VBC Compatibility Mode

The Query method of a VBC Business Service in Siebel versions later than 7.5 has an Inputs property set whose structure can be difficult to navigate. Take a look at the XML representation from Siebel Bookshelf:

<siebel-xmlext-query-req>
  <buscomp id="1">Contact</buscomp>  
  <remote-source>http://throth/servlet/VBCContacts</remote-source>  
  <max-rows>6</max-rows>  
  <search-string>=([Phone] IS NOT NULL) AND ([AccountId] = "1-6")</search-string>  
  <search-spec>  
    <node node-type="Binary Operator">AND     
      <node node-type="Unary Operator">IS NOT NULL       
        <node node-type="Identifier">Phone</node>         
      </node>        
      <node node-type="Binary Operator">=         
        <node node-type="Identifier">AccountId</node>         
        <node value-type="TEXT" node-type="Constant">1-6</node>      
      </node>    
    </node>  
  </search-spec>  
  <sort-spec>  
    <sort field="Location">ASCENDING</sort>     
    <sort field="Name">DESCENDING</sort>   
  </sort-spec>
</Siebel-xmlext-query-req>

I've found that the search-string node of the property set isn't particularly useful unless your back-end data source has a column structure that matches your VBC. In the example above, you can quickly see how difficulty it could be for a Siebel developer to write a script to parse a property set containing a search-spec node with any complexity.

In Siebel versions prior to 7.5, the Inputs property set was much simpler. Below, see an eScript snippet that unloads a search specification in the query method of a VBC Business Service using the older format of input:

var child = Inputs.GetChild(0);
var sPolicyNumber = child.GetProperty("Policy Number");
var sLastName = child.GetProperty("Date of Birth");
var sFirstName = child.GetProperty("First Name");

Where query specifications are entered into a form applet as field, the old format lets you easily retrieve input values and manipulate them in eScript variables.

For Query input in the earlier, simpler format, add the following Business Component User Property to your VBC:

Name: VBC Compatibility Mode
Value: Siebel 7.0.4