Siebel Configuration Interview Questions - Picklists

This post focusses on the interview questions that are related to picklists fields in Siebel. I have tried to list all the possible questions and will keep updating it in future.

Question: What is the difference between dynamic picklist and static picklist?

Answer:Static picklist always show a static list of values which are store in List of Values buscomp. Values in static picklists can only be modified by Siebel Administrator from Administration Data> List of Values view. Example: Salutation pick list on contact form applet.

Static Pick list in Siebel

Dynamic Pick list in Siebel

Dynamic picklist source its data from user buscomp such as contact, account and product.
Examples:
1. Product pick applet on Order line item
2. Account pick applet on contact form applet

*** Static picklist are generally dropdown and dynamic picklists are configured through pick applet.

Question: How to create a new static picklist in Siebel?

Answer:
1. Create new LOV_TYPE by creating record in Administration Data> List of Values view. Keep:
Type :  LOV_TYPE
Language Independent Code : CUSTOM_PICKLIST
Display Value : CUSTOM_PICKLIST
Language : English-American
Active : Y
2. Create List of values by using newly created LOV_TYPE in step 1. Set the following values:
Type :  CUSTOM_PICKLIST
Language Independent Code : Value1
Display Value : Display Value1
Language : English-American
Active : Y
3. Create new picklist in tools and set:
BusComp :  PickList Generic
Static : Y
TypeField : Type
Type Value : CUSTOM_PICKLIST
4. Associate picklist to the field, by selecting this new picklist on the field. And set the PickMap as:
Field: "New Field Name"
Picklist Field : Value
5. Place the field on to the applet and set runtime=true

Question: What is the difference between bounded picklist and unbounded picklist?

Answer:Bounded picklist allows user to select value only from the list. User can not type in new value into the field.
On the other side Unbounded picklist field can accept values which are not available in dropdown.User is allowed to type in new value and can save the record.

**Both Static and Dynamic pick list can be bounded or unbounded.

 

 

Question : What is the difference between Picklist and MVG?

Picklist allow user to select on value from list of valid values.
Example : Account Field on Opportunity BusComp.

MVG stands for multi value group is used to associate multiple values to a record. MVG show relationship of one entity to other multiple entities.
For Example: Contacts on opportunity, each opportunity record can be related to multiple contacts records, however it can only be related to one account.

 

 

Question: What is the difference between Constraint pick map and Copy pick map in Siebel?

Answer: Copy pick map copies the selected value to the field. This type of picklist shows all the values from the pick list buscomp.

Constraint pick map is used when there is requirement is to limit the values which are shown on UI. Field value of constraint pick map is used to filter values shown in picklist.
For Example:  Contact Field on Sales Order only shows the contacts of the selected account, this is because account id in mapped as constraint pickmap in account.

Question: How Multilingual LOV works in Siebel ?

Answer: When Multilingual LOV is configured, Siebel save LIC (Language independent code) on the database and shows Display value on the UI depending upon the language of the object manager.

For Example: Event Status will show "Zugewiesen" if user is using German application and for same record English application will show value as "Assigned" and the database column will have "Assigned" value.

Multilingual LOV

Popular Interview Questions:

• How to fix a picklist field?

• What is the performace impacts of using applet toggles?

• What are different forms of applet toggles?

• What is the difference between Constraint pick map and Copy pick map in Siebel?

• What is the difference between Picklist and MVG?

• How to create a new static picklist in Siebel?

More to come...

please feel free to use comments to share any question that you had difficulty in answering?

Siebel Configuration Interview Questions - Applet Toggles

In an Siebel Technical interview consultant may face some questions on applet toggles, which seems to be quite easy topic, this section will help you to quickly understand the applet toggles.

Some quick facts about Siebel Toggle Applets:

• A static toggle applet does not require to reference the same business component!
• A dynamic toggle applet must reference the same business component, which can also be a VBC (virtual business component). 
• Applet toggles can be based on List as well as Form Applets.

Question : When do you think applet toggle should be implemented?

Answer: Applet toggles should be implemented when number of relevant fields are less than displayed fields. With use of applet toggle, only relevant fields can be displayed to the user which decreases the time spent in data entry.

Question : Is there any performance impact on the application of using applet toggles?

Answer : Yes, Siebel loads all available applets each time user navigates to a view having toggle applets, and complete screen is refreshed when applet is changed.

"Siebel CRM loads all available applet toggles each time the user navigates to an applet."

Question : How to debug a toggle applet in Siebel?

Answer:
Check the field name in business component on which applet toggle is based on.
Expose the field on the applet to verify the value and verify the value.
Check if the field's Immediate Post Change property is set to true.
Test toggle applet with two applets first and then increase numbers if required.
Compile all objects again. 

Question : What are different forms of applet toggles?

Answer: Static and Dynamic Applet Toggle
Static Applet toggle gives user option to choose the applet from drop down control, whereas dynamic applet toggle refreshes the view with new applet depending upon the field value.

Question : How to configure a new dynamic applet toggle in Siebel?

Answer:
A) Create a copy of applet and change the fields as required.
B) Go to the original applet and create new applet toggle record.
C) Specify the Applet toggle field and applet toggle value along with the name of the new applet.
After this configuration new applet will show instead of the original applet whenever the field value matches with the value specified in the tools.

Bookshelf links for further reading:
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E14004_01/books/ConfigApps/ConfigApps_ScreensViews11.html
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B40099_02/books/ConfigApps/ConfigApps_Procedures_UI_layer10.html

How to create one for yourself, complete step by step guide: http://siebelunleashed.com/dynamic-toggle-applets/

Popular Interview Questions:

• How to fix a picklist field?

• What is the performace impacts of using applet toggles?

• What are different forms of applet toggles?

• What is the difference between Constraint pick map and Copy pick map in Siebel?

• What is the difference between Picklist and MVG?

• How to create a new static picklist in Siebel?

Siebel Configuration Interview Questions

Siebel Configuration Interview Questions

Siebel Configuration is one of core areas of Siebel Customization, and it usually get overlooked in projects.  It is equally important for an Siebel Consultant to know the basic configuration items along with specialized skills like EAI, EIM etc.. 

Following are some questions that easily assess the Consultant's understanding over Siebel Configuration.

Question: How to make applet read only in Siebel?

Answer: To make applet permanently read only, one can use No Update, No Insert, No Delete, No Merge property on applet to true. Read more

Question : How to build validation in Action Business Component to ensure that Start date is always a future date?

Answer: Validation field and validation message can be used to enforce the date entered. To check the future data following Syntax can be used.

> Today()

 

Question: How to create validation for first name field in Contact BC to have at least 5 characters?

Answer: Length method can be used in validation field to ensure minimum number of characters are entered in the field.
Syntax :

Len([First Name]) > 5

 

Question : How does Primary Id field improves performance of an MVG field? 

Answer: By default every MVG field executes a separate query on database to fetch data from child BusComp. When primary id field is specified and use primary join flag is set, application does not execute sub-query and instead uses join to fetch the data.

Question : What are the implications if Primary ID field is not used in MVG?

 Answer: If Primary Id is not specified on an MVG then view will take a lot more time to load as for every record in list applet another subquery will be executed.

 

Question : Is it possible to deploy SRF on server if objects are not checked in repository?

Answer:Yes, for Business Service, BusComps, BusObjects and Applet changes, srf can be deployed on server without checking in the objects, however workflow needs all the BO and BC to be checked in before it is activated.

Question: How to disable new record creation for certain users of Siebel?

Answer: Applet's PreCanInvokeMethod Method can be used to disable new button by setting CanInvoke to false, this can be done conditionally by checking the position or responsibility of the current user.

Question: How to make field editable for certain group of users only?

Answer: Create field read only field user property for the field and use calculated field expression to check the responsibilities of user, return N if user has the responsibility to edit the field and Y if it doesn't

Calculated field expression:

IIF(InList("Edit Field",GetProfileAttrAsList("User Responsibilities"))='Y','N','Y')

This way user who don't have the responsibility will see the field readonly.

Question : How to access user preference in script?

Answer: User preferences in siebel are stored in special class base bc which gets its values from spf files stored in file system. Through script user preferences can be retreived by querying the User Preferences BC like :

var oBOUser = TheApplication().GetBusObject("User Preferences");
var oBCUser = oBOUser.GetBusComp("User Preferences");
with(oBCUser)
{
SetViewMode(AllView);
ActivateField(fieldName);
ClearToQuery();
ExecuteQuery();
if (FirstRecord())
{
sDefTempValue = GetFieldValue(fieldName);
}
}

 

Question : How to access system preference in escript?

Query System Preferences BC on Name and Value fields to get the value of system preference..

        var boSysPref = TheApplication().GetBusObject("System Preferences");
        var bcSysPref = boSysPref.GetBusComp("System Preferences");
         bcSysPref.ClearToQuery();
         bcSysPref.ActivateField("Value");
         bcSysPref.SetViewMode(AllView);
         bcSysPref.SetSearchSpec("Name", sName);
         bcSysPref.ExecuteQuery( ForwardOnly );
    
         if (bcSysPref.FirstRecord())
         {
            sValue = bcSysPref.GetFieldValue("Value");
         }return(sValue);

    

Question : How to set system preference in Siebel?

Answer: "Administration Application> System Preference" view can be used to set the value of system preference.

 

Question . What could be reason behind a Picklist field which is not showing the drop down icon?

Answer: There are only three reasons for picklist not showing drop down:
Picklist is not specified on BusComp field.
Picklist is not compiled or Picklist values are not created.
Control's Runtime property is not set to true on Applet

Question : Is it possible to make calculated field as editable?

Answer: Yes, by setting setting pick map on calculated field and field becomes editable, however it won't be able to save the value and will recalculate the value on refresh record.

Question : How can you get the value of parent field value in browser script?

Answer: Only fields displayed on UI are accessible in browser script, it is applicable for all the parent and child bus components.



Popular Interview Questions:

• How to fix a picklist field?

• What is the performace impacts of using applet toggles?

• What are different forms of applet toggles?

• What is the difference between Constraint pick map and Copy pick map in Siebel?

• What is the difference between Picklist and MVG?

• How to create a new static picklist in Siebel?