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  • 1.  622 ProductOrder API - How do model the "expectedCompletionDate" on line level?

    TM Forum Member
    Posted Feb 03, 2022 13:50
    Hi, we have a requirement to capture the "Expected/estimated Completion Date" on the line level as well. Currently we have the field on the ProductOrder, what's the recommended approach to have the extra date fields on the line level? A couple of options I can think about:
    1) Extend the ProductOrderItem sub-resource to support additional date fields
    2) Use ProductCharacteristic to host the date information

    @Jonathan Goldberg

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    Justin Yue
    Salesforce
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  • 2.  RE: 622 ProductOrder API - How do model the "expectedCompletionDate" on line level?

    TM Forum Member
    Posted Feb 04, 2022 02:47
    Hi Justin

    Absolutely the first option, not the second. We should not "pollute" product inventory with characteristics/attribute that relate to the order.

    As it happens, there is a rather old Jira issue on this, which you can see here if you are a member of the Open API project. If not, the salient text is to add the following at Item level:
    • completionDate
    • exepectedCompletionDate
    • requestedStartDate
    • requestedCompletionDate

    @Ludovic Robert what do you say?​

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    Jonathan Goldberg
    Amdocs Management Limited
    Any opinions and statements made by me on this forum are purely personal, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the TM Forum or my employer.
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  • 3.  RE: 622 ProductOrder API - How do model the "expectedCompletionDate" on line level?

    TM Forum Member
    Posted Feb 04, 2022 04:12
    Hello
    Completely agreed with you Jonathan about extending the item. We have done this way in several implementation.

    for contextual information ....We had some conversation within the team about the side effect to add them in the standard : indeed it will require some consistence with these dates at the order level (how are defined the dates at order level... latest or the sooner from the item?).  So we decided to keep then only at order level for now and implem are free to extend the orderItem schema.

    Thanks
    Ludovic


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    Ludovic Robert
    Orange
    My answer are my own & don't represent necessarily my company or the TMF
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  • 4.  RE: 622 ProductOrder API - How do model the "expectedCompletionDate" on line level?

    TM Forum Member
    Posted Feb 04, 2022 10:08
    Thank you @Jonathan Goldberg @Ludovic Robert  very much.​​

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    Justin Yue
    Salesforce
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  • 5.  RE: 622 ProductOrder API - How do model the "expectedCompletionDate" on line level?

    TM Forum Member
    Posted Nov 09, 2022 04:03

    Hello,

    thanks for the question and response - we are currently facing the same questions.

    We have the requirement to also add, in addition to product-related key/value information, any other cart-related fields that might be required by systems retrieving transaction/order information once the payment has been completed.

    Our goal is to define distinct and clear guidelines for the consumer of our TMF-compliant API TMF663.

    Example 1 - contractID via setting:

    For a specific product it is required to define a contractID when it is sold. This is reflected via characteristic/configuration of a product.

    Solution 1a:

    • The information/configuration that a contractID is required, is reflected via productCharacteristic (most likely also in TMF620).
    • The contract itself is persisted in a custom key/value object (TMF663 enhancement) within the cartItem.

    -> The guideline would be that only fields/keys also reflected in the product master data will result in productCharacteristics.

    Solution 1b:

    • The information/configuration that a contractID is required, is reflected via productCharacteristic (most likely also in TMF620).
    • The contractID will also be stored as a productCharacteristic as its necessity is defined via productCharacteristic.

     

    Example 2 - contractID via business logic:

    For products, it is required to define a contractID when it is sold. This is not configured but is implicitly defined by the cart-creating system.

    Solution 2a:

    • The contract itself is persisted in a custom key/value object (TMF663 enhancement) within the cartItem.

    Solution 2b:

    • The contractID will also be stored as a productCharacteristic as its necessity is defined via productCharacteristic.

     

    @ Jonathan Goldberg what is your view on the preferred solution?

     

    Many thanks!



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    Robert Owen
    NTS Retail KG
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  • 6.  RE: 622 ProductOrder API - How do model the "expectedCompletionDate" on line level?

    TM Forum Member
    Posted Nov 09, 2022 06:11
    Robert,

    In principle, I think Jonathan already answered you: "We should not "pollute" product inventory", i.e. use ProdSpecs for what it is meant for.
    This being said, some BSS/CRM applications have the option to choose if the characteristic should be instanciated in the inventory (sort of temporary char/charvalue that will never be needed in the inventory).
    It's also a matter of governance. If you have a design authority, it should define rules and principles and "best" practices (whatever that means, though).
    The easier solution is not always the best.


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    Kind regards,

    Matthieu Hattab
    Lyse Platform
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