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Siebel Public Sector Guide > Administering Siebel Public Sector >
About Serialization Rules
Siebel Public Sector can use configured serialization rules to stamp a new case with a unique, customized serial number. This serial number is generated from a combination of fields so that the numbers are meaningful to an agency. For example, in the case serial number NY-2B-296-3964041, the serial number denotes a geographic territory (NY for New York), a case category (2B for aggravated assault), and the case number (296-3964041). Case serialization also serializes evidence, leads, and attachments associated with the case. Using the case serial number in the preceding example, the serial number generated for an evidence item might be NY-2B-296-3964041-296-3964055. The evidence item inherits the parent serial number and uses the evidence number for the evidence item. Serial numbers for cases, leads, and evidence are generated automatically when the user saves a new record. In some instances, the user can also generate a serial number by clicking a Serial Number button, for example, in the Attachments view in Case List view of the Cases screen. For more information, see Adding Attachments to Cases. To use the serialization feature for Siebel Public Sector, you must make sure that the PUB Enable Serialization system preference in the System Preferences view of the Administration - Application screen has a value of Y. Siebel Public Sector provides several rules that you can configure to control the format of serial numbers on cases, leads, and evidence. Table 5 describes the preconfigured rules.
Table 5. Serialization Rules
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Case Rule |
Determines the serialization of cases. The Case Rule pulls the user's entries from the Territory and Category fields in the Cases screen. For example, if the user selects New York as the territory for the case, then the category code NY is included as part of the generated case serial number. The information from the Territory and Category fields is stored in the HLS Case business component's Territory Code and Category Code fields. The value in the Case Number field is also selected for this rule to add numbers at the end of the serial number. By default, the HLS Case business object is serialized as the parent object. The Case Rule is the parent rule for all the other rules. For more information, see Parent and Child Serialization Rules. This rule is triggered when the user successfully saves a new case record. |
Case Lead Rule |
Determines the serialization of leads associated with a case. This rule is a child of the parent Case Rule. It is triggered when the user successfully creates a new lead record, a task that includes selecting an associated case. |
Case Evidence Rule |
Determines the serialization of evidence associated with a case. This rule is a child of the parent Case Rule. It is triggered when the user successfully creates a new evidence record, a task that includes selecting an associated case. |
Case Attachment Rule |
Determines the serialization of attachments to case records. This rule is a child of the parent Case Rule. It is triggered when the user clicks the Serial Number button in the Attachments view in the Case List view of the Cases screen. For more information, see Adding Attachments to Cases. |
Evidence Attachment Rule |
Determines the serialization of attachments to evidence records. This rule is a child of the parent Case Rule. It is triggered when the user clicks the Serial Number in the Attachments view in the Evidence List view of the Evidence screen. |
Lead Attachment Rule |
Determines the serialization of attachments to lead records. This rule is a child of the parent Case Rule. It is triggered when the user clicks the Serial Number in the Attachments view in the Lead List view of the Leads screen. |
Lead Sub-Lead Rule |
Determines the serialization of leads associated with a parent lead. This rule is a child of the parent Case Rule. It is triggered when the user successfully creates a new sublead record, a task that includes selecting an associated case. The user performs this task in the Sub-Lead view in the Lead List view of the Leads screen. |
Parent and Child Serialization Rules
Parent rules are rules generated from serialization on an independent business object and component. The serial number that the rule generates is unaffected by the serial numbers that other rules generate. By default, the Case Rule is the parent rule for the serialization rules provided with Siebel Public Sector. For a description of the Case Rule, see Table 5. Parent rules can have several child rules. Child rules include serial numbers already generated for the parent rules. For example, the Case Attachment rule is configured so that it begins with the serial number that the Case Rule generated. Its first attribute type is Parent Serial Number. For more information, see Serialization Rule Attribute Types. Serialization Rule Attribute Types
Table 6 describes when each attribute type is used for generating serial numbers.
Table 6. Serialization Rule Attribute Types
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Field |
Select this value to extract information from the selected business component field and include this information in the generated serial number. |
Constant |
Select this value when you want to insert an attribute separator in the serial number. Examples of constant values are hyphens (-) and periods (.). For example, a case serial number with the format: Territory Code + Constant + Category Code + Constant + Case Number field value might appear as NY-7A-296-3964041 if you use hyphens as the two constant values. |
Parent Serial Number |
Select this value when you want the parent rule's serial number included in the current rule's serial number. By default, all the rules generate a serial number that begins with the case serial number that the Case rule created. For example, the Evidence Attachment Rule attributes are defined as Parent Serial Number, Constant, and Evidence Id field value. |
About Editing the Default Serialization Rules
Siebel Public Sector provides you with several preconfigured rules that you can modify to suit your organization's requirements. You can also create new rules to change how serialization is performed. For more information, see Adding New Serialization Rules. If you modify the default rule values to extract information from different fields, then users must make sure that they enter all the information required to generate the serial numbers. For example, you change the Case Rule to include the Sub-Status value in the serial number instead of the Category Code. The user must select a value in the Sub-Status field so that a serial number can be generated for a case. If you do not change the rules, then Siebel Public Sector populates default values in the required fields so that these fields are not missing data. Guidelines for Serializing Additional Parent Business Objects
The serialization rules provided with Siebel Public Sector are based on case serialization. HLS Case is the business object for the parent rule, Case Rule. You can edit these rules to generate serial numbers in the format that your organization requires. For more information, see About Editing the Default Serialization Rules. However, if serialization must be performed on certain items independently of the Case Rule, then you can configure serialization on additional parent business objects. The business components that are based on the CSSBCBase class support serialization. Observe the following guidelines when configuring serialization on additional business objects and components:
- Business components to be serialized must contain a Serial Number field.
- You cannot have more than one rule that is based on the same business object and business component.
- You must define serialization rules and attributes in the Serialization Rules view of the Administration - Case screen for any additional serialized business objects and components.
- If you create new rules to replace the default lead or evidence serialization, then you must delete the appropriate default rule.
For example, you can create a new Lead Rule and Evidence Rule to use instead of the default rules (Case Lead Rule and Case Evidence Rule) to serialize leads and evidence. These records have PUB Evidence or PUB Lead as a parent business object and, unlike the current rules, do not have the Case Rule as a parent rule. If the user creates a new evidence record, then the evidence serial number that is generated is based on only the defined attributes. The number does not include any reference to the case serial number.
- When you add new columns to the tables, make sure these changes are reflected in the Siebel database. For more information, see Using Siebel Tools.
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