Building the Structure
The goal of the "Structure" step is to define the tree structure of your Guided Selling Process. As such, you will use it to define the questions which have to be answered by the potential customer during a catalog session in order to identify his/her requirements.
Define the Guided Selling Process project
When first entering the ”Structure / Build” step and clicking on the Guided Selling Process in the « Explore structure » explorer, you will be able to specify (in the working area) the system properties of the Guided Selling Process.
The following table gives you an overview of the system properties you can define:
| FIELD | REQUIRED | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace | Yes | The virtual environment in which a Guided Selling Process has been created. In many cases, only one workspace is to be used. The workspace is fully determined by the workspace chosen in the dashboard. |
| Name | Yes | The identifier of the Guided Selling Process. The length of the name is limited to 64 bytes and is preferably readable. It is recommended to adopt a coding rule for names, e.g. have them start with a small letter and use a capital letter for every new word. Example: myGuidedSellingProcess |
| Description | Yes | The description will functionally describe the Guided Selling Process, and is limited to 4000 bytes. |
| Type | No | Allows assigning a user type to the Guided Selling Process, which can be used as a classifier in order to segment exports, to specialize the user interface at run-time, or for other purposes. For more information about user types, please refer to Define object classifications. |
| Customize | No | This is a customizable field usable for purposes outside the control of the Designer. Limited to 4000 bytes. |
| Valid period | No | These “From” and “To” fields allow expressing the start and/or end date before or beyond which the Guided Selling Process is not valid. Both dates are optional. |
Manage the script structure
Once the properties of your Guided Selling Process have been defined, you can build its structure (i.e. organize the sales script) by:
- Creating forms, each of which represents a set of questions
- Creating form properties, which represent questions or calculations
- Define domains, which represent the set of possible values which can be answered to a question
- Reuse previously created forms and embed them in the structure
HOW TO ADD A FORM
A Form is a coherent group of questions to be asked during the requirements analysis. Multiple forms can be added to a Guided Selling Process. In order to add a form to a Guided Selling Process, 2 procedures are possible.
The following procedure enables you to create a new form in the project structure:
How to
[In the Explore Structure explorer]
- Select the icon of the Guided Selling Process inside which you would like to create a form.
[In the explorer toolbar]
- Click on the “New Form“ button [Via the “popup window”]
- Choose “Create New”
- Enter a name and a description for the form you would like to create. Hit “Add” or “Add & Open” in order to add the form to the guided selling process.
- --> The form is created and added to the structure.
- Choose “Create New”
- (Optionally) complete the system properties of the newly created Form.
[In the menu toolbar] - Save
If you want to reuse an existing form and embed it in the current product structure:
How to
- [Via the “Explore structure” explorer]
- Select the icon of the Guided Selling Process inside which you want to add a form.
- [Via the explorer toolbar]
- Click on the “New Form” button.
- [Via the “popup window”]
- Choose “Reuse existing”
- Choose a workspace
- (optionally) Choose a user type
- Enter part of the form name or description and choose it in the proposed list. Hit “Add” or “Add & Open” in order to add the form to the guided selling process.
- --> The form is added to the structure.
- [Via the menu toolbar]
- Save.
The following procedure enables you to copy-paste a form in the project structure:
How to
- [In the explorer]
- In Structure, select the icon of the form you would like to copy
- or
- In Filter Objects, look up the form you would like to copy and select its icon
- [In the explorer toolbar]
- Execute the Copy function
- [In the explorer]
- In Structure, select the icon of the Guided Selling Process in which or the form below which you want to position the new form.
- [In the explorer toolbar]
- Execute the Paste function after having chosen inside or below
- [In the popup]
- Enter a name and a description
- Click on OK.
- [In the working section]
- (Optionally) complete the system properties of the newly created form
- [In the menu toolbar]
- Execute the Save function
When duplicating a form (using copy-paste), the following objects are duplicated:
- The form itself including its form properties
- The rich media object attached to it or to its form properties
The following objects are reused:
- The BRC attached to the original form in the step Constraints
- The BRC attached to the original form properties in the steps Structure and Controls
The following objects are not reused:
- The information and BRC positioned in the step Controls on the form (because this information is positioned on the link between the form and its parent)
SPECIFY THE FORM ATTRIBUTES
Whenever you add a form to the project structure, you can access and update its details in the working area:
| FIELD | REQUIRED | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace | Yes | The virtual environment in which a form has been created. In many cases, only one workspace is to be used. |
| Name | Yes | The identifier of the Form. The length of the name is limited to 64 bytes and is preferably readable. It is recommended to adopt a coding rule for names, e.g. have them start with a small letter and use a capital letter for every new word. Example: myForm |
| Description | Yes | The description will functionally describe the Form, and is limited to 4000 bytes. |
| Type | No | Allows assigning a user type to the form, which can be used as a classifier in order to segment exports, to specialize the user interface at run-time, or for other purposes. For more information about user types, please refer to Define object classifications. |
| Customize | No | This is a customizable field usable for purposes outside the control of the Designer. Limited to 4000 bytes. |
| Valid period | No | These “From” and “To” fields allow expressing the start and/or end date before or beyond which the form is not valid. Both dates are optional. |
HOW TO ADD A FORM PROPERTY
A Form Property (FP) represents a question that will be answered by the end-user, or a calculation that will be shown to the end-user. In the “Structure” step, you will be able to define the question as well as control the possible values which can be given as an answer.
How to
- [In the Explore Structure explorer]
- Select the icon of the form inside which you would like to create a form property.
- [In the explorer toolbar]
- Click on the button “New Form Property“
- [In the popup]
- Enter a name, a description, a type and a valuation mode.
- Hit “Add” or “Add & Open” in order to add the form property to the form.
- --> The form property is created and added to the structure.
- (Optionally) complete the system properties of the newly created Form Property.
- [In the menu toolbar]
- Execute the Save function
The following procedure enables you to copy-paste a form property in the project structure:
How to
- [In the explorer]
- In Structure, select the icon of the form property you would like to duplicate
- [In the explorer toolbar]
- Execute the Copy function
- [In the explorer]
- In Structure, select the icon of the form in which you want to position the new form property.
- [In the explorer toolbar]
- Execute the Paste function after having chosen inside
- [In the popup]
- Enter a name and a description
- Click on OK.
- [In the working section]
- (Optionally) complete the system properties of the newly created form property
- [In the menu toolbar]
- Execute the Save function
When duplicating a form property (using copy-paste), the following objects are duplicated:
- The form property itself
- The rich media object attached to it
The following objects are reused:
- The BRC attached to the form property in the steps Structure and Controls
A Form Property cannot be reused because it is considered as a weak object, meaning that it cannot be dissociated from its parent Form. However, form properties can be duplicated (by using copy-paste).
SPECIFY THE FORM PROPERTY ATTRIBUTES
Whenever you add a form property to the project structure, you can access and update its details in the working area. In this step, you will be able to define and/or update:
The System Properties of the Form Property, which define the basic characteristics of the Form Property
The Domain of the Form Property, which is decomposed in 3 parts:
- The Value Domain, which defines which values will be acceptable for this Form Property.
- The Quantity Domain, which defines which quantities are compatible with each possible value.
- The Comment Domain, which defines the comment to be associated to each possible value.
Defining System Properties
The following table explains the system properties of the form property:
| FIELD | REQUIRED | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | The identifier of the Form Property. The length of the name is limited to 64 bytes and is preferably readable. It is recommended to adopt a coding rule for names, e.g. have them start with a small letter and use a capital letter for every new word. Example: myFormProperty |
| Type | Yes | Defines the type of value(s) that a form property can be set to. Possible types are: |
| . | . | - Text: stores a character string up to 128 characters |
| . | . | - Long Text: stores a character string up to 4000 bytes |
| . | . | - Boolean: stores a number value (0 or 1) corresponding to false or true |
| . | . | - Integer: stores a number value from -2147483645 up to 2147483645 as a multiple of 1. |
| . | . | - Numeric: stores a decimal value. All decimal values in CPQ respect the form NUMBER(16,10). |
| . | . | - Monetary: stores a price or a cost (a decimal value associated with a currency). All decimal values in CPQ respect the form NUMBER(16,10). |
| . | . | - Date: stores a date (month – day – year). The date entered needs to respect the international settings of the user. |
| . | . | - Url: stores a URL to a web page. URL’s must start with http:// or with https://. |
| . | . | - Object: stores an object using a complete identifier of the following form: workspace/type/name. Currently the type can be “Business Value” (BVAL),“Standard Item” (SI) or “Sales Product” (SP). |
| . | . | All decimal values in CPQ respect the form: "NUMBER(16,10)", in which |
| . | . | - 16 designates the precision, or the total number of significant decimal digits. |
| . | . | - 10 designates the scale, or the number of significant digits to the right of the decimal point to and including the least significant digit. Example: the value entered as 1234567890,12345678 will be stored as 1234567890,123457. |
| Valuation mode | Yes | The valuation modes are the following: |
| . | . | - Simple (one value): the form property will store one unique value. This is used in most cases. The user will be allowed to enter a value or to select a value in a list. |
| . | . | Note: If the flag “Required” is set to false (optional FP), and if the domain of the simple FP is limited to one value only, this value will NOT be autoset to take the optional aspect of the FP into account. |
| . | . | - List (multiple values): the form property will store multiple values. The user will typically be allowed to select multiple answers in a list. If the form property is required, and if no lower bound has been set, at least one value will be necessary to complete the form property. |
| Layout | Yes | Specifies the presentation of the form property at run-time. The presentation of a form property is done using “value selectors”. |
| . | . | - For more information about value selectors, please refer to the Configurator User Guide. |
| Description | Yes | The description will functionally describe the Form Property, and is limited to 4000 bytes. |
| Type | No | Allows assigning a user type to the form property, which can be used as a classifier in order to segment exports, to specialize the user interface at run-time, or for other purposes. For more information about user types, please refer to Define object classifications. |
| Customize | No | This is a customizable field usable for purposes outside the control of the Designer. Limited to 4000 bytes. |
| Reference unit | No | Only used for integer or numeric form properties. It allows specifying the unit in which a certain number has been expressed. |
| Reference currency | No | Only used for monetary form properties. It allows specifying the currency in which a certain amount has been expressed. |
Defining the Value Domain
You will control in this section the possible answers to the question (i.e. its Domain).
Cross Reference: For more information about domains, please refer to Business Rules and Constraints (BRC).
If no domain has been specified, the form property domain will be infinite, meaning that every possible value will be an acceptable answer. However, it will naturally be limited by the Form Property type (for instance, if the form property type is integer, only integer values will be possible answers).
If however you would like to restrict the domain to a subset of the values supported by the form property type, you can define a set of possible answers using one of the following methods: Domains can be specified by all or a subset of the following methods:
- Limiting the range of possible values: the domain of a numerical value can be restricted by defining a lower bound and/or an upper bound. It can also be restricted by defining it as a multiple of another numerical value.
- Example: a numerical value must be a multiple of 1.5, between -4 and +100.
- Enumerating the possible values: in this case, the possible values belonging to the domain are literally specified.
- Example: the possible values for a variable belong to the set {“Yellow”, “Green”, “Red”}. In this case a BRC must be used.
The following table specifies the attributes which will allow you to define a domain for the form property:
| FIELD | REQUIRED | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Value Selection | No | Defines a domain as an enumeration of values, specified by a BRC. The BRC defining the domain can be “static”, meaning that it always provides the same values. In this case we will name it a list of values. However, if the possible values depend on other variables (form properties or external variables), the BRC will be “dynamic”. |
| Lower bound | No | Defines the lower bound of a domain for integer, numerical, monetary or date-based form properties. The lower bound can be given by a fixed value, or by a BRC. |
| Upper bound | No | Defines the upper bound of a domain for integer, numerical, monetary or date-based form properties. The upper bound can be given by a fixed value, or by a BRC. |
| Multiple of | No | Determines if the values belonging to the domain of integer, numerical or monetary form properties need to be a multiple of a numerical value. This attribute can be given by a fixed value only. |
| Default value | No | Determines the default value to be proposed by the configuration engine. The default value will not be automatically assigned by the system, but will be considered as a suggested value, which needs to be validated by the user. The default value can be given by a fixed value, or by a BRC. |
Defining the quantity domain
With each form property, in addition to the domain which is proposed by the system, a quantity can be associated.
The following table specifies the attributes which will allow you to define a domain for the quantity:
| FIELD | REQUIRED | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Lower bound | No | Defines the lower bound for the quantity. The lower bound can be given by a fixed value, or by a BRC. |
| Upper bound | No | Defines the upper bound for the quantity. The upper bound can be given by a fixed value, or by a BRC. |
| Multiple of | No | Determines if the quantity should be a multiple of a numerical value. This attribute can be given by a fixed value only. |
| Default value | No | Determines if a default quantity should be proposed by the configuration engine. The default value will not be automatically assigned by the system, but will be considered as the default value selectable by the user. The default value can be given by a fixed value, or by a BRC. |
Defining the comment domain
With each form property, in addition to the domain which is proposed by the system, a comment can be entered or proposed.
The following table specifies the attributes which will allow you to define a domain for the comment:
| FIELD | REQUIRED | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Comment | No | Determines the default value for the comment. E.g.: “Please enter your comments here”. The comment can be given by a fixed value, or generated by a BRC. |
HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR GUIDED SELLING PROCESS
If you want to organize differently the structure of the Guided Selling Process, you can use the
functions in the menu toolbar which allows moving up, moving down, or deleting objects. Whenever deleting an element in the explorer, 2 situations can present themselves:
- If the object is not used by any other project (or in another place in the same project), the Designer will identify that situation and propose one of the following actions:
- Delete: in this case, the object will be removed from the structure and it will be deleted permanently afterwards.
- Keep: in this case, the object will be removed from the structure, but will be kept in the Designer repository. You will be able to retrieve it (to reuse it or to delete it) by looking it up using the “Filter Objects” explorer.
- If the object is reused by another project (or in another place in the same project), the link between the object and the project will simply be removed. The object itself will be not removed whatsoever. It will just cease to exist in the place you’ve removed it from.Warning: Whenever reorganizing your model, you have to re-visit every BRC which contains CPE depending on the reorganized part of the Guided Selling Process. The Designer does not automatically modify the CPE for you.