About the allowance interface

As of SP04, SAP Convergent Charging 4.0 features the allowance interface that is a master data object listing and describing the common parameters and counters of all the allowances. The allowance interface allows you to extend the default set of properties of allowances:

The unique identifier
The activation date (Validity Start Date)
The expiration date (Validity End Date)

For example, you can add parameters or counters to the allowance interface for:

Sorting allowances in the Allowance Event Sender component (*)
Computing properties in the Allowance Property Introducer component (*)

(*) Refer to the Help system relating to components: Click Components on the Help menu of the main window.

When you add a counter or a parameter to the allowance interface, the SAP CC system adds it to the list of properties of each allowance, and you can view it in the counters or parameters tabs of any allowance plan whose creation date is later than that of the counter or parameter. However, you cannot view this new counter or parameter in an allowance plan created before the new counter or parameter.

In SAP CC Core Tool:

There is only one allowance interface shared by all catalogs
The allowance interface is used to sort allowances in the Allowance Event Sender component
The allowance interface is used to compute properties in the Allowance Property Introducer component

Notes:

You cannot import or export the allowance interface.
You cannot delete the allowance interface.
The modified allowance interface replaces the previous version in the database, but you cannot access the previous versions of the allowance interface saved in the database.
The user can redefine the default values of counters and parameters in the allowance interface. When the allowances are created, the default values of counters and parameters of the allowance interface can be redefined in the allowances if necessary.
A parameter or a counter cannot be added to the allowance interface if one or more allowance plans already have a parameter or a counter with the same name.

Example

An operator offers services managed according to three classes of allowances:

The "gold" allowances with unlimited authorization for using a service
The "gift" allowances created by the customer services
The "normal" allowances bought by the customer

The system must consume the services with the following constraints:

Authorize the service if a customer has a "gold" allowance for the service to consume
Consume the "gift" allowances before the "normal" allowances
First use the allowances with the lower remaining quantity of service ("gift" or "normal")

To use the allowances with the Allowance Event Sender component, the allowances need to provide:

The type of the allowance (gold, gift, and normal) whose value is 2 for gold, 1 for gift, and 0 for normal.
The remaining quantity of service.

The operator configures the allowance interface to provide the type and the quantity of service. In the allowance interface, the operator can create two properties representing these data:

A number parameter, named TYPE, representing the type of the allowance with the default value of 0.
A counter, named REMAINING_QUANTITY, representing the remaining quantity with the default value of 0.