Configuring Siebel Business Applications > About Business Components, Fields, Joins, and Links > About Business Components >

How a Business Component Obtains Data from an External Database

A virtual business component is a type of business component that references external data. This data is typically real-time information from an external database, although a virtual business component can reference any source that can supply data in response to a structured query. You can use a virtual business component if you must obtain data from a location other than a table in the Siebel database.

You can also use an external business component (EBC), which is type of business component that uses ODBC and SQL to supply data. The EBC allows for efficient development of federated data. For more information, see Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.

A virtual business component allows you to do the following:

• Represent external data as a virtual business component in Siebel CRM. The business component definition specifies the DLL that Siebel CRM uses to access the data. Data in an SAP/R3 database is an example of external data.
• Use a business service to transfer data.

A virtual business component includes the following qualities:

• Supports single-value field.
• Supports field-level validation.
• Supports a predefined business component event model. For example, PreNewRecord, PreDelete, and so forth.
• Supports insert, delete, query, and update operations.
• Can be a stand-alone business component or a child business component in a business object.
• Supports dynamic applet toggles. For more information, see Options to Toggle Between Applets in a View.
• Can function as the parent of a link in a one-to-many relationship with another business component:
  • A virtual business component generates a Siebel row ID in the same way as a predefined business component.
  • Supports a many-to-many relationship to an external system that functions similarly to a one-to-many relationship. SAP is an example of an external system.
  • Does not support a many-to-many relationship to another virtual business component.
• Cannot be docked.
• Can be the basis for an applet.
• Can be accessed through an object interface.
• Can access all business component events for scripting.

For more information, see Overview: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.