Creating controls and binding with Siebel SDOs

Use JavaServer Faces controls to bind Siebel SDOs and populate picklist values.

After the SDO data objects are created for the Faces JSP page, they are ready to be bound with JSF controls. The easiest way to create the UI is by dragging and dropping the SDO data object from the "Page Data" view.

 

SDO Data Objects Created for Different Types of Mediators

For each WPAI mediator, one or two SDO data objects are created. Please refer to the table below to find out how many SDO data objects will be created:

SDO Mediator Type	Action	Number of SDO Data Objects Created
Siebel record	retrieve with filter criteria	2
	retrieve without filter criteria	1
	update	2
	delete	2
	create	1
Siebel record list	retrieve with filter criteria	2
	retrieve without filter criteria	1
Siebel picklist	retrieve	1

When there are two SDO data objects, one is for the parameters and the other is for the results. You can drag and drop them from the Page Data view to the Faces JSP page to create and bind with UI controls.

It is not always necessary to create UI for the parameters data object when it already contains initial values, which are calculated from the metadata. An example is when in the Siebel wizards you have already configured filter criteria for the record or record list mediators, in which case the parameters SDO data object will be populated with the data in the filter criteria. On the other hand, you can still create an input form for the parameters SDO data object to populate it with data collected from the users and override the initial values.

 

Creating JSF UI by Dragging and Dropping the SDO Data Objects

1. In the Page Data view, expand the top level data node corresponding to the SDO mediator, to reveal the SDO data objects.

2. Drag and drop the SDO data object to the Faces JSP page and release at the desired location. A dialog box will appear that allows you to choose the following:
   • If you dropped an SDO that represents input parameters to the function, then select the radio button labeled "Creating a new record."

   • If you dropped an SDO that represents output parameters from the function, click the radio button labeled "Display an existing record."

3. Based on the corresponding SDO data object field's data type, determine what type of controls to create. For instance, for a boolean type a check box control is more suitable than a text input field.

4. Click "OK" to confirm the UI creation.

 

Modifying Newly Created UI Controls

After creating the UI controls, you can make further modifications to the controls, such as creating a different type of control, change the binding etc. This is necessary especially with the function parameter fields that need picklist values. These are the fields which only takes a list of values predefined by the server. The list of values are available in the result SDO data objects from the picklist value mediator instances that are automatically created by the wizard in the Page Data view.

To modify the bindings for a parameter field requiring picklist values,...

1. In the Faces JSP page, if the control created for the parameter field is not a combo box, delete it; then drag and drop a combo box control from the Palette.

2. Select the new combo box control to modify its binding in the Properties view.

3. In the h:selectOneMenu tab, click on the Add Set of Choices button.

4. After the new row has been added to the table, click a cell of the "Value" column to activate editing for this cell. Click on the button to launch the dialog for selecting the target data object.

5. Navigate the tree to find the item for the help value's mediator. Expand it until you see the "choices" item.

6. Select the "choices" item and click OK.

7. Save the Faces JSP page.

 

Related concepts

Siebel data access

 

Related tasks

Adding Siebel service data objects