Locking Assignments and Schedules for Activities (End User)

Users can select the following check boxes for an activity to lock its assignment and scheduled time:

• Lock Assignment check box. When you select this check box, the Optimizer cannot change the assignment in Employees field on the activity. However, you can manually change this value.

• Lock Schedule check box. When you select this check box, the ABS or the Optimizer cannot change the values for Planned Start and Planned End fields on the activity. However, you can manually change these values.

Even if you select these check boxes, an activity can be rejected from the schedule if it violates a hard constraint. Oracle Real-Time Scheduler automatically cancels the activity and sends the cancel status back to Siebel CRM. However, the Optimizer does not attempt to change the Planned Start, Planned End, or Employees fields for the activity so that the activity remains on the user calendar. Reducing the number of hard constraints used in the schedule can minimize the possibility of rejecting an activity.

Note: It is recommended that you select the Lock Assignment and Lock Schedule check boxes for activities with a status of Done.

When an activity violates a hard constraint, the Lock Assignment and Lock Schedule check boxes are both selected, and the activity is not loaded into memory or updated.

The following table describes the general behavior of the ABS and the Optimizer for the Lock Assignment and Lock Schedule check boxes.

Lock Assignment	Lock Schedule	Behavior
No	No	The ABS can change both the time and owner when loading. The Optimizer can change both the time and owner when optimizing.
Yes	No	The ABS can change the time but not the owner when loading. The Optimizer can change the time but not the owner when optimizing.
No	Yes	The ABS can change the owner but not the time when loading. The Optimizer can change the owner but not the time when optimizing.
Yes	Yes	The ABS cannot change the time or owner when loading. The Optimizer cannot change the time or owner when optimizing.

The following table describes the effects of the Lock Assignment and Lock Schedule check boxes on appointment booking.

Lock Assignment	Lock Schedule	Behavior
No	No	The ABS returns multiple time slots for multiple employees.
Yes	No	The ABS checks only the calendar for the activity owner to return a list of available time slots.
No	Yes	Clicking the Book Appointment button does not return a list of time slots. Instead, the Insert Activity method (for Contract Scheduling) is called internally to insert the activity at its originally scheduled planned start and end. If the activity cannot be scheduled at that time, then a No Appointment message is returned to the user.
Yes	Yes	Clicking the Book Appointment button does not return a list of time slots. Instead, the Insert Activity method (for Contract Scheduling) is called internally to insert the activity at its originally scheduled planned start and end. If the activity cannot be scheduled at that time, then a No Appointment message is returned to the user.

The ABS performs validation before scheduling an activity. If the Lock Assignment check box is selected for an activity without an owner, then the ABS generates a validation error, and the activity is not loaded into the cache. The user must correct the error and rebook the appointment. Similarly, if the Lock Schedule check box is selected, then the Planned Start field and Planned End field must have a value before the user clicks the Book Appointment button. Otherwise, the ABS cannot find an appointment.

Note: During loading or when the Insert Activity method is called, if an activity with both check boxes selected cannot be scheduled, then the ABS does not reset the activity status to Unscheduled. The activity status remains unchanged. However, the activity is not present in the ABS cache. It appears as scheduled only in Siebel Field Service. The Insert Activity method is the same as the GetConfirmedAppointment method. For more information, see GetConfirmedAppointment Method.

This task is a step of Process of Managing Schedules Using Siebel Scheduler.

To lock assignments and schedules for an activity

1. Navigate to the Activities screen, then the Activity List view.

2. Drill down on the Type field for a selected activity.

3. Click the Schedule view tab.

4. To lock assignments, select the Lock Assignment check box.

5. To lock schedules, select the Lock Schedule check box.