User Keys

A user key is a group of fields whose values must uniquely identify a Siebel business component record. During inbound integration, user keys are used to determine whether the incoming data updates an existing record or inserts a new one. The Integration Object Builder wizard automatically creates some user keys based on characteristics discussed in User Key Generation Algorithm. Make sure that the generated user keys match your business requirements; otherwise, inactivate them or add new user keys as appropriate.

In Siebel Tools, user keys are defined as Integration Component Key objects, with the Key Type property set to User Key.

Integration component keys are built by the Integration Object Builder wizard, based on values in the underlying table of the business component on which the integration component is based. Integration objects that represent Siebel business objects, and that are used in insert, update, synchronize, or execute operations, must have at least one user key defined for each integration component.

A sequence of integration component user keys is defined on each integration component definition, each of which contains a set of fields. During processing of integration component instance, the EAI Siebel Adapter chooses to use the first user key in the sequence that satisfies the condition that all the fields of that user key are present in an integration component instance. The first instance of each integration component type determines the user key used by all instances of that type.

For example, consider the Account integration object instance with only the Account Name and Account Integration Id fields present. When the EAI Siebel Adapter performs validation, it first checks the Account Name and Account Location fields (the first user key for the Account integration component). In this example, because the Account Location field is missing, the EAI Siebel Adapter moves to the second user key, Account Integration Id. The Account Integration Id field is present in the integration component instance and has a value, so the EAI Siebel Adapter uses that as the user key to match the record. Now if the same instance also had the Account Location field present, but set to null, then the EAI Siebel Adapter would pick the Account Name and Account Location combination as the user key. This is because Account Location is not a required field.

A new user key is picked for each integration object instance (root component instance). However, for the child component instances, the user key is picked based on the first child instance, and then used for matching all instances of that integration component within the parent integration component instance.

For example, if a Siebel Message contains two orders, then the user key for order items is picked twice, once for each order. Each time, the user key is selected based on the first order item record and then used for all the siblings.

Note: The EAI Siebel Adapter uses user keys to match integration component instances with business component records. Because the match is case sensitive there is a chance that records are not matched if the cases of the user key fields do not match. You can use the Force Case property on the business component field to make sure that user key fields are always stored in one case, but only if you require case-insensitive matching for performance reasons. Routine use of the Force Case property is not recommended.

Note: For performance reasons, user keys for child integration components are not included in the WHERE clause of the SQL generated to query for child component records in the Siebel database. If you must query the child component to find matching records, then consider redesigning your integration objects, such as creating a new integration object where the child component becomes the parent. For example, if Account is the parent and Asset the child, and you to query for specific assets, then create a new integration object where Asset is the parent and Account is the child.