Using Variables for InterAction Information

The Application Server provides variables (sometimes referred to as tokens) for passing InterAction information to other applications. This is typically used when creating links from Web Client pages to pages outside of InterAction. For example, you might want to put a link on a Web Client profile that opens the Google™ search engine and automatically searches the Internet for the current contact’s name. You can do this by including a variable in the link destination.

You typically use these variables when configuring Web Client profiles. You can use variables in headings, links, and static text. You can also use variables when configuring custom pages and nugget lists, or when adding items to the Web Client Home page.

Syntax for Application Server Variables

You enter Application Server variables using the following syntax:

$(VariableName)

A commonly used variable is $(contactName). If you include this in a link or in a heading, it would be replaced with the actual text of the contact’s name.

For example, you might create a link on a profile with the following URL:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=$(contactName)&btnG=Google+Search

When Web Client displays the profile, the link destination would be transformed to the following for the contact “TeleNorth”

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=TeleNorth&btnG=Google+Search

In this example, the syntax for the URL is determined by the actual site (Google). Links to other search sites would look different, but the basic concept of passing InterAction data works the same.

Available Application Server Variables

The following table lists the variables you can use to pass InterAction information.

Application Server Variables

Variable	InterAction Information it Passes
Information about a Specific Contact
contactEmployerId	The ID of the contact’s employer. This only applies when the contact is a person; the value is blank for companies.
contactEmployerName	The name of the contact’s employer. This only applies when the current contact is a person. This only applies when the contact is a person; the value is blank for companies.
contactFirstName	The first name for a person contact. This only applies when the contact is a person; the value is blank for companies.
contactId	The ID for a firm contact. This is typically used when creating links that go to other Web Client pages.
contactLastName	The last name for a person contact. This only applies when the contact is a person; the value is blank for companies.
contactName	The name of the contact. For a person, the Goes By name is used if it is different from the first name.
contactType	All contact types applied to this contact.
IAContactId	Contact ID for a user contact.
searchField_sourceID/additionalFieldID	The value of the specified additional field. In this syntax, sourceId is the additional field source ID and additionalFieldId is the additional field ID. These ID values depend on your site. For example, to pass along the value of the out-of-the-box Office field (from the Personnel Information folder), you would use the following variable: searchField_2/-10002 Note that global fields always have a source ID of 0. For example, the out-of-the-box Ticker Symbol field would be referenced like this: searchField_0/2
Information about the Logged on User
userName	The user's name. If the user has an associated contact, then the name on that contact is used; otherwise the name defined when creating the user in Administrator is used.
employerId	Contact Id for the user’s employer. This is normally your organization.
employerName	Name of the user’s employer. This is normally your organization.
Information About Your Organization and Application Server
ourOrganizationId	Contact ID for the contact identified as “Our organization” in InterAction Administrator.
ourOrganizationName	Name for the contact identified as “Our organization” in InterAction Administrator.
PAGE_SERVER	The base URL for your Application Server. For example, if your Application Server was named “IAAppServer”, this variable would be the following: http://IAAppServer/InterAction/ This can be useful as a shortcut when including a link to another Web Client page on a profile or on the home page.