Siebel Common Question:

In Siebel the text that is displayed on the screens and views are stored in the repository and compiled to an SRF file. This includes the names of every screen, views and fields. When you display a page the server uses the SRF file to determine which fields to show and what test (strings) are associated with each fied. This model of keepijng the strings from the view definition is called symbolic strings.

uses
Reduces the redundancy
Simplifies maintenance because only you have to maintain one string for a given Term
Reduces the localization costs, Time and inconsistences.