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

How a Business Component Gets 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 that Siebel CRM gets from an external database, but a virtual business component can reference any source that can supply data in reply to a structured query. You can use a virtual business component if you must get data from a location other than a table in the Siebel database.

You can use an external business component (EBC), which is a type of business component that uses ODBC and SQL to supply 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 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 on.
• 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 work as the parent of a link in a one-to-many relationship with another business component:
  • Siebel CRM creates a Siebel row ID in a virtual business component in the same way that it creates this ID in a predefined business component.
  • Supports a many-to-many relationship to an external system that works 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.
• Can be the basis for an applet.
• Can be accessed through an object interface.
• Can access all business component events for scripting.
• Cannot be docked.

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