13Setting Up Network Ordering

Setting Up Network Ordering

This chapter describes how to set up network ordering. It includes the following topics:

• About Network Ordering

• About Cross-Network Validation

• Process of Defining Compound Products for a Network

• Setting Up Premises

• About the Compound Product Validation Engine

• Example of Defining Compound Products for a Network

• About Configuring Network Ordering

• Enabling and Disabling Cross-Network Validation

• User Property Reference for Cross-Network Validation

• Configuring Cascade Deletion for a Disconnected Network

• About Creating Custom Rule Checkers

Note: In addition to completing the tasks in this chapter, you must activate the appropriate workflows to set up network ordering. For more information about activating workflows, see Activating Workflows for Order Management for Industry Applications.

About Network Ordering

You use the network order entry process to configure products that are too large to configure in real time with Siebel Configurator.

Large telecommunications networks might have 500 nodes and 1,000 connections. Each of these components might have 30 attributes. Use Siebel Configurator for small telecommunications networks that are less than about one-hundredth of this size. Configurator validates configuration in real time, and configuring large networks requires so much processing that real-time validation is not possible.

Network order entry configures products by:

• Partitioning the network into a number of components.

• Using Configurator to validate configuration of individual components in real time.

• Using the Compound Product Validation Engine to validate cross-component rules only at key times, such as when the user clicks the Validate button.

For example, the following figure illustrates part of a network that uses a frame relay as its network product and several ports and PVCs as its components. Network order entry defines the network and its components as separate products. A foreign key field in the component products relates the components to the network product. Configurator validates the configuration of the individual network product and component products. The Compound Product Validation Engine validates the network across products.

Network order entry partitions the network into multiple components:

• Siebel Configurator handles intra-component validation rules.

• Business services handle validation rules for the entire multi-component network. Workflows that you can customize run these business services.

The Compound Product Validation Engine validates the network across components by applying rules, such as:

• A multipoint service must have at least two ports and at least one PVC.

• Any two ports can have only one connection.

• The to and from ports for a connection must exist in the multipoint service.

• The sum of the bandwidth attribute for all PVCs connected to a port cannot exceed the speed attribute of the port.

About Cross-Network Validation

In addition to validating the network across products in the current order, network order entry validates the newly ordered products across the customer’s existing assets and open orders. This is called cross-network validation, and it allows the Siebel application to validate that the network and network elements in the current quote or order are compatible with other networks that this customer has.

Cross-network validation validates the network and network elements in the current quote or order along with the network and network elements associated with the current network, using the compound validation rules specified in administration screen. The two networks are linked using a configurable user property called ValidateFieldName

Note: You might have to install and configure a product patch to use cross-network validation. For more information, see the documentation for the patch.

Example of Cross-Network Validation

Here is a simple example of cross-network validation.

The product administrator has defined the products in the following table with compound product validation rules.

Product Name	Compound	Network Element Type
Network	Y	Network
Port	N	Network Node
Connection	N	Network Connection

After purchasing these products, the customer has assets with the following structure:

Network 1

Port A

Port B

Now customer wants to add another network with additional nodes and link the existing network nodes with the new network nodes, so the customer creates a quote or order with the following elements:

Network 2

- Port C

- Port D

- Connection X (Port C to Port A).

The ValidateFieldName user property is used to configure the name of the field that connects two networks.

In this example, if cross-network validation is enabled, when the sales representative validates Network 2, then Network 1 is also validated.

Cascade Deletion with Cross-Network Validation

When a node is disconnected, all associated connections are included in the disconnect order or disconnect quote based on the account type. When cross-network validation is used, cascade deletion on a node can also trigger deletion of connections belonging to other networks.

Using the example in this topic, disconnection of Port A triggers the disconnection of Connection X. Similarly, disconnection of Port C triggers the disconnection of Connection X.

Process of Defining Compound Products for a Network

A network is a compound product or a loose group of products that a common key ties together. The following component types make up the compound product structure:

• Network. The root network product in which you define values that apply across the entire network.

• Network Node. A point or a location in a network.

• Network Connection. A circuit connecting two points in a network.

Each of these network product components is a self-contained product that can be a customizable product, so users can configure each component of the network separately using Oracle’s Siebel Configurator. The compound product structure facilitates validation across all the individual products (cross-element validation).

To define a network as products, perform the following tasks:

1. Defining Products for the Network. Define the network root product, the network node product, and the network connection product.

2. Defining Business Services for Rule Checkers. Define the business services to call to validate the compound product.

3. Defining Maximum and Minimum Quantities for Network Components. Optionally, define maximum and minimum quantities that components require.

4. Defining Error Messages for Compound Product Rules. Create error messages that the simple expression rules use. You create simple expression rules in the next step.

5. Defining Simple Expression Rules for Compound Products. Create simple expression rules that validate the entire network and display messages if errors occur.

Defining Products for the Network

You must define all the network elements, including the network product and the network components, as products.

This task is a step in Process of Defining Compound Products for a Network.

Defining the Network Product

You can define the network product for network ordering (for example, the frame relay) in the same way that you define other customizable products using the Customizable Products view of the Administration - Products screen, but you must enter information in additional fields.

Configurator rules are not required but you can use these rules if needed.

For more information about defining customizable products, see Siebel Product Administration Guide.

To define the network product

1. Navigate to the Administration - Product screen.

2. In the Products list, add a new record and define the product the same way that you define other products.

3. In the More Info form, use the fields described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Compound Product	Select this check box to define this product as a compound product.
   Network Element Type	Select Network.

Defining Network Components as Products

When customers order networks, salespeople add nodes and connections (for example, ports and PVCs) to the network.

You must set up each of these products using Administration - Products screen, Customizable Products view, Product Designer and Rule Designer subviews to make sure that salespeople select only valid combinations of features for each node and connection.

To allow the salesperson to add these components to the network, you must:

• Create product records for all the different types of nodes and connections that you sell as network components:

  • Model each node as an individual customizable product. For example, you might create a product for Port that has Installation and Local Access Line as child components. Set the Network Element Type of the root of the customizable product to Network Node. Do not set the Compound Product flag.

  • Model each connection as an individual customizable product. For example, you might create a product for PVC with components that include CIR, Diversity, and so on. Set the Network Element Type of the root of the customizable product to Network Connection. Do not set the Compound Product flag.

• Set up Configurator rules defining valid combinations of features for each of these ports, accesses, and PVCs.

For more information about creating products and configuration rules, see Siebel Product Administration Guide.

To define the network components as products

1. Navigate to the Administration - Product screen.

2. In the Products list, add a new record and define the product the same way that you define other products.

3. In the More Info form, use the fields described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Network Element Type	Select Network Node or Network Connection.
   Compound Product	Deselect this check box.

Defining Business Services for Rule Checkers

The Compound Product Validation Engine business service executes the cross-product validation rules for a compound product and returns any rule violations. The product administrator defines the rules for each of the compound products.

The following table shows the rule-checker business services that are available without any product customization.

Business Service	Description
VORD CPVE Component Cardinality Checker Service	This business service validates that the quantity of network component is between the minimum and maximum allowed.
VORD CPVE Simple Validation Expression Checker Service	This business service executes rules defined in Oracle’s Siebel Query Language.

This task is a step in Process of Defining Compound Products for a Network.

To define rules for a compound product

1. Navigate to the Administration - Products screen.

2. In the Products list, click the name of the compound product.

3. Click the Product Validation view tab.

4. In the link bar, click Validation Services.

5. In the Validation Services list, add a new record for each rule checker to execute and complete the fields described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Sequence	The sequence in which the rule is executed.
   Business Service	Name of the business service that implements the rule.

6. In the Parameters list, specify the parameters and values that are specific to the selected rule.

   The Compound Validation Engine passes these values to the PreValidate and Validate methods of the rule checker business service. For more information, see the topic about creating custom rule checkers in Siebel Product Administration Guide.

Defining Maximum and Minimum Quantities for Network Components

The Component Cardinality Checker business service allows product administrators to specify the maximum and minimum quantities of the network product and of the network components.

This task is a step in Process of Defining Compound Products for a Network.

To define maximum and minimum quantities for network components

1. Navigate to the Administration - Product screen.

2. In the Products list, click the name of the compound product for the network.

3. Click the Product Validation view tab.

4. In the link bar, click Cardinality Rules.

   The Cardinality Rules list includes all the products that are valid components of this network.

5. Click New to add a component to the compound product and complete the fields described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Min Qty	Enter the minimum quantity required for this component.
   Max Qty	Enter the maximum quantity required for this component. If this field is blank, then an unlimited quantity of this component is allowed.

   Note: You must include the compound product in this list, with Min Qty of 1 and Max Qty of 1.

Defining Error Messages for Compound Product Rules

Before you create simple expression rules for compound products, you must use the Unified Messaging Service to define the error messages that these rules display. For more information about using the Unified Messaging Service to define messages, see Siebel Order Management Infrastructure Guide.

This task is a step in Process of Defining Compound Products for a Network.

To define error messages for compound product rules

1. Navigate to the Administration - Order Management screen, then the Message Types view.

2. In the All Message Types list, add a new record and complete the necessary fields, as described in Siebel Order Management Infrastructure Guide.

   The message that you enter in the Full Text field appears.

Defining Simple Expression Rules for Compound Products

The simple expression checker business service allows product administrators to use Siebel Query Language to create simple expressions that the Siebel application uses to validate a compound product. For each rule, you define a simple expression and select an error message that you define using the Unified Messaging Service. If the expression is true, then the Siebel application displays the error message to the user and does not validate the compound product.

For more information about Siebel Query Language, see the topic about operators, expressions, and conditions in Siebel Developer's Reference.

This task is a step in Process of Defining Compound Products for a Network.

To define simple expression rules for compound products

1. Navigate to the Administration - Product screen.

2. In the Products list, click the name of the compound product for the network.

3. Click the Product Validation view tab.

4. In the link bar, click Product Validation Expression Rules.

5. In the Product Validation Expression Rules list, add one or more new records and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Sequence	The sequence in which the rule is executed.
   Message	Select the error message that appears if the expression is true.
   Search Expression	Enter an expression in Oracle’s Siebel Query Language. The expression can refer to fields in the following business components. Asset Mgmt – Asset Asset Mgmt - Asset XA Quote Item Order Item XA Order Entry – Line Item Order Item XA
   Aggregate Function	Enter the type of query to run. Valid values are Count, Sum, Min, Max, and Avg.
   Aggregate Field	If the expression uses an aggregate function of Sum, Min, Max, or Avg, then enter the name of the field to aggregate.
   Group By Fields	If the expression uses an aggregate function, then optionally enter a comma separated list of fields by which to group the Aggregate function.
   Having Expression	If the expression uses an aggregate function, then enter an expression that generates an error message. For example, if you use the [Count] function to count the number of records with an error, then you do not want to generate an error message when [Count] = 0, so in this field, enter [Count] >= 1.

Setting Up Premises

This optional task automatically populates fields when the salesperson captures the customer network locations or creates the customer network. When creating a network node, a salesperson enters the location service address, and the Siebel application populates the LATA, CLLI, and other fields based on the information that you enter when you set up premises.

Note: The user can also enter this data in the Address Profile view of the Accounts screen.

To set up premises

1. Navigation to the Administration - Data screen.

2. On the link bar, click Premises.

3. In the All Premises list, add a new record.

4. In the More Info form, click the More button.

5. Fill out the necessary information in the record and More Info form. Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Prefix	Enter the area code and first three digits of the telephone number for this location.
   CLLI	Enter the Common Language Location Identifier (CLLI) code. This standard is used primarily in the United States.
   LATA	Enter the Local Access and Transport Area (LATA). This term is used in the United States and defines a geographic area that a local telephone carrier covers.
   Rate Center	Enter the rate center. A rate center is a geographic area that contains one or more NPA NXX codes. A rate center helps determine the cost of traffic to and from two points.
   Local Operating Company	Select the local telecommunications service provider. The dialog box displays all accounts for which Wireline Operating Company is in the Account Type field.

About the Compound Product Validation Engine

The Compound Product Validation Engine executes validation rules that cross product instances.

A compound product is a group of product instances in quote, order and asset tables that share a common key. A Frame Relay Network is an example of a compound product.

The Compound Product Validation Engine allows you to create rules that operate on a projected future state of a compound product that includes the current quote and any open orders on the existing assets. This future state is created and stored in the Projected Asset Cache object.

Overview of Compound Product Validation

The following illustrates how the Compound Product Validation Engine and its supporting components validate a compound product when a user clicks Validate.

As the previous figure illustrates, Compound product validation includes the following steps:

1. Product manager defines the cross-product validation business services rules for the first-level product in the Product Validation view, Validation Services subview. For more information, see Defining Business Services for Rule Checkers.

2. Product manager defines the component cardinality rules for the first-level product in the Product Validation view, Cardinality Rules subview and enters basic validation rules in the Product Validation view, Product Validation Expression Rules subview. For more information, see Defining Maximum and Minimum Quantities for Network Components and Defining Simple Expression Rules for Compound Products.

3. The user creates a change quote for the compound product. The user validates the individual components using Configurator. After exiting Configurator and completing the network connections, the user clicks Validate. The Validate button calls a named method on the Quote Item business component, which calls the VORD Validate (Quote) workflow process.

4. The VORD Validate (Quote) workflow process determines the selected compound product instance. This workflow process also determines the future date for which to validate the network based on the latest requested date of quote line items for the network. For more information, see the Future Date step in VORD Validate (Quote) in the topic about creating custom rule checkers in Siebel Product Administration Guide. This workflow process then calls the Compound Product Validation Engine business service.

5. The Compound Product Validation Engine retrieves the compound product validation rules for the first-level product. For more information, see the Validate step in VORD Validate (Quote) in the topic about creating custom rule checkers in Siebel Product Administration Guide.

6. For each rule, the Compound Product Validation Engine calls the Pre-Validate method on the corresponding business service.

7. If necessary, the rule checker business service retrieves product specific data related to the rule (for example, the cardinality constraints for sub components of the compound product).

8. The rule checker determines the fields and attributes it requires and returns them to the Compound Product Validation Engine, which accumulates a list of fields and attributes that all rule checkers require.

9. The Compound Product Validation Engine prompts the Projected Assets Cache to retrieve the compound product instance limited to fields and attributes that the business service validation rules for the compound product require.

10. The Projected Assets Cache retrieves all asset records for the compound product. The cache then retrieves all open order line items due to complete before the specified due date and updates the records retrieved from the asset table to create a future state. All changes to the compound product instance in the current quote or current order are applied to generate the true future requested state.

11. For each rule, the Compound Product Validation Engine calls the associated rule checker business service method.

12. If necessary, the rule checker business service retrieves product specific data related to the rule (for example, the cardinality constraints for sub components of the compound product).

13. The rule checker business service queries the Projected Assets Cache to evaluate the rule (for example, the rule checker gets the bandwidth for each PVC connected to a node).

14. The rule checker business service returns a list of rule violations to the Compound Product Validation Engine.

15. The Compound Product Validation Engine accumulates the violations for each rule and returns them to the VORD Validate (Quote) workflow process.

16. The Compound Product Validation Engine business service displays the error message that the user defines in Message Types view.

Note: The Compound Product Validation Engine operates independently of a customizable product definition. Furthermore, the engine validates only the first-level component and its immediate attributes. This note affects your modeling of network products.

Tasks of the Compound Product Validation Engine

The Compound Product Validation Engine is a business service that performs these major steps:

1. Finds and sets the future date to pass to the Projected Asset Cache so that only line items with a due date prior to the future date are loaded to the Projected Asset Cache.

2. Calls all the compound product business service rules for the product ID of the passed compound product and accumulates all the required unique fields and attributes in these business service rules.

3. Initializes the Projected Asset Cache and passes the cache the required fields and attributes as parameters. The Projected Asset Cache builds the in-memory future requested compound product instance.

4. Calls all associated business services and rules to operate on the in-memory object instance containing the future projected state of the compound product.

5. Aggregates the error messages for all the rule violations into a single error message to display to the user.

For details about each of rule checker business service methods, see the topic about creating validation rules for compound products in Siebel Product Administration Guide.

Projected Asset Cache

The Projected Asset Cache holds an in-memory version of the future requested state of the compound product instance. For information about the Projected Asset Cache, see Siebel Order Management Infrastructure Guide.

Example of Defining Compound Products for a Network

This example shows you how to define a network composed of the following products:

• Frame Relay Network. The network product.

• Frame Relay Port. The node product.

• Frame Relay PVC. The connection product.

This example shows one method of defining compound products for a Network. Depending on your business requirements, you might use a different method.

To define a compound product for a network, perform the following tasks:

1. Defining the Frame Relay Network Product

2. Defining the Frame Relay Port Product

3. Defining the Frame Relay PVC Product

4. Defining Business Services for Rule Checkers

5. Defining Maximum and Minimum Quantities for Network Components

6. Defining Error Messages for Compound Product Rules

7. Defining Simple Expression Rules for Compound Products

Defining the Frame Relay Network Product

The Frame Relay Network is the network product for this sample network. All compound product rules are associated with this product.

In the network product, you can define attributes that apply across the entire network. For example, if the same hardware vendor applies to all the products in the network, then you can define the vendor as an attribute of the Frame Relay Network.

To define the Frame Relay Network product

1. Navigate to the Administration - Products screen.

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

   Field	Value
   Product Name	Frame Relay Network
   Compound Product	True
   Network Element Type	Network

Defining the Frame Relay Port Product

In most cases, model the Frame Relay Port product as an individual customizable product.

Note: Although in most cases you must model the Frame Relay Port product as an individual customizable product to model valued added services such as reports and installation, you can model the Frame Relay Port product as a simple product and still use the Compound Product Validation Engine.

The attributes of the product can include port speed, level for quality of service, and so on. If you model your nodes as customizable products, then you must make sure that the attributes to use in cross-product validation rules are associated to the root component.

The sub components of the product might include Local Access Line and Installation.

To define the Frame Relay Port product

1. Navigate to the Administration - Products screen.

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

   Field	Value
   Product Name	Frame Relay Port
   Compound Product	False
   Network Element Type	Network Node

3. For a customizable product, set up Configurator rules to define the valid combinations in the product.

   For more information about creating products and configuration rules, see Siebel Product Administration Guide.

Defining the Frame Relay PVC Product

In most cases, model the Frame Relay PVC product as an individual customizable product.

Note: Although in most cases you must model the Frame Relay PVC product as an individual customizable product to model valued added services such as reports and installation, you can model the Frame Relay Port product as a simple product and still use the Compound Product Validation Engine.

The attributes of the product can include Committed Information Rate (CIR), Diversity, and PVC Type (Symmetrical or Asymmetrical).

The sub components of the product might include Installation and value add services such as PVC Reports.

To define the Frame Relay PVC product

1. Navigate to the Administration - Products screen.

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

   Field	Value
   Product Name	Frame Relay PVC
   Compound Product	False
   Network Element Type	Network Connection

3. For a customizable product, set up Configurator rules to define the valid combinations in the product.

   For more information about creating products and configuration rules, see Siebel Product Administration Guide.

Defining Business Services for Rule Checkers

After you define individual products, you begin defining the features of the entire compound network product.

First, you specify the rule checker business services used to validate this product. In this example, you use the business services for network ordering. In other cases, you might create and use custom business services to validate the network. For more information, see the topic about creating custom rule checkers in Siebel Product Administration Guide.

To define rule checker business services

1. In the Products list, click the name of the Frame Relay Network product that you created earlier.

2. Click the Product Validation view tab.

3. In the link bar, click Validation Services.

4. In the Validation Services list, add a new record and complete the fields described in the following table.

   Field	Value
   Sequence	1
   Business Service	VORD CPVE Component Cardinality Checker Service

5. In the Validation Services list, add another new record and complete the fields described in the following table.

   Field	Value
   Sequence	2
   Business Service	VORD CPVE Simple Validation Expression Checker Service

   Note: Do not add the following business services: VORD CPVE Validation Service and VORD Projected Asset Cache. The VORD Validation (Quote) and VOR Validation (Order) workflow processes or other services call these two services. If you add these services, then an error occurs.

Defining Maximum and Minimum Quantities for Network Components

In this example:

• The Frame Relay Network is the compound product. The compound product must have a minimum quantity of 1 and a maximum quantity of 1.

• The Frame Relay Port product is the node. A network has at least two nodes. A network cannot exist without at least two nodes. Therefore, you define a minimum quantity of 2 for the Frame Relay Port product.

• The Frame Relay PVC product (the circuit connecting the two ports) is the connection. Because the two nodes must be connected, you define a minimum quantity of 1 for the Frame Relay PVC product.

Because this network can be as large as the customer wants in the boundaries of the network reach of the provider, you do not enter a Maximum Quantity for the Frame Relay Port and Frame Relay PVC products.

Because the Cardinality Checker is a compound product business service, it operates on the Projected Asset Cache. Therefore, these rules apply across the current quote, existing assets, and open orders on the assets. For example, if a customer has five Frame Relay Ports and attempts to disconnect four of them, then the validation displays an error message indicating that the customer no longer has the minimum quantity for the Frame Relay Port product.

To define maximum and minimum quantities for network components

1. Navigate to the Administration - Product screen.

2. In the Products list, click the name of the compound product for the network (the Frame Relay Network product).

3. Click the Product Validation view tab.

4. In the link bar, click Cardinality Rules.

   The Cardinality Rules list includes all the products that are valid components of this network.

5. For each product, enter the appropriate value in the Maximum Quantity and Minimum Quantity fields in the following table.

   Product	Minimum Quantity	Maximum Quantity
   Frame Relay Network	1	1
   Frame Relay Port	2	None.
   Frame Relay PVC	1	None.

Defining Error Messages for Compound Product Rules

In this example, you define an error message. A rule that validates if all nodes have a service address uses this error message.

To define error messages for compound product rules

1. Navigate to the Administration - Order Management screen, then the Message Types view.

2. In the All Message Types list, add a new record and complete the fields in the following table.

   Field	Value
   Name	Service Address Error Message
   Title	Validation that All Nodes Have a Service Address
   Full Text	[Count] [Product]s are missing service addresses

Defining Simple Expression Rules for Compound Products

Finally, you define simple expression rules that validate across the product and that generate error messages. In this example, the rule checks to determine whether all nodes have a service address and then displays the error message that you defined in the previous step.

To define simple validation expression rules for compound products

1. In the Administration - Product screen, in the Product Validation view, in the link bar, click Product Validation Expression Rules.

2. In the Compound Products list, add one or more new records and complete the necessary fields. Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Value
   Seq	1
   Search Expression	([Network Element Type] = "Network Node" AND [Service Address] = "")
   Aggregate Function	Count
   Group By Fields	[Product Name]
   Having Expression	[Count]>0
   Message	Service Address Error Message

Other Samples of Validation Rules and Messages

The following table includes more samples of simple expression rules that you can use to validate network ordering. The first column contains the message that you enter in the Short Text and Long Text fields of the Message Type record. The next four columns contain the values that you enter in each Simple Validation Expression Rule record. The last column contains an explanation of the rule.

The first row in the table repeats the example in the previous step. You create the samples in the other rows in the same way you create the previous example. You enter the text of the message in the Message Type record, and then, when you enter values in the Simple Validation Rule record, you select the name of the appropriate Message Type record.

Message Text	Search Expression	Aggregate Function	Group By Fields	Having Expression	Explanation
[Count] [Product]s are missing service addresses	([Network Element Type] = "Network Node" AND [Service Address] = "")	Count	[Product Name]	[Count]>0	Validates that all Nodes have a service address.
[Count] [Product] are missing a "Service Address" and/or a "To Service Address"	([Network Element Type] = "Network Connection" AND (([Service Address] = "") OR ([To Service Address] = "")))	Count	[Product Name]	[Count]>0	Validates that all connections have a service address for each end of the connection.
[Product] at [Service Address] must have a different "To Service Address"	([Network Element Type] = "Network Connection" AND ([Service Address] = [To Service Address]))	None.	None.	None.	Validates that the addresses for each end of a connection are different.
[Count] [Product] are missing a from node, a to node, or both	([Network Element Type] = "Network Connection" AND ([Node] = "" OR [To Node] = ""))	Count	[Product Name]	[Count]>0	Validates that all connections have a node for each end of the connection.

About Configuring Network Ordering

You can configure network ordering in the following ways:

• Enabling or disabling cross-network validation. See Enabling and Disabling Cross-Network Validation.

• Modifying the workflows that drive product validation. See:

  • VORD Validate (Quote) Workflow

  • VORD Validate (Order) Workflow

• Modifying user properties. See User Property Reference for Cross-Network Validation.

• Configuring cascade deletion. See Configuring Cascade Deletion for a Disconnected Network.

• Creating custom rule checkers. See About Creating Custom Rule Checkers.

Enabling and Disabling Cross-Network Validation

You enable and disable cross-network validation by setting the ValidateOtherNetwork user property. By default, it is enabled.

Note: You might also have to install and configure a product patch to enable cross-network validation. For more information, see the documentation for the patch.

Enabling Cross-Network Validation

Use the following procedure to enable cross-network validation.

To enable cross-network validation

1. Log in to Siebel Tools.

2. Query for the VORD CPVE Validation Service business service.

3. Navigate to the Business Service user properties.

   Note: By default, not all object types are visible in the Object Explorer. For information on how to show and hide object types, see the topic on showing and hiding object types in the Object Explorer in Using Siebel Tools.

4. Select ValidateOtherNetwork and change the value to Y.

5. Compile the changes.

6. Copy the compiled Siebel repository file (SRF) to the Siebel Server.

For more information about changing user property values, see Using Siebel Tools.

Disabling Cross-Network Validation

Use the following procedure to disable cross-network validation.

To disable cross-network validation

1. Log in to Siebel Tools.

2. Query for the VORD CPVE Validation Service business service.

3. Navigate to the Business Service user properties.

   Note: By default, not all object types are visible in the Object Explorer. For information on how to show and hide object types, see the topic on showing and hiding object types in the Object Explorer in Using Siebel Tools.

4. Select ValidateOtherNetwork and change the value to N.

5. Compile the changes.

6. Copy the compiled SRF to the Siebel Server.

For more information about changing user property values, see Using Siebel Tools.

User Property Reference for Cross-Network Validation

Cross-network validation uses the following user properties:

• ValidateOtherNetwork

• ValidateFieldName

• NestedValidationQuoteSearchSpec

• VORDConnectionToNodeSearchSpec

ValidateOtherNetwork

The ValidateOtherNetwork user property allows you to enable and disable cross-network validation.

The following table describes the ValidateOtherNetwork user property.

Property Information	Comments
Value	Y or N
Usage	To enable cross-network validation, set the ValidateOtherNetwork user property value to Y. To disable this feature, set the value to N.
Parent Object Type	Business Service
Functional Area	VORD CPVE Validation Service

ValidateFieldName

When cross-network validation is enabled, the ValidateFieldName user property allows you to configure a field to contain the nested network name.

The following table describes the ValidateFieldName user property.

User Property Information	Comments
Value	A user-configurable field that contains the nested network name when cross-network validation is enabled.
Usage	The ValidateFieldName user property allows you to configure a field whose value is the name of the nested network considered for validation. For example, if you want to configure the Service Id field to hold the nested network, then the value of the ValidateFieldName user property must be set to Service Id.
Parent Object Type	Business Service
Functional Area	VORD CPVE Validation Service

NestedValidationQuoteSearchSpec

The NestedValidationQuoteSearchSpec user property allows you to configure a search specification to filter quotes that are not considered for cross-network validation when validating Networks document type Quotes.

The following table describes the NestedValidationQuoteSearchSpec user property.

User Property Information	Comments
Value	A search specification
Usage	The NestedValidationQuoteSearchSpec user property allows you to filter quotes that are not considered when validating quote document type networks. For example, if this user property contains the following value: '[Status] <> LookupValue('QUOTE_STATUS','Order Placed')' then cross-network validation does not consider the quotes with an Order Placed status.
Parent Object Type	Business Service
Functional Area	VORD CPVE Validation Service

VORDConnectionToNodeSearchSpec

The VORDConnectionToNodeSearchSpec user property allows you to configure a search specification for use with cascade deletion. That is, if you disconnect a network node, then the corresponding network connection is disconnected.

The following table describes the VORDConnectionToNodeSearchSpec user property.

User Property Information	Comments
Value	A search specification
Usage	You must modify the VORDConnectionToNodeSearchSpec user property when you enable a nested validation for cascade deletion to be invoked. For example, if you want to configure cascade deletion for the disconnected node and the ValidateFieldName user property is set to Service Id, then you modify the search specification as follows: (Connection.[Node] = Node.[Node] OR Connection.[To Node] = Node.[Node]) AND ((Connection.[Compound Product Number] = Node.[Compound Product Number] OR Connection.[Compound Product Number] = Node. [Serial Number]) AND Connection.[Root Asset Id] = Connection.[Id] AND Connection.[Status] = LookupValue('IMPL_PHASE','Active'))
Parent Object Type	Business Component
Functional Area	VORD Network Node

Configuring Cascade Deletion for a Disconnected Network

Use the following procedure to configure cascade deletion for a disconnected network. For more information about cascade deletion, see Configuring Siebel Business Applications.

To configure cascade deletion for a disconnected network

1. Log in to Oracle’s Siebel Tools with administrator privileges.

2. Query for the VORD CPVE Node business component and lock the project.

3. Modify the Search Specification property based on the value of the ValidateFieldName user property.

   For example, the following search specification assumes the value of the ValidateFieldName user property is Service Id:

   (Connection.[Node] = Node.[Node] OR Connection.[To Node] = Node.[Node]) AND 
   ((Connection.[Compound Product Number] = Node.[Compound Product Number] OR 
   Connection.[Compound Product Number] = Node. [Serial Number]) AND 
   Connection.[Root Asset Id] = Connection.[Id] AND Connection.[Status] = 
   LookupValue('IMPL_PHASE','Active'))
   

4. Compile the project.

About Creating Custom Rule Checkers

To create custom rule checkers for network ordering, follow the same guidelines for creating custom rule checkers for product validation. For more information, see the topic about product validation in Siebel Product Administration Guide.

the Siebel application provides rule checkers that are the same for network ordering and for product validation.