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Configuring Siebel Business Applications > Using the Entity Relationship Designer >
About the Entity Relationship Designer
The Entity Relationship Designer is a visual design tool you can use to create an entity relationship diagram (ERD). You then map the entities and relationships in the diagram to objects in the Siebel repository, such as business components, links, joins, and so forth. The Entity Relationship Designer includes the following capabilities:
- A drag-and-drop environment to create an ERD.
- Various edit and layout options, such as aligning shapes, moving shapes, and modifying text.
The Entity Relationship Designer provides the following benefits:
- Filters the list of objects from which you choose when you bind entities and relations to Siebel objects. This way, the list includes only those objects that support the context that the ERD represents. If no business components are suitable for binding, then you can open a wizard in the Entity Relationship Designer to assist you with creating a new business component.
- Allows you to use the crows feet diagraming format to define relationships between entities.
- Requires less work to define requirements for the data objects layer.
- Improves your ability to trace configuration changes back to data object layer requirements.
- Creates a permanent record of entity relationship design in the Siebel repository.
Example of How the Entity Relationship Designer Filters Business Components
Figure 37 illustrates an example entity relationship diagram that contains two entities and one relationship.
Figure 37. Example of an Entity Relationship Diagram
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Table 32 describes the business components that are available to bind to Entity C. The business components that are available to bind depends on how the Entity Relationship Designer filters them.
Table 32. Example of how the Entity Relationship Designer Filters Business Components
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Business Components Available for Binding |
Unbound |
Any |
Unbound |
All business components are available for binding. |
Bound |
one-to-one |
Unbound |
A business component that contains a join to the primary table of the business component that is bound to Entity A is available for binding. |
Bound |
one-to-many |
Unbound |
The following business components are available for binding:
- A business component that contains a link to the business component that is bound to Entity A, where the business component bound to Entity A is the parent.
- A business component that contains a join to the primary table of the business component that is bound to Entity A.
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Bound |
many-to-one |
Unbound |
The following business components are available for binding:
- A business component whose primary table is the table that is joined to the business component that is bound to Entity A.
- A business component that contains a link with the business component that is bound to Entity A, where the business component bound to Entity A is the child.
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Bound |
many-to-many |
Unbound |
A business component that is in the intersection of the one-to-many and many-to-one examples described in this topic is available for binding. |
Example of How the Entity Relationship Designer Filters Links and Joins
Figure 37 illustrates an example ERD that contains two entities and one relationship. Assume you bind entities A and C to business components and that you must bind the relationship AC to a link or join. The Entity Relationship Designer filters the list of links and joins that are available for binding that the context described in the ERD requires. Table 33 describes the links and joins that are available to bind to relationship AC.
Table 33. Example of how the Entity Relationship Designer Filters Links and Joins
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Objects That Are Available to Bind |
one-to-many |
The following objects are available to bind:
- A join whose source is the business component that is bound to Entity C, and whose destination is the primary table of the business component that is bound to Entity A.
- A link between the business component that is bound to Entity A and the business component that is bound to Entity C, where the business component bound to Entity A is the parent and the business component bound to Entity C is the child.
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many-to-one |
The following objects are available to bind:
- A join whose source is the business component that is bound to Entity A to the primary table of the business component that is bound to Entity C.
- A link between the business component that is bound to Entity C and the business component that is bound to Entity A, where C is the parent and A as the child.
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many-to-many |
A link between business components that are bound to Entities A and C is available to bind. |
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