the defaults to change on the recommended Inputs page.

• Create a link target to reference the recommended product column and dynamic default column.

The following procedure is one way to create dynamic defaults.

Note: Dynamic Defaults requires the creation of a second pageset. See the LoadPageset and LoadPagesetWithDynDefObj sections in Siebel Advisor API Reference.

To create dynamic defaults

1. Navigate to Administration - Product, then Advisor Pagesets and Configuration Tables.

2. In a Configuration table, create a DYNDEFS column.

   In this example, a Pagesetname column is not necessary because the PagesetName will be part of the string in the DYNDEFS column.

3. In the DYNDEFS cells, enter the pagesetID and desired Feature table values in the format:

   PagesetID','1stFTName=value, 2ndFTName=value, nthFTName=value
   

4. In the Output UI control:

   1. Select the Control Type LINK.

   2. In Label, enter the text you want to appear before the link.

   3. In Table and Column, reference the Configuration table and DYNDEFS column.

   4. Select Pageset.

   5. In Anchor Text, enter the text that appears as the link.

Notice the single quote, comma, single quote in-between PagesetID and 1stFTName in Step 7. Because the wrapper puts the outside quotation marks around the string,

document.write(ISS.BuildTarget("LINK",window,"DYNDEFS",true));

becomes

document.write(ISS.BuildTarget("LINK",window,"PagesetID','1stFTName=value,2ndFTName=value",true));

Note: When used in Feature tables, DYNDEF is reserved and refers to a subconfiguration child's dynamic defaults. In Configuration tables, it is not reserved, but you should not use DYNDEF in more than one Configuration table. The column names in Configuration tables are global, so you only end up with one DYNDEF output even if you have multiple instances of the column. Instead of using DYNDEF in Configuration tables, use more descriptive names, such as UPSELL_DYNDEF.

Example of Dynamic Defaults in Advisor Applications

In this example, a needs analysis page is used to recommend a particular computer, including the model, processor, and memory.

The following procedure requires a bit more definition.

To create the dynamic defaults example

1. Add a drop-down list UI control to the needs analysis page.

2. For more information, see "Creating Input UI Controls with Advisor".

3. Create a Feature table to populate the drop-down list with the values:

   • Laptops

   • Desktops

   • Work stations

   For more information, see "To create an Advisor feature table".

4. In a Configuration table that references the Feature table you created in Step 3, add an output column named REC_PROD to store the pageset ID of the recommended product.

5. In the same Configuration table, add an output column named DYNDEFS to store the defaults to change on the linked-to display page.

6. Fill the REC_PROD and DYNDEFS columns as shown in the following table.

   The REC_PROD column stores the pageset IDs of the recommended products.

   The DYNDEFS column includes references to the Feature table names used by the UI controls and the new CODE value to serve as the default value. The equal sign (=) separates Feature table names and CODE values. A comma (,) separates multiple dynamic defaults.

   For example, for the laptops pageset ID, the first value under DYNDEFS references the MODEL Feature table in the next pageset that is going to be displayed, and sets the new default value to XR50.

   REC_PROD(0)	DYNDEFS(0)
   laptops	MODEL=XR50,PROC=366,MEM=32
   laptops	MODEL=XR80,PROC=400,MEM=64
   desktops	MODEL=XP50,PROC=366,MEM=32
   workstations	MODEL=XP80,PROC=366,MEM=64

   
   

7. Create a Link Output target on the display page of the Needs Analysis pageset that links to the recommended Inputs page.

   The Output UI tab does not generate the DYNDEFS variable. For this reason, you need to edit the code in the Pageset_2.htm file to add it. Use the syntax:

   <SCRIPT>
   document.write(ISS.BuildTarget("LINK",window,"REC_PROD",true,"DYNDEFS"));
   </SCRIPT>
   Click here to further configure your computer.
   </A>
   

   This overrides the default settings for the pageset being loaded by referencing the DYNDEFS column.

   For more information on using the BuildTarget function to create Link Output targets, see the Pageset Functions chapter in Siebel Advisor API Reference.

The Result of the Example

If the user's selections match the recommended solution described in the Configuration table, a link appears to further configure the computer. When a shopper clicks the link, a display page for the pageset recommended in the REC_PROD column appears. Also, the MODEL UI control is set to the CODE value indicated in the DYNDEFS column. For example, the default MODEL description is XR50, but if the user is recommended the XR80, the UI control displays XR80.