Support Of Siebel Product Configurator User Interface Modifications (Doc ID 967322.1)

Last updated on FEBRUARY 20, 2024

Applies to:

Details

User Interface Artifacts - Definition

This document  is applicable to user interface artifacts of the Siebel Product Configurator. The purpose of this document is to clarify Oracle’s support policy with respect to customizations done to following artifacts:

• Siebel Web Templates (SWT):
  These files have following naming convention: eCfg<name of function>.swt (i.e. eCfgProductSingleJS.swt). They can be found in directories
  • siebsrvr/webtemplates for server installation
  • <client directory>/webtemplates for dedicated client installation

• Siebel JavaScript Files
  • cfgui.js
  • cfgclient.js
  • cfgpropset.js

Actions

User Interface Artifacts - Technology

The artifacts make use of HTML and JavaScript technology, including heavy use of the Document Object Model (DOM). This technology is governed by external web consortiums and its features or product defects are managed by these consortiums and not by Oracle.

In addition Siebel web technology, which is implemented by the SWSE and the Siebel Web Engine, is invoked after a user constructs a user interface for each customizable product using specific Siebel Web Templates and the views of the screen ‘Administration – Product Administration’ which are specific to building the user interface. A key feature includes the ability not to define a customer user interface for a given product but instead to allow the application to render a ‘default’ user interface. All of these features are described in details in Siebel Product Administration Guide. The ‘default’ user interface is important because its controls will be referred later again.

User Interface Artifacts – Supported Modifications

All modifications implemented through the instructions found in the Siebel Product Administration Bookshelf will be fully supported by all Oracle support agreements. This includes what is found in the following chapters:

• Creating Custom Configurator User Interfaces
• Configurator UI Properties
• Configurator Web Templates

Support of the above-mentioned features involves only the standard functionality provided by the artifact itself, as it is delivered upon install. Additionally, all standard functionality provided in any of the JavaScript or SWT files is completely supported.

User Interface Artifacts – Customizations

Oracle deems changes made to the user interface artifacts, either new JavaScript, SWE markup, or HTML markup, as customizations when the underlying file is modified to achieve a different user interface result. These changes are quite common, and many times are implemented by system integrators, Oracle consulting services or by the customer. User interface customizations fall outside the boundaries of the Oracle Support!

User Interface Artifacts – Support Process for User Interface Customizations

Customers should be prepared to work with Oracle Support in the following manner when product defects arise using a custom user interface.

1. If the outcome is still reproducible with the ‘Test UI’, using default UI artifacts, then a technical service request should be created with all necessary documentation.
2. The customer should test the undesirable outcome with a standard user interface to determine if the outcome is still reproducible. The easiest way to do this is to create a ‘Test UI’ which uses the default controls as specified in Siebel Product Administration Guide.
3. If the outcome cannot be reproduced with a ‘Test UI’ because of the depth and breadth of customizations, then the customer must back out the latest set of changes in an effort to begin a debugging process of the UI. At this point, the customer may want to involve expertise from a consulting organization to efficiently address the issue.**
4. Additionally, the Oracle Advanced Customer Support account management may want a service request created for tracking purposes.
   
   ** Options include Oracle Advanced Solution Support Engineering

User Interface Customizations – Reason for Oracle’s Position

The skill set necessary to support the Siebel Product Configurator requires a large body of product knowledge and domain expertise. The expertise crosses business and technical acumen including different sub-systems of the underlying Siebel stack. The Oracle Siebel Support team expects all support engineers to engage with customers at sufficient levels to meet service level agreements and ensure customer satisfaction.

Further usage of web technologies like JavaScript, HTML, DOM, etc. to extend the user experience of the Siebel Product Configurator is encouraged by Oracle Siebel Product Management team and supported by the consulting eco-system. Customers must be willing to work with all necessary parties , as outlined, to achieve desired results.

Note: The eco-system has developed a number of best practices and guidelines that customers can attain through a consulting engagement.

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