How to test a WSDL if it is working or not?

No matter if you are working in Siebel or not, if you are going to implement any Outbound Web Service, the first thing you wanna check if the WSDL file received from the 3rd party is working or not before you actually consume it and start the development.

Same is the case with Siebel Tools, you require to consume it in Siebel tools which will result in creation of Web Service (which is nothing but the business service of Class: CSSWSOutboundDispatcher) and its corresponding Integration Objects.

So, the best way is to have a 3rd party tools to quickly verify the response from the other system. I have came across lot many tools which solve this purpose but my favourite is SOAPUI and I really find it very handy for this purpose.

This post is related to the very first step that you do while creating the outbound web service. I have picked one WSDL freely available on "http://www.webservicex.net/WS/default.aspx"

Now, lets see how to do it step by step:

1. Save the WSDL from the following link:
http://www.webservicex.net/CurrencyConvertor.asmx?WSDL



2. Get the SOAPUI tools, available at the below link:
http://www.soapui.org/

3. Open SOAPUI and go to File Menu -> Preferences and make sure following check boxes should be unchecked.



4. Now open the WSDL, that you have saved in Step 1. File Menu -> New SOAPUI Project OR Press Crtl N





5. You will see "Currency Converter" Web Service and its associated method in the left (Navigator) panel. Double click on "Request 1". It will bring up the SOAP Request / Response page in the right panel. The request XML will look like this:



6. Input the necessary values in FromCurrecny and ToCurrency tags of the request XML and hit the Go Button. For Eg:



7. Here is the response XML I received:



8. This confirms that WSDL is correct and working fine.

We will see in the next post, how to implement an Outboound WebService in Siebel.

Stay Tuned !!

Top 10 Out of the box features in Siebel !

It is a great feeling that one can have if he keep listening some good things from the users for which you are building the product/application. I have observed so many times the reaction of the users during the Siebel demo when they keep saying, "I just love this application :) ".

The best part is that Siebel has got so many OOB features in place which comes with the product bundle and user can just directly start using it without any customization which make the application more easy to use and provide value add from business process perspective.

Here below are top 10 OOB features most voted by our application users:

1. Placing columns in any list applet in any order as per your requirement.

2. Sorting feature on the list applet. Just one click and the data is sorted in ascending and another click for descending.

3. Siebel Landing Page. Users can select Siebel Landing Page and system will directly take the user to the view of his/her choice once logged into the application.

4. Changing Screen/Views tab order as per the need. On the fly user can go to User Preferences and set the order whatever they like.

5. Changing the timezone. This feature is Sales people's favourite. They keep travelling around the states/countries and depending upon the location, they can change the timezone and Siebel will automatically adjust the created date / last updated date of records automatically if want to do About Record.

6. Predefined queries. Managers just love this feature as it helps them to see the data that they want to see regularly. For Eg: Eastern zone manager want to see all opportunities where Region = Eastern and Amount > 10,000. And the best part is predefined query will be visible to you, if you are the owner (Private) or it is Public.

7. Export from List Applet. Again this feature is most likely used by managers as it solves half of the reporting requirements in the application. Query the data as per the need and take the CSV export to play around with it and help taking management decisions accordingly.

8. Drag and Drop attachments. Any call centre guy would love it, just take any file from your local machine and drag n drop the document on any attachment applet. It really saves times and if user want to see the attached file it automatically opens it on its native format.

9. Record Count. Users of the application generally don't have access to the database. Record count feature on any applet would help them finding the number of records they have queried upon.

10. Last but not the least, F9/Ctrl+F9 for sending email/fax. After just one button click, you can communicate with the customers from the application itself where system will automatically pick the contact email address and you use the predefined communication templates as the email body.


I have some more in the list but I think top 10 have been mentioned above. Let me know if you think of any other OOB features that Siebel provides and which you think really liked by your application users.

Connecting Physical world with Digital world !!

[Please note that this post is not related to Siebel]

One of my friend shared one Youtube link and I was so impressed after watching it that I can't stop myself to share with you all here.

I loved the concept this guy has worked upon and amazed by the things he is doing to connect the physical world with the digital world.

I am sure, you will like this, watch it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrtANPtnhyg