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Guidelines for Creating a Business Object

You only rarely need to create a new business object. The following situations might require you to create a business object:

• You require a new screen that groups several new business components together.
• You require a group of predefined business components that a predefined business object does not already support.

If you create a business object, then use the following guidelines:

• You can include a business component only one time in each business object.
• You can link a business component to only one other business component in the business object. For more information, see An Applet Can Only Be Linked to One Other Applet in a View.
• If you create a new business component to support an administration or system activity, then you do not need to create a new business object. Make sure the new business component is part of the predefined business object that Siebel CRM uses to support administration views, then assign the view to the Marketing Administration or System Administration screen.
• Delete any custom business object that is not used and that does not reference any other object definition, such as a view.
• Because other objects might reference an unused business object, do not delete, deactivate, or rename any predefined business object that is not used.

Guidelines for Defining the Link Property of a Business Object Component

You can define the Link property of a business object component if any of the following situations exist:

• If the business component can be linked to more than one business component in the business object. For example, in the Opportunity business object, the Action business component can be linked to the Opportunity, Account, or Contact business component.
• If the relationship between the parent business component and the child business component is a many-to-many relationship and where either business component can be the parent. For example, in the Opportunity business object, a relationship exists between the Opportunity business component and the Contact business component. Because either business component can be the parent, you can define the configuration so that Siebel CRM uses the Opportunity/Contact link. This configuration makes sure the Opportunity business object is the parent.

If you do not define the Link property, then Siebel Tools uses the Parent Business Component/Child Business Component link as a default. Siebel Tools sets the following properties for this link:

• The Parent Business Component property is the name of the source business object.
• The Child Business Component property is the value of the destination business component property.

If Siebel Tools cannot find a suitable link, then Siebel Tools displays the business component without a link to any other business component in the parent business object. In this situation, Siebel CRM displays all records that satisfy the search specification of the business component that are independent of the parent business component. This situation could create a problem because the user might not realize that the values in the child business component are not directly related to the parent business component. In reality, these values represent all data for the child business component. Therefore, if you must display records that possess a parent-child relationship, then you must enter a value for all links. For more information, see Options to Filter Data Displayed in an Applet.

An Applet Can Only Be Linked to One Other Applet in a View

Because you can link a business component to only one other business component in the business object, you can link an applet to only one other applet in a view. Except for the Home dialog box view, each view includes a parent applet that derives data from the parent business component in the business object. This parent applet can include related applets that derive data from other business components. However, these applets are always child applets of the parent applet. Therefore, a business component in the business object is the parent business component for the business object or it includes data that is related to the parent business component.

For example, to display contacts that are related to an opportunity, a business object component that references the Contact business component must be defined as part of the Opportunity business object. To display the Contacts that are related to an Account, a business object component that references the Contact business component must be defined as part of the Account business object.

For more information, see Guidelines for Naming an Object.