Testing Products and Using Workspace Projects

This chapter describes the two ways to test products:

Validation Mode. Allows you to test the product by working with the same Siebel Product Configurator user interface that end users would use. This applies to products with components.
Scenario Tester. Allows you to test multiple scenarios for the product, which you create in Workspace Projects view, and it returns the results in an XML file. This applies to products with components and products with attributes.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Testing a Product with Components in Validation Mode

You can test a product with components in validation mode. This creates an instance of the product with components and presents its selection pages. You can test configuration constraints, the user interface, and pricing exactly as if you were a user.

Validation mode can create an instance of the product with components based on the work space or on any released version of the product

Validation mode uses a specific quote with following name convention:

Customizable Product Validation Quote_[username]

For example, if the username is SADMIN, the quote must be named Customizable Product Validation Quote_SADMIN.

Note: If you make any fields required in the Quote business component, create the quote manually for each user (using the naming convention described here) and populate the required fields on each Quote before validating customizable products for the first time.

Test the product with components in the following ways:

To test a specific group of configuration rules, set all the rules you do not want to test to inactive and then go to validation mode to test the desired rules. Then activate configuration constraints one at a time as needed and return to validation mode to test the result.
If you have purchased Siebel Pricer, be sure to fully validate all component-based pricing adjustments. If you are using automatic pricing updates, verify that selection pages redisplay fast enough after each user action. If redisplay is too slow, consider switching to a base theme for the user interface that uses manual price updates. When in validation mode, the application uses the price list assigned to a special quote called Customizable Product Validation Quote_[username]. You can test the product with multiple price lists by assigning each of the price lists to this special quote.
Verify that user access is set up correctly for all the components of the product with components. Do this by checking the categories to which the product with components and all its components are assigned. Then check the access control groups assigned to these categories and associated catalogs. Users who will configure the product must have access permission to the product and all its components. You can check category assignments in Product Administration, then the Category or in Catalog Administration.

Validate a product with components at regular intervals while you are developing it. For example, after you enter a block of related configuration rules or after customizing the selection pages, go to validation mode and check your work.

If your products with components are complex, consider developing written test plans that exercise all the configuration rules and all expected user behaviors. In particular, be sure to test for unexpected or incorrect user behaviors in order to rule out unexpected responses from the Siebel Product Configurator engine.

You enter validation mode by clicking the Validate button, which located in the views where you work with products with components, such as the Product Versions view, and the Constraints view.

To test a product with components in validation mode

Make changes to the product with components.
For example, add configuration rules in the Constraints view.
Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Product Definitions view.
In the Products list, select the desired product with components.
In the Versions list, select either the Work Space record or the record for a released version of the product.
In the Versions list, click Validate.
The application creates an instance of the product and displays it in Siebel Product Configurator.

Testing Product with Components Pricing

If you want to test pricing, you must associate a price list with the Customizable Product Validation Quote_[username] quote. This is a special quote provided for validating products with components.

To test product with components pricing

Navigate to the Quotes screen.
In the Quotes list, query for the Customizable Product Validation Quote_[username] quote.
Assign the desired price list to the Customizable Product Validation Quote_[username] quote.
Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Product Definitions view.
In the Versions list, select either Work Space or a released version of the product.
Click Validate.
The application creates an instance of the product and displays it in Siebel Product Configurator.

About Scenario Tester and Workspace Projects

Scenario Tester allows you to test the validity of your customizable product or simple product with attributes at any time that you specify (past, current, or future) and to create a number of quotes, orders, and agreements that will be used to test your customizable product. Each quote, order, agreement or asset is a scenario used for testing.

Before you test products using Scenario Tester, you must create a workspace project, which includes:

Contents list. Add the objects you want to test.
Scenarios list. Define the test Quotes, Sales Orders, Service Orders, and Agreements that you are using to test these objects.

Working with Versioned and Unversioned Objects

Scenario Tester can test:

Versioned objects. You can test customizable products, classes, and attribute definitions.
- If the objects are part of the active Workspace Project, Scenario Tester uses the version in the Workspace Project, even if it is unreleased.
- If objects are not part of the Workspace Project, Scenario Tester uses the released version of the object.
  
  Note: Scenario Tester uses objects that are not part of the Workspace Project if objects that are part of the Workspace Project are dependent on them. For example, if you add a product with attributes to the Workspace Project, but do not add the Class that the product inherits its attributes, Scenario Tester uses the released version of that Class.

Unversioned objects. Scenario Tester tests the eligibility, compatibility, and pricing rules for unversioned objects, using the Base Date to determine whether a particular item must be retrieved.

Administering Data in Test Mode

Administering data in test mode allows the administrator to create data that use either unreleased or future data. For example, in test mode, the administrator can enter a future price for an unreleased product or future-effective product.

You work in slightly different ways in these two modes:

Test mode. The mode that the application is in when the Use Project checkbox is selected for a workspace project. This mode gives the administrator access to unreleased objects included in the workspace project and other objects not in the workspace project based on Base Date.
Normal mode. The mode that the application is in when the Use Project checkbox is not selected for a workspace project. The application uses released objects based on the application's internal date.

When you are administering a Workspace Project in test mode, you can see unreleased products and tie them to other objects in the application for administration purposes, as follows:

Tying a Versioned Object to a Versioned Object. You can associate a versioned object with another versioned object in test mode. An example is associating an attribute definition to a product class.
Tying a Versioned Object to a Unversioned Object. You can view all unversioned objects regardless of test date and whether you are in Test Mode. For instance, you can view all price list items regardless of their effectivity dates and regardless of test date or mode. You can associate versioned objects with unversioned objects as follows:
- Price Lists, Cost Lists, Rate Lists, Aggregate Discounts, Discount Matrices, Eligibility and Compatibility Rules, Bundled Products, Product Recommendations. In Test Mode, the application shows records if the item has been added to the Workspace Project, and shows records that are in effect on the test date if the item has not been added to the Workspace Project. In Normal Mode, the application shows records for products or classes that have released versions as of today.
- CP Pricing Designer. In Test Mode, the application shows the component products of the version added to the Workspace Project, and shows the version of the product that is in effect on the Test Date if the item has not been added to the Workspace Project. In Normal Mode, the application shows the union of all component products across versions of a customizable product within the effective date period of the root customizable product price list item.
- Catalog Product Items. In Test Mode, the application shows records if the item has been added to the Workspace Project, and shows records that are in effect on the test date if the item has not been added to the Workspace Project. In Normal Mode, the application shows records for products or classes that have released versions as of today. The record counter for products in a given category are based on today's date. While testing, you must run the counter update periodically on the production application.
- Product Promotions. In Test Mode, the application allows the user to add products and classes contained in a Workspace Project as products and classes covered by the promotion. After testing, the user must ensure that the objects referred from the promotion are released during the effectivity dates of the promotion, so there are no integrity problems to run-times in Normal Mode.
- Catalog Categories. This object is used based on effective dates. It behaves the same way in Test Mode as in Normal Mode, because it does not have to associated with another object to be used.
- Compound Product Rules, Simple Validation Rules, Cardinality Rules, Smart Part Numbers, Favorites, Attribute Adjustments, Data Validation Rules. These objects are not supported by Scenario Tester.

Process of Testing Products with Scenario Tester

To use Scenario Tester Project to test products, perform the following tasks:

Defining a Workspace Project for Scenario Testing

The workspace project is a container that holds all the other information needed for scenario testing. It also is used to specify the date that will be tested.

This task is a step in Process of Testing Products with Scenario Tester.

To define a workspace project for the scenario

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.

In the Workspace Projects list, add a new record and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Name	Enter a name for the scenario.
Effective Start Date	Enter the date that is used to set the Start Date of the versions released from the Workspace Project. This value is also the date that the application uses to determine what versions must be exported for dependent items when the user chooses to export the full structure of the items in the Workspace Project.
Base Date	Enter the date for the test. All the Quotes, Orders, and other scenarios that you create will be tested using the released versions, pricing, eligibility, compatibility, recommendations, promotions, and other specifications effective on this date. If this date is entered, it is used as the date for dependent items for full structure export. If both Effective Starting Date and Base Date are filled, Base Date is used, as long as the data is not in the workspace itself.
Use Project	Select this checkbox to enter test mode. For more information about test mode and normal mode, see Administering Data in Test Mode. You must select this checkbox to display test quotes and other test documents in the Scenarios view. If you uncheck it, these test documents will disappear from Scenarios view. When you select this check box, the application uses the items in the Workspace Project as if they are currently active. The Scenario Tester uses the workspaces of the items in the Workspace Project as the active versions, allowing the user to test them without releasing them. Selecting this check box makes the Workspace Project active only for the duration of the session for the current login. The user can select this check box to associate items in the Workspace project with one another without having to release them. If the user exports data, if the Use Projects flag is set, the objects in this workspace are exported. This field controls whether test documents are visible to the user. When it is selected, the test documents become visible. When not, the documents are not visible.

Defining the Contents for Scenario Testing

When you define the contents for the scenario, you specify all the products, attributes, classes, signals, and variable maps whose workspace versions will be tested. For these objects, the testing date from the joint workspace will not be in effect.

For example, this list can include one customizable product plus all the component products, product attributes, and product classes that are part of that customizable product. In more complex cases, it can include several customizable products and component products, product attributes, and product classes that are part of it.

This task is a step in Process of Testing Products with Scenario Tester.

To define the contents for the scenario test

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.
In the Workspace Projects list, select the workspace project for this scenario test.
Click the Contents view tab.
In the Contents list, click Add to add a new record.
In the Select Versioned Object dialog box, select an object.
Continue to add new records and to select new versioned objects until you have selected all the objects to be tested.

Creating Scenarios for Scenario Testing

Next, you create quotes, orders, and agreements. These scenarios are created as test documents, so that you can distinguish them from actual documents. These are the scenarios that will be run under the conditions that you specified for this scenario testing.

This task is a step in Process of Testing Products with Scenario Tester.

To create a quote for scenario testing

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.
In the Workspace Projects list, select the workspace for this scenario test.
Click the Scenarios view tab.
In the Scenarios view link bar, click Test Quotes.

Add a record to the Test Quotes list and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Name	Enter a name for the test quote
Account	Select an account to be used in the test quote.

Click the hyperlink in the Name field of the test quote.
The standard Quotes screen appears.
Enter the details of the quote in the usual way.
For more information about entering a quote see Siebel Order Management Guide.
Optionally, when you are creating the quote, click the price fields to display a pricing waterfall which shows how the final price was arrived at. Verify that this is the pricing behavior that you want.
Optionally, when you are creating the quote, click Customize to display the product in Siebel Product Configurator. Verify that this is the interface that you want.

To create a service order for scenario testing

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.
In the Workspace Projects list, select the workspace for this scenario test.
Click the Scenarios view tab.
In the Scenarios view link bar, click Test Service Orders.

Add a record to the Test Service Orders list and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Order #	Displays an application generated number used to identify the service order.
Account	Select an account to be used in the test quote.

Click the hyperlink in the Order # field of the test service order.
The standard Service Orders screen appears.
Enter the details of the service order in the usual way.
For more information about entering an order see Siebel Order Management Guide.

To create a sales order for scenario testing

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.
In the Workspace Projects list, select the workspace for this scenario test.
Click the Scenarios view tab.
In the Scenarios view link bar, click Test Sales Orders.

Add a record to the Test Service Orders list and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Order #	Displays an application generated number used to identify the service order.
Account	Select an account to be used in the test quote.
Price List	Select a price list to be used in the test quote.

Click the hyperlink in the Order # field of the test service order.
The standard Sales Orders screen appears.
Enter the details of the sales order in the usual way.
For more information about entering an order, see Siebel Order Management Guide.

To create an agreement for scenario testing

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.
In the Workspace Projects list, select the workspace for this scenario test.
Click the Scenarios view tab.
In the Scenarios view link bar, click Test Agreements.

Add a record to the Test Agreements list and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Name	Enter a name for the test agreement.
Account	Select an account to be used in the test agreement.

Click the hyperlink in the Name field of the test agreement.
The standard Quote screen appears.
Enter the details of the agreement in the usual way.
For more information about entering an agreement, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

Validating Scenarios

After setting up the scenarios, you can validate them.

Note: In addition to the verification described here, you can batch validate scenarios, as described in Batch Validating Scenarios.

This task is a step in Process of Testing Products with Scenario Tester.

To validate scenarios

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.
In the Workspace Projects list, select the workspace for this scenario test and select the Use Project check box.
Click the Scenarios view tab.
In the link bar of the Scenarios view, click either Test Quotes, Test Service Orders, Test Sales Orders, or Test Agreements.
In the Scenarios list, select one or more test quotes, test service orders, test sales orders, or test agreements.
Double click the test scenario and perform the usual tasks for that type of document.
For example, if you are testing a quote, you must add products to the quote, look at the products, look at the prices, and so on.

Correcting Product Definitions and Retesting

If the scenario is invalid, you must correct the definitions of products and prices and retest the scenario.

For example, if one of the component products is not available on the date that this scenario is testing, you must modify your product list so the product is available on that date.

This task is a step in Process of Testing Products with Scenario Tester.

Displaying Only the Project in Use

If you have a long list of projects in the Workspace Projects list, it can be useful to display only the project you are currently working on and to hide the other projects.

To display only the project in use

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.
In the Workspace Projects list, in the record for the project you are currently using, select the Use Project checkbox.
Select this checkbox in only one record.
Click Show Project in Use.
Only the project you are currently using is displayed in the list.

To display all workspace projects again after displaying only the project in use

In Workspace Projects list, click Query.
Without entering any query criteria, click Go.
All projects are displayed.

Working with the Scenario XML File

When you verify a scenario, then you can export that scenario as an XML file. The XML file contains the property set for that scenario, with all the properties that define the quote, order, asset, or agreement.

After the XML file has been saved, you can use any text editor to edit the property set in the XML file rather than changing the definition in the Quotes, Orders, or Agreements screen.

Then you can import the XML file into the application to update the scenario with the changes you made in the XML file.

To export a scenario to an XML file

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.
In the Workspace Projects list, select the workspace for this scenario test.
Click the Scenarios view tab.
In the link bar of the Scenarios view, click either Test Quotes, Test Service Orders, Test Sales Orders, or Test Agreements.
In the Scenarios list, select a test quotes, test service order, test sales order, or test agreement.
From the menu in the Scenarios view, select Manage Scenario.
In the Manage Scenario dialog box, click Export Scenario.
In the File Download dialog box, click Save.
In the Save As dialog box, specify the file name and directory and click OK.

To import a scenario from an XML file

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.
In the Workspace Projects list, select the workspace for this scenario test.
Click the Scenarios view tab.
In the link bar of the Scenarios view, click either Test Quotes, Test Service Orders, Test Sales Orders, or Test Agreements.
From the menu in the Scenarios view, select Manage Scenario.
In the Manage Scenario dialog box, click Browse, and use the Choose File dialog box to select the XML file you want to import.
In the Manage Scenario dialog box, click Import Scenario.

Caution: If there is a scenario with the same name and type, the scenario being imported from XML overwrites the existing scenario.

Batch Validating Scenarios

The topic Validating Scenarios describes how to validate one or more scenarios in one of the scenario lists. Using this method, all the scenarios you validate must be either in Test Quotes, Test Service Orders, Test Sales Orders, or Test Agreements list.

You can also batch verify scenarios across these lists.

To batch validate scenarios

Navigate to the Administration - Product screen, then the Workspace Projects view.
In the Workspace Projects list, select the workspace for this scenario test.
Click the Scenarios view tab.
From the menu in the Scenarios view, select Manage Scenario.
In the Manage Scenario dialog box, click Batch Validate.
If there are errors, the application displays error messages in popup applets.