Guidelines for User Interface Objects Layer

This topic describes guidelines for configuring selected elements in the user interface objects layer for optimal performance. It contains the following information:

• "Addressing Performance Issues Related to Grid Layout"

• "Maintaining Performance When Using Applet Toggles"

Addressing Performance Issues Related to Grid Layout

This topic is part of "Guidelines for User Interface Objects Layer".

The grid layout feature allows developers to create effective and usable form applets for Siebel views. However, performance can be adversely affected by certain applet design choices.

Typically, such performance problems relate to the alignment of user interface controls such as labels and fields, and stem from the total number of cells in the grid-based form applet, including spacer cells. Performance impact will depend on the number of user interface elements, the applet size, and other factors.

You can optimize user interface performance by:

• Making stacked sets of labels or fields the same width. Doing so can reduce the number of adjacent spacer cells that you require.

• Aligning stacked sets of labels consistently.

• Making labels the same height as the adjacent fields.

• Eliminating horizontal or vertical spacer cells that you deem unnecessary.

  
  

  Note: Weigh all optional measures against possible usability concerns. Judicious use of spacing in your view layouts is generally appropriate for optimal usability.

  
  

For more information about using the grid layout, see Configuring Siebel Business Applications.

Maintaining Performance When Using Applet Toggles

This topic is part of "Guidelines for User Interface Objects Layer".

Applet toggles are a useful feature where multiple applets based on different business components occupy the same location in a view. Which applet displays at one time depends on a field value in a parent applet (dynamic toggle) or on a user selection (static toggle).

Dynamic toggle applets are based on the same business component, while static toggle applets can be based on different business components.

In general, when configuring applet toggles for your Siebel application, particularly dynamic toggles, you can reduce memory and CPU usage for user application sessions by minimizing the number of applet toggles and fields per applet.

It is important to be aware of potential performance impact of using applet toggles, particularly dynamic toggles:

• When a user selects a record in a parent applet for a dynamic applet toggle, the business component and fields for all of the applet toggles are instantiated and cached in memory, and all of these fields are queried.

  This query is used to populate other applet toggles that might be displayed when the user changes the relevant field value in the parent record. However, each time the user selects a different record in the parent applet, all of the fields in the toggle business component are required.

  Also note that browser caching is not performed for views containing dynamic applet toggles.

• When a user navigates to a view containing a static applet toggle, the business component and fields for the default displayed applet is instantiated and cached in memory, and these fields are queried. Other business components are instantiated and cached, and other queries performed, when the user navigates to the other applets in the toggle.

In each case, cached objects remain in memory until the user navigates to a different screen.