Chrome's hidden menu for Open UI

If you are working on css or js changes for Siebel Open UI, you would be struggling with browser caching. I have noticed some cache even when I am using incognito mode of chrome.

Out of frustration one might end up installing chrome app/plugin to forcefully clear cache. One of them is "Clear Cache" 

Interestingly chrome has now created a very discreet "Empty Cache and Hard Reload" option for developers. To see this option open developer tools by pressing F12 and then press and hold reload button. I have been using this option from past one week and it worked every time as expected.

Chrome Hard Reload for Open UI

Please be mindful that this is an hidden menu and only shows up when chrome's developer tools are open.


Happy coding :)

My top 5 Siebel Mistakes in 2015

I received a very candid email from a reader, asking me what mistakes I make in Siebel development and how do I overcome those?

Surprisingly I had a long list of mistakes, and I wasn't doing anything about it. So I decided to write this post to attempt on reducing these mistakes.

I believe in learning from mistakes, thus I challenge all my readers to list down their mistakes and leave them in comments below. Remember no one is perfect, so don't be shy and leave comment.

1. Using InvokeServiceMethod in calculated fields.

This is biggest performance degrader.I regret this one the most, I used this trick to calculate an status of opportunity and it turned out to be biggest technical debt of all time. No one want to fix it now and it is stuck there churning away time, memory and CPU every time it is referred.

2. Not checking CountRecords() Or FirstRecord() before get field value.

This is one of my most frequent mistake in Siebel. It goes unnoticed because the logic works for mostly all scenarios but one, what if there are no records retrieved from query? Siebel is going to throw it back to you, logic won't proceed and service will halt making you accountable.

So please don't be a Jim and always check for record count or First Record before proceeding.


3. No comments

Leaving no comments on blog post is ok, but leaving no comments in script is a big no no. Have your ever noticed how much easy it becomes if there is one of two line of comments in script? just one or two line makes it so convenient for developer to understand the code without going into details.

My self plead guilty of committing this some time.

If I have to create a standard I will try to use following template for comments:

/*
[jim] [25 Dec 2015] [ added code for xxxxx reason, code is invoked from xxxxx places]
*/

simple isn't it? Please share in comments below what type of comments you use.

3. Not nullifying objects after use.

Developers believe that ST script engine will clear up memory for them. But no memory leaks are real still in Siebel 8. So please Jim don't make that mistake again.

4. Try catch finally block

This is the only way for keeping some dignity, and we still avoid it to save time.  Do you also make that mistake?

5.  Using profile attributes.

They work like magic in some scenarios, but it is so difficult to trace them back, and using it in Open UI is like calling Mayhem. Please share your thoughts on this. How do you trace back the creation of profile attributes?

Please don't forget to leave your list of mistakes in comment below.

How to get name of siebel server in eScript?

I found this script recently on support web which allows us to get value of Siebel server name, log directory of the current session. I quickly extended script to get value of siebel task id and process id to help me in my debugging.

These values can be very useful if you are working on multi server issue. With the help of task Id I was able to find the log of current session without opening each log file. Please share in comments below on how you choose to use this script.

var serverSession_BO = TheApplication().GetBusObject("Server Admin - Sessions");
var serverSession_BC = serverSession_BO.GetBusComp("SA-VBC Session");
var taskParam_BC = serverSession_BO.GetBusComp("Server Task Parameter");

serverSession_BC.ClearToQuery();
serverSession_BC.SetSearchSpec("OM_LOGIN", logInName);
serverSession_BC.ExecuteQuery(1);
serverSession_BC.FirstRecord();

taskParam_BC.ClearToQuery();
taskParam_BC.SetSearchSpec("Parameter", "Log directory");
taskParam_BC.ExecuteQuery(1);
taskParam_BC.FirstRecord();


var compName = serverSession_BC.GetFieldValue("CC_ALIAS");
var siebsrvrName = serverSession_BC.GetFieldValue("SV_NAME");
var task_id = serverSession_BC.GetFieldValue("TK_TASKID");
var p_id = serverSession_BC.GetFieldValue("TK_PID");
var logDir = taskParam_BC.GetFieldValue("Current Value");

Additionally one can also find the windows process id and thread id by using following script.

var processId, taskId;
processId = taskId = ""; // initialize to satisfy eScript parser

//evaluate to suppress STDCALL not being recognized with eScript parser
eval('processId = SElib.dynamicLink("kernel32.dll","GetCurrentProcessId", STDCALL)');
eval('taskId = SElib.dynamicLink("kernel32.dll","GetCurrentThreadId", STDCALL)');

processId = processId.toString();
taskId = taskId.toString();

I bet you wont be able to do this in any cloud application. :)

Hope it helps. 

Let's Slack

Have you noticed declining activity on siebel community on IT Toolbox? There is hardly any other community where you can get your answers quickly.

And as a wise man has said All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, I am starting a new Siebel-Developers community on slack. http://siebel-developers.slack.com

Slack is fastest growing community platform, there is no bullshit for email or waiting for approval. Simply talk to fellow team-mates straight away. Share ideas, make new connections and have fun with fellow siebelites.

Share files and get help in real time.

you can access community from mobile or desktop.

Only drawback of the platform is that invite has to go on email address, so please register to this blog to get invite. I have sent invite to all registered readers till date, hope to see you all there.

Let's Slack Siebel :)

What are the limitations of Siebel Workflows?

This question was asked by one of readers of this blog, and it quickly got me intrigued to research for answer. While doing research I compared the capabilities of Siebel workflow vs Siebel scripting, and got amazed with results.

I started of by listing things which I thought wont be possible in workflows however I got surprised with its capabilities as I dig deeper. I am classifying results as Myths, Facts and Limitations.

Myths

Myth 1: Run time events doesn't work from workflows.

Absolutely wrong, runtime events are tagged to bus comps and work the same in workflow as they work on UI.

Myth 2: Can't update read-only fields in workflows.

One might think that as it is not possible to set admin mode to true in workflow thus it wont be possible to update read only fields. But that is simply a myth.The fact is that there is no need to set admin mode to true in workflows, read only user properties are inactivated for workflows all the time!

Myth 3: There is no way to associate and disassociate records of MVG BusComp in workflows.

If Siebel operation is used on detail bus comp, delete operation acts like dis-associate and insert like an associate.

Myth 4: Workflow can not query based on calculated fields.

Not True. Siebel Operation search spec can be created using Calculated fields, however be cautious of performance impact in case you plan to use calculated fields in search spec.

Facts

Fact 1: Cannot query on child BC directly in Siebel workflows. Workflow always queries Primary bus comp first.

True, however I don't consider it as limitation as one can create workflow based on a different BO which has child bus comp as primary buscomp, and there are many business services available which can query data from another BO without creating another sub process.

Fact 2: There is no way to change primary record in MVG in workflows.

This one I am not too sure about, would like to know from the experts, how they have overcome this problem.

Limitations

Limitation 1: It is not possible to change view mode in Workflows?
Siebel Operation step always queries database with "All View" view mode there is no way to change this pragmatically.

Limitation 2: It is not possible to pass variable by reference in to a workflow.
This seems to be the minor limitation of the workflow, however it does not limit the capability or usage in anyway.

Limitation 3: There is no native way of executing Clib functions in workflows.
There are lot of functions available for execution in workflows however Clib is not one of them. Thus if there is a need to call Clib function through workflow you will have to call a custom business service.

Limitation 4: There no native way to execute methods on application or BC level.
Agreed as limitation unless someone suggests any way out. Some BusComps exposes some methods that can be executed only with scripting. For Example: 1. RepriceAll Method on Quote Item and Order Items. 2. GetFile Methods on Attachment Buscomp etc..

 

Limitation 5: It is not possible to set sort spec on Siebel operation?
This seems to be the only glaring Limitation of workflow/Siebel Operation that Siebel operation does not contain any way to query based in a sort spec. Arguably one can say sort spec can be specified on bus comp, however it wont be wise to clone buscomp just to change the sort order. Would like to know what readers think?

I don't believe that this list is complete in anyway, hoping to get some answers from community. Please feel free to contribute your thoughts on this topic, would be more than happy to be proved incorrect on the points above.