26Web Services
Web Services
This chapter includes information about the Web service that enables you to access the Siebel database from Microsoft Word. It includes the following topics:
About the Word Web Service
The Word Web service enables you to use the Word mail merge feature directly with your Siebel database. The Word Web service adds a custom toolbar to your documents. You can use the toolbar to perform your mail merge tasks. You can use the Word Web service to perform the following tasks:
Create a list of mail merge recipients with data from your Siebel database.
Refine your mail merge message and add fields to represent fields from your Siebel database.
Preview your mail merge documents with the data fields populated with data from your Siebel database.
Print or email your mail merge documents directly from Word.
Log each mail merge event as an activity in your Siebel database.
By default, the following record types are supported:
Accounts
Activities
Contacts
Opportunities
Service Requests
For information on supported versions of Microsoft Word, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.
Users must have the macro-security level set to medium or lower to use this Web service.
Seed Data for Word Web Service
Siebel Business Applications include seed data for the Word Web service. The seed data includes the following items:
A template file for the service.
SAF files. These files are generated when you add templates as literature items. These files must be present to enable users to open the templates from the Literature view.
To enable users to open the Web service template from the Literature view
Copy the *.SAF files from
$SIEBEL_ROOT/temp/SFAinto the$FILESYSTEMdirectory.
Downloading the Word Template
Complete the following procedure to download the Word template.
To download the Word template
Navigate to the Administration - Document screen, then the Literature view.
In the Literature list, select the Word template.
Drill down on the File Name field of the template, then save the file to your computer.
Requirements for Connecting Template to Siebel EAI
Before you can connect a Word template to the Siebel Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) component, you must make sure that the following conditions are met:
Siebel Enterprise Server is running.
Siebel Server or Siebel Gateway Server is running.
Siebel EAI component group is enabled.
Siebel Workflow Management component group is enabled.
The Siebel Application Object Manager for the Siebel application with which you want to use the Word template is running.
Seed data for inbound Web services is available.
The Word template is available.
Process of Configuring Word Web Service
To configure the Word Web service, perform the following tasks:
Downloading the Template for the Word Web Service
The Word document template that is provided as seed data with Siebel Business Applications contains a toolbar and macros that you can use to work with data from your Siebel database in Word. For more information about how to download the Word template, see Seed Data for Word Web Service.
If you want help with customizing a template to your requirements, then contact your Oracle sales representative for Oracle Advanced Customer Services to request assistance.
This task is a step in Process of Configuring Word Web Service.
Connecting the Word Template to Siebel EAI
Before you can connect a Word template to the Siebel Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) component, you must make sure that particular conditions are met. For more information about these requirements, see Requirements for Connecting Template to Siebel EAI.
This task is a step in Process of Configuring Word Web Service.
To connect the Word template to Siebel EAI
In Word, open the document template.
Select File, then Properties.
Click the Custom tab.
Create custom properties with values in the following table.
Custom Property Value SFAServer
ServerName/eai_language, where ServerName is the name of your server, and language is the language of the Siebel Application Object Manager.
Include the DNS name of the server. For example, if your server name is abcdef, and your domain name is corp.xyz.com, then type abcdef.corp.xyz.com in this field.
SFAProtocol
http or https
SFAPort
port_number, where port_number is the number of the port you want to use. Typically, this number is 80.
Save the document template.
Process of Using Word Web Service to Perform a Mail Merge
To use the Word Web service to perform a mail merge with data from the Siebel database, perform the following tasks:
Getting the Data for a Mail Merge from the Siebel Database
You can use the Word Web service to get contact information for a mail merge from your Siebel database. You perform the following actions to create the query to run:
Select the business component from which you want contact information.
Specify conditions to apply to the contact records. You can specify up to six conditions.
Select the fields you require from the contact records. You can specify up to 40 fields.
When you run the query, the output is saved in a local area as the data source for your mail merge.
This task is a step in Process of Using Word Web Service to Perform a Mail Merge.
To get contact data from the Siebel database
In Word, open the document template.
Click Get Siebel Data, then select the type of information you want to include in mail merge.
Select one of the following options:
Account
Contacts
Opportunity
Service Request
Alternatively, if you have saved contact data previously, then select Use Saved List and select the list you require.
Enter your Siebel username and password, then click Login.
Specify any conditions that you want to apply to the data on the Filters tab of the Define List dialog box.
Click the Fields tab, then use the dialog to specify the fields that you want to include in the report.
Click OK.
Refining Recipients for a Mail Merge
After you save the contact data, you can review the list of recipients for your mail merge, and make modifications to the list if required.
This task is a step in Process of Using Word Web Service to Perform a Mail Merge.
To modify recipients
Open the Word document to which you added a data source in Getting the Data for a Mail Merge from the Siebel Database.
Click Refine Recipients.
Use the Mail Merge Recipients dialog to make modifications to the list of mail merge recipients.
Click OK.
The changes to the list of contacts are saved in the data source.
Refining the Message for a Mail Merge
After you modify the list of contacts for your mail merge, you can modify the message. You can add fields from the data source to the message.
This task is a step in Process of Using Word Web Service to Perform a Mail Merge.
To modify the message
Open the Word document with which you associated contact data in Getting the Data for a Mail Merge from the Siebel Database.
To insert a data field from the data source, perform the following steps:
Position the cursor where you want the data field to appear in the message.
Click Refine Message, then select Insert Siebel Field.
Select the field that you want to insert.
The data fields are added to the message as fields, and are not populated with data from the data source yet.
To insert text from the Word AutoText feature, perform the following steps:
Position the cursor where you want the AutoText item to appear in the message.
Click Refine Message, then select AutoText.
Select the AutoText item that you want to insert.
Click Save in the toolbar to save the document.
Previewing Messages for a Mail Merge
After you specify the data fields to include in the mail merge message, you can preview your mail merge messages with the data fields populated with data from the Siebel database.
This task is a step in Process of Using Word Web Service to Perform a Mail Merge.
To preview messages
Open the Word document to which you added a data source in Getting the Data for a Mail Merge from the Siebel Database.
Click Preview.
Click First Record, Last Record, Previous Record, and Next Record to preview your mail merge messages.
Printing or Sending Mail Merge Messages
After you preview your mail merge messages, you can merge all of the messages to one Word document, send all of the messages to a printer, or send all of the messages as email messages.
This task is a step in Process of Using Word Web Service to Perform a Mail Merge.
To print or send messages
Open the Word document to which you added a data source in Getting the Data for a Mail Merge from the Siebel Database.
Click Print or Send Message, and then select one of the menu items described in the following table.
Menu Item Comments Merge to Document
Merges all records from the data source, and adds each merged document into one Word document.
Merge to Printer
Merges all records from the data source, and prints each document.
Send as Email
Merges all records from the data source, and emails each document to an address specified in the data source. Use the Merge to E-mail dialog box to specify the field where the email address is stored in the data source, and other details of the email message.
Logging Messages as a Siebel Activity
After you send the mail merge to the contacts in the data source, you might want to log an activity record in your Siebel database to record the activity.
This task is a step in Process of Using Word Web Service to Perform a Mail Merge.
To log messages as a Siebel activity
Open the Word document to which you added a data source in Getting the Data for a Mail Merge from the Siebel Database.
Click Log as Siebel Activity.
In the Log as Siebel Activity dialog box, complete the fields in the following table.
Field Maps to Siebel Activity Field Date
Start Date
Description
Comments
Priority
Priority
Status
Status
Subject
Description
Type
Type
Click Save.
An activity record for the communication event is created in the Siebel database for each recipient or contact. The record contains the message to the recipient or contact, with the merged fields relevant to the recipient or contact.