Mastering Siebel eScripting: The Importance of ActivateField for Efficient Queries

If you are working with Siebel eScripting, you might have come across the term ActivateField. It is an important part of the process when you want to get data from Siebel’s Business Components (BCs). But why is it needed? Let’s break it down into simple terms.

What is ActivateField?

When you work with data in Siebel, you often need information from certain fields (like columns in a table) in a Business Component (BC). However, not all fields are automatically available when you run a query. To get or set values for specific fields, you need to activate them using the ActivateField method.

Think of it like this: Siebel doesn’t fetch all the data at once. It only brings back the data you ask for, making it faster and more efficient. If you need to use a field in your script, you first need to let Siebel know by activating it.

When you make a field “Force Active” on a Business Component, it ensures that this field is included in the SQL query generated by the system. However, having too many “Force Active” fields can lead to problems. If one of these fields is used as a join field, it adds even more complexity to the query, which can slow down performance and make it harder to manage. Therefore, it’s best to limit the number of “Force Active” fields on a Business Component.

Why Do We Need to Activate Fields?

1. Better Performance
   If Siebel fetched every single field in the BC whenever you run a query, it would slow things down, especially if you’re working with lots of data. By activating only the fields you need, you save time and resources. It’s like going to the grocery store and picking only the items you need, instead of grabbing everything on the shelves.
2. To Avoid Errors
   If you don’t activate a field and try to use it in your script, Siebel won’t know that you need that field, and it will give you an error or return no value. For example, if you want to get the “Last Name” of a contact but forget to activate that field, Siebel will give you an empty result or an error.

Example of Using ActivateField

Let’s take an example where we need to get the “First Name” and “Last Name” of a contact in Siebel. Here’s what the code would look like:

var bc = TheApplication().GetBusObject("Contact").GetBusComp("Contact");
bc.ActivateField("First Name");
bc.ActivateField("Last Name");
bc.ClearToQuery();
bc.SetSearchSpec("First Name", "John");
bc.ExecuteQuery();

var firstName = bc.GetFieldValue("First Name");
var lastName = bc.GetFieldValue("Last Name");

In this script:

• We activate the fields “First Name” and “Last Name” because we want to retrieve and use their values.
• We then perform a query to find contacts where the “First Name” is “John”.
• After the query, we can get the values of “First Name” and “Last Name” because we activated those fields.

SQL Query Example

When we activate fields, Siebel uses them in the SQL query it sends to the database. Here’s an example of what the SQL query might look like behind the scenes:

SELECT T1.FST_NAME, T1.LAST_NAME
FROM S_CONTACT T1
WHERE T1.FST_NAME = 'John';

In this SQL query:

• T1.FST_NAME is the “First Name” field, which we activated.
• T1.LAST_NAME is the “Last Name” field, which we also activated.
• The query only brings back these two fields because those are the ones we activated.

No Need to Activate Fields in Search Specifications

It’s important to note that you don’t need to activate fields if you are just using them in the search condition and not getting or setting their values.

For example, in the previous script, we searched for contacts where the “First Name” is “John”. Even though we used the “First Name” in the search condition, we would not need to activate it if we didn’t want to get its value later.

Here’s what the code would look like without activating the “First Name”:

var bc = TheApplication().GetBusObject("Contact").GetBusComp("Contact");
bc.ActivateField("Last Name"); // We only activate "Last Name"
bc.ClearToQuery();
bc.SetSearchSpec("First Name", "John"); // We can use "First Name" without activating it
bc.ExecuteQuery();

var lastName = bc.GetFieldValue("Last Name");

In this case:

• We only activate the “Last Name” because that’s the only field we want to retrieve.
• We use “First Name” in the search, but we don’t need to activate it since we are not getting its value.

Key Points to Remember

1. Activate the fields only if you need to get or set their values.
2. No need to activate a field if you’re only using it in the search condition (like a filter).
3. Activating fields improves performance by fetching only the data you need.
4. If you try to access an unactivated field, you might get an error or empty data.

By using ActivateField, you can make your Siebel scripts more efficient and avoid common errors. Always activate the fields you plan to use, and skip activating those that are only used for filtering or search specifications.

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By understanding how to use ActivateField correctly, you can make sure your Siebel eScripting works smoothly and efficiently. This small but important step helps avoid errors and keeps your scripts running faster!