Configuring Item Type Selectors

6 Configuring Item Type Selectors

Learn how to configure item type selectors in Pricing Design Center (PDC) to track balances in Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management (BRM) product offerings.

Topics in this document:

About Configuring Item Type Selectors

You configure item type selectors in PDC so that balance impacts can be tracked appropriately for different bill items.

By default, BRM tracks balances for the following bill items: cycle arrears items, cycle forward items, cycle forward arrears items, cycle tax items, cycle incentive items, and usage items. You can load the OOB_ItemTypeSelector.xml file into PDC to configure the item type selectors for these bill items in PDC. See "Loading the OOB_ItemTypeSelector.XML File" for more information.

If you want to use custom bill items, you can configure item type selectors to create rules to assign balance impact to the custom bill items. You can use the Sample_ItemTypeSelector.xml file as a template to configure the item type selectors for custom bill items. See "About Configuring Item Type Selectors" for more information.

Table 6-1 lists the elements that are supported in the item type selector XML file, the usage of each element, and a description of how to specify each element in the XML file.

Table 6-1 Elements Supported in the Item Type Selector XML File

Element	Syntax	Description
itemTypeSelectors	<itemTypeSelectors>	The root element of ItemTypeSelector.xml.
name	<name>ItemTypeSelectorName</name>	ItemTypeSelectorName specifies the item type selector name.
description	<description>ItemTypeSelectorDescription</description>	ItemTypeSelectorDescription contains the description of the item type selector.
priceListName	<priceListName>PriceListName </priceListName>	PriceListName specifies the price list name. BRM uses only one internal price list. The only value is Default.
applicableToName	<applicableToName>ApplicableToName</applicableToName>	ApplicableToName specifies the service name or Account. The attributes of this service or account are used in the rules.
eventSpecName	<eventSpecName>EventName</eventSpecName>	EventName specifies the name of any event. The attributes of this event are used in the rules.
itemGroup	<itemGroup>ItemGroupName</itemGroup>	Specifies the item group to be used for aggregating the balance impacts; where ItemGroupName specifies the name of the item group. The <itemGroup> element is associated with the <ItemTag> element in BRM. To aggregate balance impacts based on the item configuration value in the business profile, specify the item configuration value as ItemGroupName. See "Improving Performance by Using Multiple Item Configurations" in BRM System Administrator's Guide for more information on item configuration. Note: If you specify the item configuration value as ItemGroupName, Oracle recommends that you do not change that value in the business profile. The default value is Default.
applicableToAllBalImpact	<applicableToAllBalImpact>BalanceImpactsOption</applicableToAllBalImpact>	Specifies whether this item type selector is applicable to all balance impacts, where BalanceImpactsOption is: true if the item type selector applies for all the balance impacts false if the item type selector applies only to specific balance impacts
rule	<rule> <ruleName>RuleName</ruleName> <ruleOrder>RuleOrder</ruleOrder> <expression>Expression</expression> <specName>ItemSpecificationName</specName> </rule>	Contains the rules for assigning the balance impacts to the bill items, where: RuleName specifies the rule name. RuleOrder specifies the order in which the rules must be applied. Expression contains the details to derive which items to assign balance impacts to. Note: You can add multiple rules in the item type selector. Each rule points to the item specification in the same item type selector. Each rule in the item type selector can refer to a different attribute. For example, Rule 1 can use an event attribute, Rule 2 can use an attribute of the charging result, and Rule 3 can use a service attribute.
expression	<expression> <separator>Delimiter</separator> <operation>Operator</operation> <fieldName> FieldName</fieldName> <fieldKind>FieldKind</fieldKind> <fieldValue>FieldValue</fieldValue> </expression>	Contains the details to derive which items to assign balance impacts to. Delimiter specifies the character that is used to separate the field values. Operator specifies the operator to be used in the expression. The valid values are: EQUAL_TO NOT_EQUAL_TO GREATER_THAN GREATER_THAN_EQUAL LESS_THAN LESS_THAN_EQUAL IN_LIST REGEX FieldName specifies the field name. If you specify CHARGING_RESULT_SPEC as the FieldKind, the valid values are: TAX_CODE GLID RUM BALANCE_ELEMENT ZONE_RESULT TIMEMODEL_TAG_NAME GENERIC_SELECTOR_RESULT ORIG_ZONE_RESULT PRICING_NAME TIME_MODEL_NAME ZONE_MODEL_NAME EVALUATED_ZONE_MODEL_NAME EVALUATED_ZONE CHARGE_RATE_PLAN_NAME FieldKind specifies the type of attributes to be selected for assigning the balance impacts. The valid values are: PRODUCT_SPEC_FIELD EVENT_SPEC_FIELD CUSTOMER_SPEC_FIELD CHARGING_RESULT_SPEC FieldValue specifies the field value that is used for tracking balance impacts.
itemSpec	<itemSpec> <name>ItemSpecficationName</name> <description>ItemSpecificationDescription</description> <priceListName>PriceListName </priceListName> <type>ItemType</type> <default>DefaultOption</default> <aggregationType>AggregationType</aggregationType> <category>ChargeCategory</category> </itemSpec>	Contains the details about the item specification, where: ItemSpecficationName specifies the item specification name. The item specification name is associated with the item tag field in BRM. ItemSpecificationDescription contains the description of the item specification. PriceListName specifies the price list name. The valid value is Default. ItemType specifies the type of the bill item for assigning balance impacts. This must match the item type created in BRM. DefaultOption specifies whether a item specification is the default specification for the bill item. The valid values are true and false. AggregationType specifies whether the item accumulates charges or tracks each charge separately. The valid values are: CUMULATIVE_NONPRECREATE, which specifies that the bill item accumulates charges through out the billing cycle and the bill item need not be pre-created in BRM INDIVIDUAL_NONPRECREATE, which specifies that the bill item stores a charge for a single event and the bill item need not be pre-created in BRM CUMULATIVE_PRECREATE, which specifies that the bill item accumulates charges through out the billing cycle and the bill item needs to be pre-created in BRM Category specifies the charge category. See "Configuring Charges in Charge Offers" for more information. Note: You can add multiple item specifications, but you can add only one default item specification. You can use the same item specification in multiple item type selectors, but the item specification name must be unique.

Loading the OOB_ItemTypeSelector.XML File

To load the OOB_ItemTypeSelector.xml file:

If you have created custom bill items in BRM, make a backup copy of the customized config_item_tags.xml and config_item_types.xml files in BRM.
Go to the PDC_home/apps/Samples/Examples directory.
Import the default billing item assignments from the OOB_ItemTypeSelector.xml file into the PDC database by running the following command:
```
ImportExportPricing -import -config /OOB_ItemTypeSelector.xml -ow
```
The item type selector is imported into the PDC database and the existing item tag-to-item type mapping in the BRM database is overwritten.

Configuring Item Type Selectors

To configure an item type selector:

Create the custom bill item in the database by subclassing the /item storable object. For example, you can create an /item/national object for tracking the charges for national calls. See "Creating Custom Fields and Storable Classes" in BRM Developer's Guide.
Make a copy of the PDC_home/apps/Samples/Examples/Sample_ItemTypeSelector.xml file to customize.
Open the file in a text editor or XML editor.
Add or modify the elements as required. See Table 6-1 for the usage and description of each element.
Save and close the file.

Note:

You can save the file with a different name and location or use the original file.
Go to the directory where you have saved the file.
Import the item type selector from the customized XML file into the PDC database by running the following command:
```
ImportExportPricing -import -config FileOrDirectoryName 
```
where FileOrDirectoryName specifies either the full path and file name of the import XML file or the directory in which the import XML files reside.

The item type selector is imported into the PDC database and transformed to BRM and Oracle Communications Elastic Charging Engine (ECE).