Comparing Features Between Siebel Open UI and the Traditional Clients

This topic compares the features in Siebel Open UI and the features in the traditional clients (the high interactivity and standard interactivity clients) from prior releases. Some of the features that are available in the Siebel Open UI client do not map exactly to the features that were formerly available in the traditional clients. Review all of the relevant information carefully before making deployment choices.

• Features that have changed. Some of the general user interface features in Siebel Open UI have changed relative to similar features in the traditional clients. This topic describes several features from the high interactivity client and explains the differences in how these features are implemented in Siebel Open UI.

• Features that are available. Many other Siebel CRM application features from the traditional clients are now available in Siebel Open UI. For more information about the features that are available in Siebel Open UI and about some of the differences in how these features are implemented, see Siebel Open UI Deployment Guide, 1499842.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support. See also the Siebel Bookshelf guides that describe the available features.

• Features that are not available. Some of the features from the traditional clients are not currently available in Siebel Open UI. For more information, see Siebel Open UI Deployment Guide, 1499842.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support. Some of these features might be provided in future releases.

This topic contains the following information:

• "Siebel Open UI Features That Deviate from Features in the High Interactivity Client"

• "Technical Differences Between the Siebel Open UI Client and the High Interactivity Client"

Siebel Open UI Features That Deviate from Features in the High Interactivity Client

For specific features, Siebel Open UI deviates from the way Siebel CRM has worked in the past, in the high interactivity client. The following product differences must be considered when you implement Siebel Open UI.

• Artifacts in the user interface. Some of the user interface features in the traditional clients do not work in the Siebel Open UI client. Artifacts for these features are still present in the Siebel Open UI client, to maintain consistency with the existing user interface rendering. Notable items are buttons for features that are not available in the application toolbar, such as legacy printing and spell-check options.

  You can remove those user interface elements by manipulating the configuration using Siebel Tools or by using supported Web development methods, such as by post-loading CSS style sheets.

• Escape key and undo. Pressing the Escape key once performs a single undo operation. Pressing the Escape key multiple times might generate multiple results, depending on the user's previous activity, including which user interface elements the user has interacted with.

• Double-clicking. Double-clicking has been eliminated from the Siebel Open UI client, to improve usability. Double-clicking causes difficulties for novice users and presents drawbacks to accessibility. It also conflicts with the single-click interaction style of the Web and of many mobile devices, and it is not common to all operating systems.

• Right-clicking. Right-clicking has been eliminated from the Siebel Open UI client to improve usability. Right-clicking lacks good usability characteristics. It is not discoverable, it does not meet accessibility requirements, and it is difficult to implement on mobile devices.

• Logout on exit. Automatic logout upon closing the browser cannot be supported in a standards-based implementation, due to Web browser and W3C limitations. This action cannot directly communicate to the server that the user has disconnected. Therefore, Siebel Open UI applications behave differently in this regard than high interactivity applications did. It is recommended to set session time-out intervals as short as possible while maintaining usability. Also train users to log out of the application explicitly.

• Implicit commit on the browser Back button. An implicit commit of data record changes when a user clicks the browser Back button cannot be supported in a standards-based implementation, due to Web browser and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) limitations. Therefore, Siebel Open UI applications behave differently in this regard than high interactivity applications did. Users must commit changes through supported methods.

• Scrollbars. Horizontal scrollbars are not used in the Siebel Open UI client, because they tend to deteriorate usability. However, to emulate specific behaviors, you can add horizontal scrollbars by using CSS changes. For long lists, use the forward and backward buttons in place of vertical scrollbars. Using refined queries displays a smaller result set and enhances usability.

• Pick lists and LOVs. Pick lists and LOVs do not select a new value until a unique match is made. Where you use auto-fill but an exact match is not made, the value reverts to the original. Selecting from an LOV does not include double-quotes.

• Shuttle applets and MVGs. Shuttle applets and MVGs have been redesigned for improved usability and to make them more consistent with pick lists.

• Images and screens. The look and feel of the following features has changed.

  • Login and logout pages have an updated look.

  • Task bar icons are more modern, with higher resolution and color depth.

  • Buttons have been updated, with higher resolution and color depth.

  • The Oracle logo font and color have changed.

  • The tab bar has no images, for consistency.

  • Check boxes have an updated look.

  • New columns-displayed icons have been added.

• Attachments. Attachment files stored in the Siebel File System cannot be edited on the fly in Siebel Open UI. That is, attachment documents cannot be opened, edited, and saved directly back to the Siebel application. Users must download an attachment document into a secure location specified by the browser, edit and save the document, and then upload the document. This behavior is standard for true Web-based applications.

  Where Desktop Integration Siebel Agent is deployed on the user computer, however, attachment files can be saved directly to the Siebel application.

  For more information about issues in using the Siebel File System in Siebel Open UI applications, see "Migration Options for Siebel File System Features in Siebel Open UI". For more information about Desktop Integration Siebel Agent, see the Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using.

• Auditing for the print feature. Siebel Open UI uses the browser's native print features, rather than using proprietary printing features. Use external audit capabilities to audit printing by users or Siebel Business Applications. Siebel Open UI does not support print audit features.

• Signature captures. Store signature captures as images for Siebel Open UI applications, to avoid integration issues for external components trying to display signatures. The previous encryption algorithm for signature captures is not supported. For more information about configuring an integration for signature capturing, see Configuring Siebel Open UI.

This topic is part of "Siebel Open UI Client User Experience".

Technical Differences Between the Siebel Open UI Client and the High Interactivity Client

Some technical differences between the Siebel Open UI client and the high interactivity client for prior releases are described as follows. See also "Siebel Open UI Client Requirements".

JavaScript Framework

Modern browsers and JavaScript-based applications perform very well in delivering functional, high-performance, and standards-based applications that do not require plug-ins or associated predeployment tasks (such as for ActiveX controls that were used in the high interactivity client for prior releases). The Siebel Open UI client provides a flexible platform for employee, partner, and customer applications.

Hard-Coding Versus Flexibility

The Siebel Open UI client is more flexible than the high interactivity client was, for which much of the functionality was hard-coded.

• Siebel Open UI. In the Siebel Open UI client, all aspects of rendering can be controlled. Colors, fonts, borders, backgrounds, and the controls used for rendering can be exchanged to offer just about any user experience desired. This flexibility creates somewhat more overhead in regard to performance, when combining this attribute with improper application tuning. It is recommended to tune customized applications to take this into consideration.

• High interactivity. This client was effectively a monolithic client: colors, borders, and fonts could not easily be changed, and you could not modify the behavior of the UI. This monolithic design enabled a compact client, though it was not flexible.

Compiled Versus Interpreted Code

In the Siebel Open UI client, more of the code is interpreted than compiled, relative to the high interactivity client.

• Siebel Open UI. Siebel Open UI has a strong dependency on the performance of the browser's rendering engine.

• High interactivity. This client was built using ActiveX, which was essentially Win32 compiled and proprietary code. Operations in this client could be processed very efficiently.

Accessibility

The support for WAI-ARIA standards for accessibility for the Siebel Open UI client changes the way in which Siebel Business Applications support accessibility requirements. For more information, see Siebel Fundamentals.

This topic is part of "Siebel Open UI Client User Experience".