External Configurator Integration

Administrators can define an integration with external configurators such as the Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) or Fusion. For example: Customers who are using EBS Order Management for order fulfillment can now use the EBS configurator instead of the Oracle CPQ configurator.

To define an external configurator integration:

1. Go to Admin > Products > Catalog Definition.

The Supported Products page opens with Product Families selected by default in the Navigation drop-down menu.

2. Click List.

The Supported Product Families page opens.

3. Click List next to the product family that contains the model you want to integrate with an external configurator. The Product Line Administration List page opens with Models selected by default for all of the available product lines.

4. Click List next to the model you want to integrate with an external configurator.

The Model Administration List page opens.

5. Select External Configuration from the Navigation drop-down menu.

6. Click List.

The Edit external configuration page opens with the Type option set by default to None.
This indicates there are no external configurators defined for the specified model.

7. Set the Type option to Embed in iFrame.

Additional options are displayed in the Edit external configuration page.

8. Set the URL option to one of the following:

• Simple – Enter the URL for the external configurator, which is viewable via an iFrame to users. If an invalid URL is entered, users see an error message in an iFrame when attempting to access the external configurator.
• Define Advanced Function – Click Define Function to open the BML Editor. The BML Editor is used to define the URL for the external configurator, which is viewable to users via an iFrame.

Administrators can use the text box that displays to the left of the list of functions to define the BML code that returns the URL for the iFrame that displays the external configurator. When an error occurs in the BML, the iFrame is not generated.

To debug the BML, administrators can specify runtime values of input arguments using the Value fields. The runtime values are used to validate the output of the corresponding BML function.

9. Set the Save action to one of the following options:

• None – The save action is not invoked.
• Define Advanced Function – Click Define Function to open the BML Editor. Using the BML Editor, administrators can set up the BML for the save action invoked when a user configures or reconfigures the product. Use the Value fields to specify the runtime values used by the BML code to validate the output of the corresponding BML function.

10. Click Apply to enable the integration.

Note: Administrators can disable an external configurator integration by returning to the Edit external configuration page, setting the Type option to None, and clicking either Apply or Update. If the integration the administrator is disabling uses the Define Advanced Function for the URL or the Save action, the BML is deleted from both the BML Editor and the database.

After defining an external configurator integration, the external configurator automatically displays within Configuration Quick Links.

To access the external configurator via Configuration Quick Links:

1. From the Configuration Quick Links pane, drill-down to the associated product family and model.



Note: Any un-deployed changes are displayed in red until the changes are deployed. Administrators can click Deploy from the Configuration Quick Links page to deploy any un-deployed changes.

2. Click the External Configuration link shown in the above figure. The Edit external configuration page opens and allows the administrator to view, modify, or disable the external configurator.