The Big Picture Of BPA Scripts

Fastpath: Refer to The Big Picture Of Scripts to better understand the basic concept of scripts.

Users may require instructions in order to perform certain tasks. The business process assistant allows you to set up scripts that step a user through your business processes. For example, you might want to create scripts to help users do the following:

  • Add a new person to an existing account
  • Set up a customer to pay automatically
  • Modify a customer who no longer wants to receive marketing information
  • Modify a customer's web password
  • Record a trouble order
  • Merge two accounts into one account
  • Fix a bill with an invalid rate
  • ... (the list is only limited by your time and imagination)

Users execute these scripts via the business process assistant (BPA). Users can also define their favorite BPA scripts in their user preferences. By doing this, a user can execute a script by pressing an accelerator key (Ctrl + Shift + a number).

Don't think of these scripts as merely a training tool. BPA scripts can also reduce the time it takes to perform common tasks. For example, you can write a script that reduces the "number of clicks" required to add a new person to an existing account.

CAUTION: Future upgrade issues. Although we make every effort not to remove fields or tab pages between releases, there may be times when changes made by the base-package will necessitate changes to your scripts. Please refer to the release notes for a list of any removed fields or tab pages.
CAUTION: Scripts are not a substitute for end-user training. Scripts minimize the steps required to perform common tasks. Unusual problems (e.g., a missing meter exchange) may be difficult to script as there are many different ways to resolve such a problem. However, scripts can point a user in the right direction and reduce the need to memorize obscure business processes.

The topics in this section describe background topics relevant to BPA scripts.