Can I dynamically change the label of a Siebel button? - siebel

Question

In our Siebel 7.8 (high interactivity) application, we have a form applet with a Pause / Resume custom button which does the following, depending on the current record's status:
If the status is "queued" or "active", it switches it to "paused".
If the status is "paused", it switches it back to whatever it was before.
If the status is another one ("completed", "error", etc), the button is disabled.
Is it possible to change the label dynamically? So that it would read Pause in the first case, and Resume in the second.
Off the top of my head the only way I can think of doing this would be with a browser script placed both in the Applet_Load and Applet_ChangeRecord events, something like:
var button = this.FindActiveXControl("Name Of My Button Control");
var status = this.BusComp().GetFieldValue("Status");
if (status == "paused") {
button.innerHTML = "Resume";
} else if ((status == "queued") || (status == "active")) {
button.innerHTML = "Pause";
} else {
// the button will be disabled via PreCanInvokeMethod, but we hide it too
button.style.visibility = "hidden";
}
Even if that worked (it should, but I haven't tried it)... I really hate browser scripts in Siebel, they always bring more trouble than solutions. Besides, I still would have to deal with changing the label when the button is clicked too... maybe checking the Applet_InvokeMethod browser event as well.
Is there any way of changing a button's label, based on the current record data, without coding1? All I have found searching online is this trick to change the applet label based on a calculated field, but nothing for buttons.
1: By without coding, I mean not coding the label change myself. It would be perfectly fine if I have to write a business service method to be invoked by Siebel somehow.

Answer 1

There are a few options potentially available:
We did something similar, but we are in a later Siebel version with Open UI. So instead of Browser Script we added code to custom Presentation Model and Physical Renderer JavaScript files. Even though you don't wish to, if you had to resort to something similar using Browser Scripts, you might prefer this over manipulating the text of one button.
I created two button controls: One that displayed Tag and the other Untag. They both call the same method. I added a flag field to the BC. (You might could do the same with a calculated field that is based on certain [Status] values.) In the JS files I put code to check that flag field and then, based on the flag field value, display one button and hide the other.
I did not start with Siebel until 8.1, so I cannot recall if this would be available in 7.8. And this only works on Order Management Applets with a class of CSSSWEFrameListHC (which is why I said "potentially available" options):
There exists an Applet User Property called Hide Control n [See Siebel Developer's Reference v7.8 -> Ch 4: User Properties -> Setting Numbered Instances of a User Property for the use of n in User Properties.]
First, create two separate controls - one that displays Pause and the other Resume. The User Property could be used something like this:
Applet User Properties
Name Value
Hide Control 'Name Of My Pause Button Control', '[Status] = "paused"'
Hide Control 1 'Name Of My Resume Button Control', '[Status] = "queued" OR [Status] = "active"'
You could possibly OR all the other [Status] values into these if you wanted to hide it and not just disable it.
Use Toggle Applets. [See Configuring Siebel eBusiness Applications v7.7 -> Ch 13: Configuring Screens and Views -> Example of Configuring Applet Toggles.]
Copy your existing Applet that has Resume, and modify that button Control in the copy to display Pause. Name the new Applet something like My Form Applet - Pause Button.
Then in Tools drill into your existing Applet, click the Applet Toggle child object, add a New Record, and make it something like this:
If you want this to toggle immediately when the [Status] changes, you'll need to set Immediate Post Changes to TRUE on the [Status] field on the BC. (This could cause performance issues, so be mindful.) Otherwise the Applet won't toggle until the record is saved.
Or you could possibly create a calculated flag field on the BC based on [Status] values, set it's Immediate Post Changes to TRUE, and base the Applet Toggle on that field.
DISCLAIMER: Other than our version of #1, I have not attempted any of these.