This article presents details on how to use the XML Web Interface to deliver content from Siebel to external portal frameworks and Web application environments. The XML interface provides industry-standard integration to third-party development environments, such as ASP and JSP, as well as providing a model consistent with emerging Web technologies. The XML interface can be used across all Siebel eBusiness Applications.
1.Business objective
By providing end users with relevant data from across multiple data sources and presenting that information in a context that is meaningful to the user, Siebel XML Web Interfaces offer the promise of:
- Providing competitive advantage through new business processes
- Increasing productivity by providing more information access into the hands of business users
- Increasing effectiveness through knowledge sharing and reduced search time.
All in an easy to use, easy to maintain way of integration.
2.Overview of Siebel XML Web Interface – Used for delivering Content to External Web Applications
The XML interface provides access to Siebel through the Siebel Web Engine (SWE) installed on the Siebel web server. SWE generates the user interface using views, applets, and templates. These UI constructs provide access to and filtering for business object and business component data. They also provide access to visibility, navigation, and security. By rendering the XML based on the underlying SWE technology, the XML interface exposes business object and business component data.
The XML interface will be invoked using Inbound HTTP post of XML documents from external web portal application.
The XML interface is supplied out-of-the-box. It does not require any additional setup, configuration, maintenance or licensing fees.
The following diagram shows the integration between External Web Portal and Siebel Web layer.
3.Features of Siebel XML Web Interface:
- Connecting to the XML Web Interface
The XML Web Interface can be used against any Siebel eBusiness Application. Requests to generate XML from Siebel eBusiness Applications can be submitted through a Siebel Web Server using a query string or an XML command block.
Example:
Code Snippet to open HTTP connection to SWE get data from account list applet – using XML command:
<% @LANGUAGE="VBScript" %>
<%
'----------------------------------------------
'Open HTTP connection and send XML command req
'----------------------------------------------
strURL = "http://" & Request.form ("swe") & "/
start.swe?SWECmd=ExecuteLogin&SWEDataOnly=1&SWEUserName=sadmin&SWE
Password=sadmin&SWESetMarkup=XML
ZOSet xmlhttp = Server.CreateObject("MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP")
xmlhttp.open "GET", strURL, False
xmlhttp.send ()
Set ologinXmlDoc = xmlhttp.responseXML
strCookie = xmlhttp.getResponseHeader ("Set-Cookie")
On Error Resume Next
If strCookie = "" Then
Response.Write ("Unable to connect to Siebel Web Server. Please
check Login Name, Password, and Siebel Web Server URL")
Response.End
End If
strSessionId =
mid(strCookie,inStr(strCookie,"!"),inStr(strCookie,";")-
inStr(strCookie,"!"))
strURL = "http://" & Request.form ("swe") & "/
start.swe?SWECmd=GotoView&SWEView=Account+List+View&SWESetMarkup=X
ML&SWEDataOnly=1" & "&_sn=" & strSessionId
Set xmlhttp = Nothing
Set xmlhttp = Server.CreateObject("MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP")
xmlhttp.open "GET", strURL, False
xmlhttp.send ()
Set oXmlDoc = xmlhttp.responseXML
'-----------
'Session Var
'-----------
Session ("SWESessionId") = strSessionId
Session ("swe") = Request.form ("swe")
'-----------
'Prepare XSL
'-----------
sXsl = "acctresponse.xsl"
Set oXslDoc = Server.CreateObject("Msxml2.DOMDocument")
oXslDoc.async = false
oXslDoc.load(Server.MapPath(sXsl))
%>
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>My Portal</TITLE>...
<BODY>
...
<TD colSpan=2><%Response.Write (oXmlDoc.transformNode(oXslDoc))%>
</TD>
</BODY>
</HTML>
Note: For any examples/code snippet/commands related to the various features listed in this document, please make use of the documents listed in the reference section.
- XML Response Structure
When you send a command block to a Siebel eBusiness SWE -XML application, you access the Siebel eBusiness XML application screens. If the action specified in the command block is successfully executed, the data and all of the objects from the resulting screen are returned within an HTTP response. The format of the response is XML, HTML, or WML, depending on the SWESetMarkup setting that was sent in the request payload.
You must develop the mechanism by which your Web server handles XML responses. Using the information provided in this section you can develop a parser, a Web application, or another control to extract the necessary data from XML responses and display the appropriate information to users.
- Common Operations
There are various combinations of XML commands you can use to execute an action in a Siebel eBusiness XML application. Each operation below offers one solution for executing a Siebel eBusiness Application action.
- Logging In (Using LDAP/DB authentication/SSO)
- Logging Off
- Navigating to a Screen/Within the Screen
- Querying Items
- Modifying Records
- Deleting Records
- Picking Records
- SWE API
There are several SWE Commands, SWE Methods and arguments available to control the Siebel eBusiness Application actions.
- Manipulating Siebel XML with XSL Style sheets and XSLT
SWE can perform embedded XSL transformation on outbound XML documents. This way, you can generate outbound documents in the desired markup language format directly from SWE, without requiring a middle-tier server to perform the transformation.
To do so, application developers must provide the XSL style sheets used for the transformation and specify the names of the style sheets to SWE.