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Administering Oracle CRM On Demand > User Management and Access Controls > Book Management > About Time-Based Book Assignments
About Time-Based Book Assignments
You can manage book assignments for accounts and contacts by importing account book records and contact book records. You can specify a start date and an end date for each book assignment that you import. If you do not specify a start date for a book assignment, then the assignment becomes active immediately. You can also use the Future Primary Flag field to specify if the book that you assign to an account or contact is to become the primary book for that account or contact when the book assignment becomes active.
NOTE: To import account book or contact book records, your role must include the Manage Future Books privilege.
Updates to Account and Contact Book Assignments
A book-assignment procedure runs periodically to examine all book assignments for accounts and contacts and to update the assignments as necessary. To determine when the book-assignment procedure is scheduled to run for your instance of Oracle CRM On Demand, contact Oracle CRM On Demand Customer Care.
The book-assignment procedure updates the book assignments for accounts and contacts as follows:
- Activates book assignments. If the start date of a book assignment has arrived and the assignment is not already active, then the assignment becomes active. When a book assignment becomes active, users who are members of that book have access to the account or contact through membership of that book.
For example, you might import an account book record that assigns Book A to Account 1 with a start date of January 01 next year. The book assignment for Book A on Account 1 becomes active the first time that the book-assignment procedure runs after the start of January 01 next year.
- Determines if a book is the primary book. If the Future Primary Flag field is set to Y for a book assignment and the assignment is being activated, then the book becomes the primary book for the account or contact.
For example, assume that Book A is currently the primary book for Account 1. You might import an account book record that assigns Book B to Account 1 with a start date of January 01 next year and with the Future Primary Flag field set to Y. The first time that the book-assignment procedure runs after the start of January 01 next year, the book assignment for Book B for Account 1 becomes active, and Book B becomes the primary book for Account 1. Book A is no longer the primary book for Account 1. However, the book assignment for Book A for Account 1 remains active unless the end date for the assignment is in the past when the book-assignment procedure runs.
- Resolves conflicts if more than one book is specified as the primary book. If multiple book assignments for an account or contact have the same start date and also have the Future Primary Flag field set to Y, then the following happens when the start date for the assignments arrives:
- All of the book assignments become active.
- The first book assignment that becomes active becomes the primary book for the record.
- If there is an existing primary book for the record, then that book is no longer the primary book for the record, but the book assignment remains active unless the end date for the book assignment is in the past.
For example, assume that Book A is currently the primary book for Account 1. You might import two account book records for Account 1. One of the records assigns Book B to Account 1 and the other assigns Book C to Account 1. Both assignments have the same start date of January 01 next year, and both assignments have the Future Primary Flag field set to Y. The first time that the book-assignment procedure runs after the start of January 01 next year, the assignments for Book B and Book C for Account 1 become active, and the assignment that is processed first becomes the primary book for Account 1. Book A is no longer the primary book for Account 1. However, the book assignment for Book A for Account 1 remains active unless the end date for the assignment is in the past when the book-assignment procedure runs.
- Deactivates book assignments and removes primary books as necessary. If the end date of a book assignment record is in the past, then the assignment becomes inactive and the book is removed from the record. In addition, if the book was the primary book for the account or contact, then the book is no longer the primary book for the account or contact.
For example, assume that Book A is currently the primary book for Account 1. The end date of the book assignment is December 31 this year. The first time that the book-assignment script runs after the start of January 01 next year, the book assignment becomes inactive, and Book A is removed from the position of primary book for Account 1.
When a book assignment becomes inactive, the relationship between the book and the account or contact is ended, and the book is removed from the account or contact. Users no longer have access to the account or contact through membership of that book. However, users who have access to the account or contact through another book or through other access-control components, such as team membership, can still access the record.
You cannot change the book-assignment procedure.
Example of a Time-Based Book Assignment
As an example of a time-based book assignment, consider the following: Book A is not currently assigned to Account 1. On December 01 of this year, you import an account book record that assigns Book A to Account 1. The book assignment has a start date of Jan 01 next year and an end date of Mar 31 of the same year. The book-assignment procedure activates and deactivates the book assignment as follows:
- Before the first time that the book-assignment procedure runs after the start of January 01 next year, the assignment of Book A to Account 1 is inactive, and Book A does not appear in the Books related information section of the detail page for Account 1.
- The first time that the book-assignment procedure runs after the start of January 01 next year, the book-assignment procedure activates the book assignment. When this happens, Book A appears in the Books related information section of the detail page for Account 1.
- The first time that the book-assignment procedure runs after the end of March 31 next year, the book-assignment procedure deactivates the book assignment. When this happens, Book A no longer appears in the Books related information section of the detail page for Account 1.
Restrictions When Specifying Start and End Dates for Book Assignments
When you specify the start and end dates for book assignments, note the following restrictions:
- If you specify both a start date and an end date, then the start date must be earlier than the end date.
- If you do not specify a start date, then the assignment becomes active at the time that it is added to Oracle CRM On Demand.
- If you do not specify an end date, then the book assignment remains active unless the book is removed from the record.
- If you specify an end date and do not specify a start date, then the book assignment becomes active immediately, and it remains active until the end date is reached or the book assignment is removed from the record, whichever comes first.
For example, you might import an account book record that assigns Book A to Account 1 and that has no start date and no end date. In this case, the book assignment becomes active immediately and is never made inactive by the book-assignment procedure because the book assignment does not have an end date. However, you can remove Book A from Account 1 through the user interface.
NOTE: An account can have multiple books assigned to it at the same time, with the same or different start dates and end dates for each book assignment. Similarly, a contact can have multiple books assigned to it at the same time, with the same or different start dates and end dates for each book assignment.
You can see the start and end dates in the book assignment details in the user interface in Oracle CRM On Demand, but you cannot change these dates in the user interface.
About Updating Existing Book Assignments
If you import a record to assign a book to an account or contact, and the book is already assigned to the account or contact, then the existing book assignment record in Oracle CRM On Demand is updated with the values from the imported record. You can also overwrite an existing value in the Start Date or End Date fields by importing a blank value. For example, assume that Book A is already assigned to Account 1. The assignment has a start date in the past and an end date in the future. You can import an account book record for Book A and Account 1 that has the same start date as the existing assignment but has no end date. In this case, the existing assignment is updated and the end date is removed.
Criteria for Updating Active Book Assignments
If an existing book assignment is already active, then the active periods for the existing assignment and the record that you import must overlap or be contiguous. The start and end dates of a record that you import to update an active book assignment must meet the following criteria:
- If the existing assignment has no end date, then the start date on the record that you import must not be a future date.
- The start date on the record that you import must not be more than 7 days later than the end date of the existing assignment.
If these criteria are not met, then the existing, active book assignment is not updated.
Criteria for Updating Future Book Assignments
If you import a record to assign a book to an account or contact, and there is already a book assignment record with a start date in the future for the same book and the same account or contact, then the end date of the assignment that you import must not be more than 7 days earlier than the start date of the existing assignment record. For example, if a record already exists to assign Book A to Account 1 on Feb 01 next year, and you want to change the start date of the assignment to January 01 next year, then the end date of the record that you import must not be earlier than January 25 next year. If the end date of the assignment record that you import is January 24 or earlier, then the import of the record fails and an error message is returned to indicate that the record already exists.
Related Topics
See the following topics for related information:
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