Lookup database in checkin screen

Question

Hi,
My purpose is to have, on the checkin screen, a button near a field. When I click on this button, a lookup is done in an external database based on the value of the field.
I developed a new component.
In this component, I add a new service with the following parameters :
- Service class : DocService
- Template : CHECKIN_NEW_FORM
The template is necessary. Otherwise, when I click on the button, I have an error because no dynamic page is linked to my service.
The action of the new button is to submit the "Checkin" form but with my service as IdcService.
The lookup works correctly.
But, when I come back on the checkin page, I have several issues :
- The content id is not editable anymore.
- For the dDocAccount, the list with all the accounts is not displayed anymore.
- The primary file is not set even if it was done before the lookup.
- If I click on the "checkin button, I have an error : "Content Item 'xxx' was not successfully checked in. The content item is no longer in the system.
It seems that something is changed in the status of the item which leads to that behaviour but I don't find what.
Do you have any idea of what can be the problem ?
Thanks in advance
Regards
Pierre

Answer 1

Hi Pierre,
this sounds like some action by a profile or a global rule. What global rules do you have set up?
I would also like to know how you are doing the lookups: are you going to a new page or popup, looking up and then reloading the checkin page with the new parameters or are you doing an ajax lookup and doing partial page refresh on the checkin screen?
For example, if you starting checkin URL is this:
http://MYCONTENT_SERVER/idc_cgi_isapi.dll?IdcService=CHECKIN_NEW_FORM
and then fill out a couple metadata fields
and then you go off, do a lookup and reload the page like this:
http://MYCONTENT_SERVER/idc_cgi_isapi.dll?IdcService=CHECKIN_NEW_FORM&xLookupValue1=FOO&xLookupValue2=BAR
You are essentially flushing all the field setting you did before you left the page to go do the lookup. You would need to read those form values, pass them as params to the popup page or keep them in memory somewhere (e.g. a cookie) and then pass them back to the reloaded CHECKIN_NEW page along with the lookup values.
As you might guess that is a fairly intensive process. Using ajax to do PPR is a better approach because then you don't have to worry about storing and passing all the metadata values that might have already been set.
Finally, remember that UCM is sessionless and stateless which means that the page is the scope of your request. You can store some stuff within the browser scope (which is why cookies work too) but those are usually too big a hammer for something like this.
The other alternative is to build a wizard like checkin process where you control the sequence of when fields are loaded.
Warmly,
Billy Cripe
Fishbowl Solutions