Siebel Portal Framework Guide > Integrating External Content > Portal Agent Configuration >

Configuring Business Components to Handle External Data

To configure business components to handle external data using a Symbolic URL, you need to create a new calculated field on the business component. Rather than representing structured content, such as records in a database, this field will represent the HTML content sent from an external host.

NOTE:  Although a symbolic URL displays data that is not stored in the database, the business component must have at least one record stored in an underlying table so that it is instantiated at run time.

To configure a business component to handle external data using a Symbolic URL

1. Create a new field on the business component.
2. Set the field's Calculated property to TRUE.
3. Set the field's Type property to DTYPE_TEXT.
4. In the Calculated Value field, enter the name of the Symbolic URL (enclosed in double quotes) that you want to use to submit the HTTP request.

   The name of the symbolic URL in the Calculated Value field must be enclosed in double quotes so that it evaluates as a constant.

   See the business component named AnalyticsSSO in the Siebel Repository for an example of fields configured this way.