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Guidelines for Reusing a Predefined Business Component

Inappropriately using a predefined business component can make it difficult to use the same business component for the intended purpose in a future release. For example, if you use the Service Request business component to store financial transactions in one release, then you might be prevented from using the same business component to store actual service requests in a future release. For more information, see Guidelines for Creating a Business Component.

if you reuse a predefined business component, then use the following guidelines:

• If you require a business component that is similar to a predefined business component, then do one of the following:
  • Create a new business component that references the predefined business component.
  • Modify the predefined business component.

    Oracle prefers that you modify a predefined business component because it minimizes the number of business components in your configuration. This situation leads to a smaller repository that is easier to maintain and upgrade because it is more closely aligned with the predefined Siebel application.

• Use the business component in a way that is consistent with the intended use of the business component. For example:
  • Use the Contact business component to store individual details for each contact at a customer site.
  • Use the Account business component to store details of the business relationship with the customer.
  • Do not use the Service Request business component to store information that is not related to a service request, such as a financial transaction or order history.
• If you reuse a business component, then configure it to be as flexible and reusable as possible. For example:
  • In one release you use the Service Request business component to store customer complaints.
  • In another release, you use the Service Request business component to store addresses for customers who changed their address.

    In these situations, you must use the Service Request business component rather than using the business component in a subsequent release for other service transactions. For example, you could use the SR Type field to distinguish between the two service transactions. Your business requirements must be as generic as possible to facilitate the use of a single business component.

• Always configure Siebel CRM in a way that allows you to reuse a business component instead of creating a new business component. For example, Siebel CRM can allow one group of users to create new opportunities, but another group can only edit existing opportunities. Instead of creating a new business component and setting the No Insert property to TRUE, you can create a new applet and set the No Insert property to TRUE for the applet.

Guidelines for Copying a Predefined Business Component

If you copy a business component, then you must copy the links that this business component uses, and then update the copies with the new business component name. You can avoid errors if you copy and update links. For example, if you clone the Service Request business component and name the clone Service Request ABC, then you must copy the Service Request/Action link and name the copy Service Request ABC/Action.