This chapter contains the following topics:
Note:
These topics will be discussed in more detail later in the document.The development tools that JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools provides offer a powerful application development environment in which you can build and customize EnterpriseOne applications to suit your specific needs quickly and easily. By using EnterpriseOne Tools development tools you can complete a variety of tasks including:
Design and define application objects.
Enable applications to serve different locations and languages while sharing the same data.
Define end-to-end processes in a user-friendly, graphical design environment.
Object Management Workbench (OMW) manages all EnterpriseOne objects. Developers use OMW to create new objects and check out existing objects from a central development environment, copying those objects to their workstation. They can then use the development tools to change objects and check them back in for others to access.
Just as a dictionary contains work definitions, the data dictionary is a central repository that contains data item definitions and attributes. These attributes determine how a data item:
Appears on reports and forms.
Validates data entry within an application.
Assigns column and row descriptions.
Provides text for field help
Is stored in a table.
.
A relational database table is used to store the data that an application uses. Although a new application might use one or more tables that already exist, you can use the Table Design Aid to create new tables if the application requires it. To create a table, you select data items and then assign key fields as indexes for retrieving and updating data.
Business views are the link between applications and data. A business view defines the data items from one or more tables that an application uses. After you determine the data items needed by an application, you can create a new business view if you are not able to use an existing one. With business views, you can select only the data items needed in the application, which increases performance due to less data moving over the network. For example, you could create a business view that contains only employee names and addresses from a table containing all employee data.
Use Form Design Aid (FDA) to create one or more forms for an application. A form is a graphical user interface that enables users to interact with the system. A form can be used to search and display data, as well as enter new data and modify existing data. A single application can contain one or more forms. To create an application, determine the type of form the application requires and associate each form with a business view. To design forms, you add controls such as a grid, edit fields, push buttons, and radio buttons.
Usually, a find/browse form is the first form that appears in the application. It enables the user to locate a specific record with which to work. Upon selecting a record, a subsequent form such as a fix/inspect form can be used to provide details of the record. Power forms enable you to design applications that use one single power form to locate a specific record and display its detail records on one form.
Data structures are composed of data items defined in the data dictionary and are used to pass data to and from interactive and batch applications. You use Data Structure Design to create and modify EnterpriseOne data structures.
Events are activities that occur on a form, such as when a user enters information into a field or exits a field by using the Tab key. Events can be initiated by the user or by the application. Event rules (ER) are logic statements that you can create and attach to events. ER is initiated when events occur at runtime. You can attach multiple event rules to one event. The various kinds of event rules include:
Conditional statements, such as If/Else/End If.
While loops.
Assignments.
Calls to business functions.
Form or report interconnections.
Calls to system functions.
Table I/O operations.
System functions are predefined sets of logic shipped with the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne product. These functions enable you to perform specialized processing without adding custom code. You use system functions within JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Report Design Aid (RDA), Form Design Aid (FDA), and Workflow. Each of these has a specific set of system functions that apply to it.
A business function is an encapsulated set of business rules and logic that accomplishes a specific task and can be reused by multiple applications. Business functions provide a common way to access the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne database. Master business functions provide the logic and database calls necessary to extend, edit, and commit the full transaction to the database. Third-party applications can use master business functions for full JD Edwards EnterpriseOne functionality, data validation, security, and data integrity.
You can use master business functions to update master files (such as Address Book Master and Item Master) or to update transaction files (such as sales orders and purchase orders). Generally, master file master business functions, which access tables, are simpler than transaction file master business functions, which are specific to a program. Transaction master business functions provide a common set of functions that contain all of the necessary default values and editing for a transaction file. Transaction master business functions contain logic that ensures the integrity of the transaction being inserted, updated, or deleted from the database.
APIs are routines that perform predefined tasks. JD Edwards EnterpriseOne APIs make it easier for third-party applications to interact with JD Edwards EnterpriseOne software. These APIs are functions that you can use to manipulate data types, provide common functionality, and access the database. Several categories of APIs exist, including the Common Library Routines and JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Database (JDEBASE) APIs. Programing with APIs is useful for these reasons:
No code modifications are required as functionality is upgraded.
When a data structure changes, source modifications are minimal to nonexistent.
Common functionality is provided through the APIs, and they are less prone to error.
When the code in an API changes, business functions typically only need to be recompiled and relinked.
You can use Report Design Aid (RDA) to create a variety of simple and complex batch processes and reports. The interface is simple enough to use without programming expertise, yet powerful enough to create the most complex reports. You can also use RDA to create batch processes and reports. Report Design Aid includes a director to guide you through the process of creating report templates. This Report Director presents multiple report components from which to choose. You can create custom directors to aid in the creation of report templates. These directors are configured to use report components to meet a specific reporting requirement. After using the director to create the initial report, you can enhance the report by:
Inserting additional report sections
Modifying properties
Adding logic
Further organizing the data
Calculating totals
The design work space in RDA can be configured to accommodate individual work preferences. You can:
Modify the report view options.
Select which toolbars and windows to display.
Arrange windows.
You can use RDA with terminal server. Just like in a traditional client server configuration, a report template that is checked out using terminal server cannot be accessed by other users.
Batch Versions is a tool that you use to create and process versions of report templates. You can use Batch Versions to:
Add and copy batch versions.
Define processing options, data selection and data sequencing.
Check out batch versions, check in batch versions, erase the check out, and copy version specifications to the enterprise server.
Access RDA to modify batch versions without changing the report template specifications.
Submit batch versions for processing and override processing options, data selection, and data sequencing at runtime.
Review batch version processing by using BrowsER, the report cover page, and logs for reporting.
EnterpriseOne Workflow Tools enables you to automate a high-volume, formerly paper-based process into an email-based process flow across a network. Documents, information, and tasks pass from one participant to another for action based on a set of procedural rules. The result is an automated and efficient process with minimal user involvement, which enables you to streamline existing business processes, increase efficiency, and reduce process time.