Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration > Integration Objects >

About the Structure of Integration Objects

The Siebel integration object provides a hierarchical structure that represents a complex data type. Most specifically, prebuilt EAI integration objects describe the structure of Siebel business objects, SAP IDOCs, SAP BAPIs, XML, and external data. Most integration projects require the use of an integration object that describes Siebel business objects, either in an outbound direction such as a query operation against a Siebel integration object, or in an inbound direction such as a synchronize operation against a Siebel integration object.

Creating and Maintaining Integration Objects describes how to create integration objects. The initial process of using the Integration Object Builder wizard is essentially the same for every integration object type currently supported.

CAUTION:  Avoid using or modifying integration objects in the EAI Design project. Using or modifying any objects in the EAI Design project can cause unpredictable results. The best practice is to create a separate project for your integration objects, for example, ABC Integration Objects, where ABC is the name of your company.

Siebel business objects conform to a particular structure in memory, although it is generally not necessary to consider this structure when working with Siebel Business Applications. However, when you are planning and designing an integration project, it is helpful to understand how a Siebel EAI integration object represents that internal structure.

An integration object contains one Parent Integration Component, sometimes referred to as the root component, or the primary integration component. The Parent Integration Component corresponds to the primary business component of the business object you chose as the model for your integration object.

For example, assume you chose the Account business object (on the first panel of the Integration Object Builder wizard) to base your integration object myAccount_01 on. The Account business object in Siebel Tools has an Account business component as its primary business component. In the myAccount_01 integration object, every child component will be represented as either a direct or indirect child of the primary business component named Account.

Each child component can have one or more child components. In Siebel Tools, if you look at the integration components for an integration object you have created, then you see that each component can have one or more fields. Figure 3 illustrates a partial view of a Siebel integration object based on the Account business object, with the Business Address component and the Contact component activated.

Figure 3 represents part of the structure of the Account integration object. The Account parent integration component can have both fields and child integration components. Each integration component can also have child integration components and fields. A structure of this sort represents the metadata of an Account integration object. You can choose to inactivate components and fields. By inactivating components and fields, you can define the structure of the integration object instances entering or leaving the system.

Figure 3. Partial Representation of Account Integration Object

The following topics are also discussed:

• Enforcing Cardinality Through Existing Integration Objects
• About the Cardinality of Child Integration Components
• Custom Integration Component Fields
• Integration Components and Associations
• Multivalue Groups Within Business Components
• Setting Primaries Through Multivalue Links
• Validation of Integration Component Fields and Picklists
• Calculated Fields and Integration Objects
• Inner Joins and Integration Components
• Defining Field Dependencies
• Repository Objects
• About Integration Component User Properties as Operation Controls
• About Integration Component Keys