1 Service Catalog and Design
Oracle Communications Service Catalog and Design provides a unified environment for designing, testing, and deploying integrated multi-application OSS solutions. It simplifies the management and maintenance of services and networks by centralizing service, resource, and network specifications and configurations. It enables you to define TM Forum (TMF) aligned PSR models to define customer and network services. The intuitive and user-friendly interface enables all types of users to build end-to-end solutions easily. The primary focus of Service Catalog and Design is to have a no code and low code design environment for configuration of the orchestration, inventory and assurance solutions and individual applications. Service Catalog and Design requires no application expertise, so you can rapidly define services and technical building blocks without extensive application training. Also, it simplifies solution evolution by enabling you to update the solution design and to release updates that meet the evolving service requirements.
Service Catalog and Design comprises the following components:
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Solution Designer: Solution Designer runs as a cloud native application in a containerized and orchestrated deployment architecture. It is a unified environment for designing, configuring, and deploying a service where all the components, specifications, and configurations are consolidated. It provides modern journey and persona driven user experience for defining service and resource catalog for business solutions. For more information on Solution Designer and its capabilities, see Solution Designer User's Guide.
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Design Studio: Design Studio is an integrated GUI tool based on the Eclipse IDE. This enables designers and developers to use the fully-featured Java IDE capabilities to further enhance, extend or integrate the solution business logic. This design-time environment enables you to build and configure Oracle service fulfillment and network and resource management solutions. For more information on Design Studio and its capabilities, see Concepts guide.
Topics in this chapter
New Features in 8.1.0.1
This section includes information about new features introduced in release 8.1.0.1.
Ability to Filter Initiative Items With Errors
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All items: Selecting All items displays all the items associated with the initiative including the items with errors. This is the default value.
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Items with errors: Selecting Items with errors displays only those items with validation errors.
View PSR Models in Full Page
You can now view the PSR models in full page when the model is non-editable. You cannot edit a PSR model that is in Functional testing, Acceptance testing, Approval, and Released status. A new Explore button is added in the PSR Model tab which opens the Edit Configuration page in full screen. You can search for an entity using Search in the Edit Configuration page.
New Features in 8.1.0
This section includes information about new features introduced in release 8.1.0.
Improved Usability and Productivity
Automatic Mapping of Design Parameters and Characteristics
You can now map the design parameters of a specification automatically to its characteristics and the design parameters of its immediate child. Solution Designer provides Automap in the Parameter Mapping drawer. When clicked, Automap maps the source design parameter to the destination parameters with the same name and the same data element type.
See "Mapping Parameters Automatically" in Solution Designer User's Guide for more information.
Consolidated View of Design and Delivery Parameter to Action Code Mapping
Solution Designer provides a consolidated view of the design parameters to action code mapping in the design parameters in service specifications, resource specifications, and PSR models. Similarly, it provides a consolidated view of the delivery parameters to action code mapping in the delivery policies.
Persist Search Criteria When Navigating to Entity Details
The search criteria that you entered in Solution Designer is now retained while navigating back-and-forth. When you perform a search on the Solution Designer applications using filter chips or by typing keywords, the search criteria is retained when you navigate to the entity details page. When you navigate back to the search page, you see the results based on the retained search criteria. When you navigate to a different application or log out of the Solution Designer application, the search criteria is not retained.
Enhanced Usability in Configuration Canvas
Solution Designer provides the following features in the Configuration canvas for the Service Specifications, Resource Specifications, and PSR Models:
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You can now expand or collapse all the entities in the Edit Configuration canvas by clicking Expand All or Collapse All on the top left.
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You can search for any entity in the Edit Configuration canvas, including components by clicking Search. Type the name of the entity that you want to search in the configuration canvas. The searched entity is expanded and when you click the entity on the left side, the entity along with its children is shown in the configuration canvas.
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You can now set the display settings for the configuration canvas. You can select Entity icon and Entity type to display the entity icon and the entity type. You can choose the orientation to display the configuration model horizontally or vertically.
UIM Specific Inventory Settings for Characteristics
You can now configure the presentation of data elements in the UIM run-time application in the Inventory Settings section in Data Elements. You can specify the manner in which run-time application users interact with the corresponding data element by selecting Control Type. The value that you select in this field determines the subsequent options that appear.
See "Creating New Data Elements" in Solution Designer User's Guide for more information on Inventory Settings.
Support for Attributes Provided Out-of-the-box by UIM
Solution Designer now supports out-of-the-box attributes provided by UIM. The data elements that are added by default as characteristics are called as hard attributes. The hard attributes are added based on the resource type. See "About Hard Attributes" in Solution Designer User's Guide for more information on hard attributes.
Enhanced Design Policies
Resource Selection Design Policies Based on Characteristics
You can now define standard policies in Solution Designer for designing and assigning resources based on the characteristics. As an example, based on Service Address, reserve and assign the phone numbers from the range in the inventory. See "Defining Resource Selection Policies" in Solution Designer User's Guide for more information on resource selection design policies.
Improved Extensibility for Design Policies
Upload the Implementation Asset Details Automatically
You can now upload the implementation assets details for the advanced policies from Design Studio workspace to Solution Designer automatically using Object Store Utility tool. Object Store Utility is a JAR file which allows you to upload the implementation assets details such as the extended designer classes, the helper classes, and the third-party libraries to a S3-compatible object store and then update the relative paths to Solution Designer.
See "Working with Object Store Utility" in Developer's Guide for more information on Object Store Utility.
Support for Advanced Configuration in Initiative Lifecycle
Solution Designer now supports the Advanced Configuration phase in the initiative lifecycle. In this phase, you can implement the custom code in the extended designer class for the advanced policies. See "Lifecycle of Initiatives" in Solution Designer User's Guide for more information on the Advanced Configuration phase.
Support for Third-party Libraries in Extended Designer Class
You can now use third-party libraries in the extended designer class. Third-party libraries are reusable software components that are available either freely or sold by an entity. See "Working with Extended Designer Class" in Developer's Guide for more information on using third-party libraries in extended designer class.
Enhanced Service Catalog Modeling Capabilities
Support for Creation of Locations
You can now create location specification in Solution Designer and two location specification types are supported:
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Place Specifications: You use Place specifications to define entities that represent places that can be located on maps.
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Property Location: You use Property Location specification for geographic locations involved in connectivity scenarios. Unlike Place entities, Property Location entities are all based on a single entity.
Ability to Create a CFS as a Child of Another CFS
You can now add a Customer Facing Services (CFS) as a child of another CFS, while building the PSR models and configuring specifications.
Support for Multiplicity in Feature Groups
You can now add multiplicity details for the feature groups that are defined as design parameters, characteristics, and delivery parameters. You can define the minimum and maximum number of times the feature group can appear in a run-time instance. See "Defining Characteristics" in Solution Designer User's Guide for more information.
Support for Feature Groups on Delivery Parameters
You can now map the Feature Groups characteristics in Delivery Parameters to the Feature Groups characteristics of the related resource specification. You must have a similar hierarchy for source and the destination feature groups, when you map the feature group itself. You can also map the individual data elements in the feature group to a characteristic of an entity or to another individual data element within the other feature group.
Support for Role Based Access Control
You can now configure Role Based Access Control (RBAC) for the users in Solution Designer. You can assign Domain Filter Roles to the users to filter the access to the entities based on the service domain or the technology domain. All users must be assigned to a Domain Filter Role.
See "Roles" in Solution Designer Installation Guide for more information.
Known Problems and Limitations
This section describes the existing software and documentation problems, any solutions or workarounds recommended to avoid the problems or reduce effects, and the limitations in the software:
Service Action Parameters Not Generated by Default
Problem: The four data elements Subject ID, Customer ID, Commercial ID, and Service Address are not generated in the cartridge generated by the DevOps engine. When you do not have these data elements as design parameters, these are not added in the service action parameters to the cartridge by default.
Solution: Four data elements Subject ID, Customer ID, Commercial ID, and Service Address are preloaded in the Data Elements application in Solution Designer. You must configure these four data elements as design parameters in those specifications for which you want to generate service action parameters by the DevOps engine. When you publish the initiative that contains these specifications, the DevOps engine adds the service action parameters in the cartridges.
Automatic Creation of Resources Using Advanced Policies
Problem: When you define a standard policy for creating a resource, Solution Designer creates the resource automatically only for Logical Device specification, Logical Device Account specification, Property Location specification, Telephone Number specification, and Place. Solution Designer does not create the resource automatically for all the other specifications.
Solution: For all the other specifications, you can define an advanced policy for creating a resource and write the implementation code in the extended designer class for creating a resource.
Domain Names Cannot Have Single Character
Limitation: In Solution Designer, domain names must have more than one character and cannot have a single character.
Use Only Mouse in Drawers from Configuration Canvas
Limitation: In the PSR model or specification configuration, when you click + symbol using the mouse or by pressing F2 key using the keyboard, you must use the mouse to navigate within the New component drawer or the specifications drawer that it opens. The specifications include resource facing services, resources, and locations. The + symbol appears in the canvas, component, or specification.
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Select + New component in the New component drawer.
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Select an existing specification or create a new specification in the specifications drawer.
Use Calendar Control Type for Date and Time
Problem: In the Data Elements page, when you use Text Field as Control Type for Time, and Date and Time data types, UIM run-time user interface displays those fields as plain text fields and does not provide the calendar icon and format.
Workaround: In the Data Elements page, select Calendar as the Control Type for Time, and Date and Time data types.
Return No Numeric Value for Query Based Drop-down Elements
Problem: In Data Elements with Dropdown as Control Type,
Query based as Data values, when the SQL or JPQL query
that you write returns a numeric value, UIM run-time user interface displays
Invalid Query error message.
Workaround: When you write the SQL or the JPQL query for query based drop-down data elements, ensure that it returns only a string value.
Intermittent Error While Importing Workspace in Design Studio
Problem: When you import Design Studio workspace into Design Studio and have
multiplicity configured for nested Feature Group data elements in that workspace, you
may receive Maximum multiplicity conflict error in Design Studio.
Solution: You may need to close the Design Studio environment and reopen it.
Implementation Assets Details Not Displayed When Navigating From Initiative Items
Problem: When you navigate to any domain from the Initiative Items tab in the Initiatives details page, Implementation Assets section does not display any assets that have been configured.
Solution: You can navigate to the domain directly from the Domains application and Implementation Assets section displays the assets that have been configured.