Step 1: Defining the Package

The first step is to define the package in CRM.cockpit.

Below are the steps to define a package:

Step 1.1 Configuring Items in Aurea.CRM

The various items that are added to the package, such as formats, the data model, documents etc. all need to be defined within the Aurea.CRM application itself. You should be comfortable with the various customization options provided by Aurea.CRM before defining your own packages. For more details on the various configuration options, see the corresponding manuals.

You should define the following, which are used in this example:

  • A rights format including a trigger.
  • Your own company as a record in the Company info area.
  • A new info area in the data model (e.g. Customer Complaints).
  • An XSLT file, e.g. for reports.
  • A designer unit, such as an analysis, for use with Aurea.CRM web.

Step 1.2 Creating a Blank Package

  1. Select File > New from the menu to create a new blank package.
  2. Click on Description in the icon bar.
  3. Click on next to the Description and enter a description of the package (e.g. "Training Package").
  4. Enter a Title, Subtitle, Author.

Step 1.3 Adding a Process to the Package

  1. Click on Processes in the icon bar.
  2. Click on New in the header.
  3. Enter a name for the process (e.g. "Basic setup").
  4. The name of the process is displayed as a hyperlink on the Processes page. Click on the name to switch to the process.
  5. Enter a description for the process (e.g. "Basic setup including rights settings").

Step 1.4 Adding an Info Area

The Aurea.CRM database includes a new info area (e.g. "Customer Complaints"), defined using the data model. If you have not already done so, add an info area to the data model.

Note that adding a single item from the data model (e.g. an info area) automatically includes the entire data model in the process.

To add the info area to your package:

  1. Switch to the process you defined earlier.
  2. Click on next to Referenced Items and select Info Area from the list.

    A list of the info areas in the Aurea.CRM database is displayed.

  3. Click on the name of the Customer Complaints info area in the list.
  4. The display returns to the overview of the process and the Customer Complaints info area is listed under Referenced Items. The data model is now included in the package, and importing the package into a Aurea.CRM database adds the data model to the target database.
  5. Click on the link to the info area and enter a description (e.g. "Used to process customer complaints").
  6. If you wish, you can enter descriptions for individual fields in the info area. To do so, switch to the overview of the info area, click on the corresponding field under Referenced Items and enter a description of the field.

Step 1.5 Adding a Format

Formats in Aurea.CRM are used to store a wide range of configuration options, ranging from desktop settings to transfer fields. Formats can contain references to other formats; for example rights formats can reference a range of other formats, such as triggers and workflows.

Formats within formats are a special case. In our example, we are going to include a rights format which includes references to another format. Because formats included in other formats are included as a reference, you can make changes to the individual formats, without needing to edit the parent format.

  1. Define a rights format that includes a trigger.
  2. Switch to the process you added earlier.
  3. Click on next to Referenced Items and select Format from the list.

    A list of the format types in the Aurea.CRM database is displayed.

  4. Click on "Rights" under Format Types. Click on the desired rights format.

    The display returns to the overview of the process and the rights format is listed under Referenced Items.The rights format is now included in the package and importing the package into a Aurea.CRM database adds the rights format to that database.

    The trigger format referenced by the rights format is also added to the process. Any fields that have been added to a condition that determine when the trigger is started are also added.

  5. Click on the link to the rights format. You notice that the trigger format has also been added. Add an appropriate description for the rights format (e.g. "Basic access rights settings").
  6. Click on the link to the trigger format (under Referenced Items in the rights format) and enter an appropriate description as well.

Step 1.6 Adding Catalogs

Catalogs are maintained in the Maintenance module. Furthermore, you can add custom catalog fields to info areas using the data model.

The Customer Complaints info area in our package (see Step 1.4 Adding an Info Area ) makes use of the Product and Product Group catalogs and we are going to include these catalogs in our package.

  1. Switch to the process you added earlier.
  2. Click on next to Referenced Items and select Variable Catalog from the list.

    A list of the variable catalog in the Aurea.CRM database is displayed.

  3. Click on P above the list to limit the display to catalogs whose name begins with 'P'.
  4. Enable the check boxes next to Product and Product Group and click on Add Selected Items in the header to add the two catalogs.

    The display returns to the overview of the process and the catalogs are listed under Referenced Items. The catalogs are now included in the package and importing the package into a Aurea.CRM database adds the catalogs values to that database.

    If you have defined catalog entries in multiple languages, you need to manually add the appropriate Language Table records (00) and Station Language records (01).

Step 1.7 Adding a File

Files in processes are generally configuration files, for example XSLT stylesheets for reports or JavaScript items used by Aurea.CRM web. These files need to be placed in specific directories; e.g. reports stylesheets need to be placed in the \system\xml directory of your Aurea.CRM installation.

  1. Create an XSLT stylesheet for use in Aurea.CRM win.
  2. Return to CRM.cockpit.
  3. Switch to the process you added earlier.
  4. Click on next to Referenced Items and select File from the list.
  5. You can determine whether the document is stored in the Aurea.CRM database, or whether the file is referenced by the package using the file name and path.

    Select documents into Aurea.CRM database to determine that the file should be stored in the Documents info area on the source machine. Documents that are stored in the database on the development system are also written to the Documents info area on the target system when imported.

  6. Enter "$WIN\system\xml\" as the Destination directory for your XSLT. '$WIN' functions as a placeholder. When the package is imported on the target machine, you are prompted to specify the directory to be used by the placeholder.

    Although you can use any placeholders (indicated with a preceding '$'), update recommends using $WIN for Aurea.CRM win installations and $WEB for CRM.designer installations.

  7. Click on the next to Files and select the XLST you created.
  8. The source and target files are displayed. You can add further files in the same manner.
  9. Click on Add Selected Items in the header to add the files to the process.
  10. The display returns to the overview of the process and the file is listed under Referenced Items.The file is now included in the package and importing the package into a Aurea.CRM database prompts the user to determine the directory that the $WIN placeholder refers to (in this case, the root directory of the Aurea.CRM installation). The file is then copied to the corresponding directory.

Step 1.8 Adding a designer Configuration

Note: Adding a designer unit automatically adds the designer configuration containing the unit to the process, as well as any parent configuration apart from those supplied by update (e.g. UPDATE_DEFAULT).

To add a designer configuration to your package:

  1. Switch to the process you defined earlier.
  2. Click on next to Referenced Items and select designer Configuration from the list.
  3. A list of the designer configurations in the designer database is displayed.
  4. Enable the check boxes next to the desired configuration and click on Add Selected Items to add the configuration to the process.

    The display returns to the overview of the process and the selected designer configuration is listed under Referenced Items.The designer configuration is now included in the package and importing the package into a Aurea.CRM database adds the designer configuration to the target database.

  5. Click on the link to the designer configuration and enter a description.

Step 1.9 Adding a Record

You can add most types of records to your packages. In our example we are going to include our own company in the package.

  1. If you have not already done so, add your company to the Company info area in Aurea.CRM.
  2. Switch to the process you defined earlier.
  3. Click on next to Referenced Items and select Record from the list.

    A list of the info areas in the Aurea.CRM database is displayed under Info Areas.

  4. Click on "Company". A list of the companies in the database is displayed.
  5. Click on the entry that corresponds to your company.

    The display returns to the overview of the process and the record is listed under Referenced Items. The type of record (info area abbreviation) and its key are also included.The record is now included in the package and importing the package into a Aurea.CRM database adds the record to that database.

  6. Click on the link to the record and enter a description (e.g. "Our company").