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Master-Detail Business Components

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The relationships between object definitions used to implement a multi-value field that is based on a one-to-many extension table are illustrated in Figure 86.

Figure 86. One-to-Many Extension Table Details

The object definitions in Figure 86 are described in detail in the following section.

Master Business Components

The master business components will hold the new multi-value fields. Master business component contain the following important object definitions:

Key field. This is the key field in the master business component; it is used to reference individual records. Typically, it is named Id. The Source Field property of the Link object definition points to this field. The property value may be blank because, by default, a blank Source Field value refers to the Id field.
Multi-value field. The multi-value field provides access to a corresponding field value in the current record of the detail business component. The control or list column that displays the multi-value field normally will be able to invoke a multi-value group applet for display and maintenance of the detail records.
Multi-value link. The multi-value link provides access to the set of records in the detail business component. One multi-value link is created for each multi-value group that is created using the one-to-many extension table.

Link

The link object definition creates the one-to-many relationship between the master and detail business components. There are no special link configuration issues related to one-to-many extension tables. For more information on the configuration of links, refer to Links.

Detail Business Component

The detail business component represents the one-to-many extension table used by the multi-value link and multi-value group applet. Multiple custom business components can be created using the same one-to-many extension table. Each custom business component presents a different type of data for use in a different multi-value group.

The detail business component contains custom fields that represent generic (ATTRIBxx) extension columns, and hold whatever data is required for the application. For example, an Area Of Expertise business component might have a Subject Area field, a Years Of Experience field, and a Licensed field. Each field is a mapping of a different generic extension column.

The following three fields are part of the User Key (U1), which uniquely identifies a row for EIM:

Name field. The name field represents the NAME column from the extension table. It provides the means for the user to enter an identifying value in each record. For example, in a Hobbies business component, the name field might be called Hobby. The user would enter the name of a hobby into each record in this field.
Type field. The type field is usually named Type, and represents the TYPE column. It contains the same value for all records in one multi-value group, and distinguishes the records of that multi-value group from others. It should be set in the Predefault property to some identifying word or phrase, such as HOBBY, EXPERTISE or PRIOR JOB, and should not be exposed in the user interface.
Parent ID field. The parent ID field represents the PAR_ROW_ID column. Generally it is named Parent Contact Id, Parent Account Id, or something similar. It identifies the row ID of the base table row corresponding to the parent record in the master business component. The parent ID field is specified in the Destination Field property of the Link object.

The detail business component contains one important property for use with a one-to-many extension table:

Search Specification. The Search Specification property should be set to restrict the records retrieved to only those with a specific value in the Type field. This is the same value that is specified in the Pre Default Value property for that field. In this way, the only records retrieved in the business component (and, indirectly, the multi-value link and multi-value group applet) are those designated as being in this multi-value group.

NOTE:  Do not define tables with names longer than 18 characters in the DB2 environment.

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