Developing and Deploying Siebel Business Applications > Configuring Siebel CRM to Use Data From an External Data Source > Process of Configuring Siebel CRM to Use Data From an External Data Source >

Creating a Business Service

This task is a step in Process of Configuring Siebel CRM to Use Data From an External Data Source.

A business service is an object that defines a set of functionality. For example, a business service can perform certain tasks, such as moving data or converting data formats. Although a business service is stored in the Siebel repository, it does not interact with tables and data. Instead, it interacts with other objects.

A virtual business component uses a business service to help it manipulate external data. The business service defines the methods, properties, and states that determine the behavior of the virtual business components.

You can use a predefined business service, such as the XML Gateway, or you can create your own custom business service. You create virtual business components and business services in Siebel Tools. In the NREC example, you use Siebel Tools to create a business service that reads data from and writes data to a comma-delimited text file.

For more information, see Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.

To create a business service

1. In Siebel Tools, create a symbolic string for the following text:

   NREC Text File Handler

   For more information, see Configuring Text for Labels and Other User Interface Elements.

2. In the Object Explorer, click Business Service.
3. In the Business Services list, create a new record using values from the following table.

   Property	Value
   Name	NREC Text File Handler
   Project	NREC Configuration
   Class	CSSService
   Display Name	NREC Text File Handler

4. In the Business Services list, right-click the NREC Text File Handler business service, and then choose the Edit Server Scripts menu item.
5. In the Scripting Language dialog box, choose Visual Basic and then click OK.
6. In the script editor, enter general custom functions:
   1. Expand the general tree and then click declarations.
   2. In the text editor, enter the code for the declaration custom function.

      For more information, see Code for the Declaration Function.

   3. Choose the File menu, and then the Save menu item.
   4. Repeat Step a through Step c for each of the following custom functions:
      • Pal_Init. For more information, see Code for the Pal_Init Function.
      • Pal_Insert. For more information, see Code for the Pal_Insert Function.
      • Pal_PreInsert. For more information, see Code for the Pal_PreInsert Function.
      • Pal_Query. For more information, see Code for the Pal_Query Function.
      • After you enter these functions, the script editor must resemble the following screen capture:
7. In the script editor, enter a service custom function:
   1. Expand the service tree and then click Service_PreInvokeMethod.
   2. In the text editor, delete all existing code, and then enter the code for the Service_PreInvokeMethod custom function.

      For more information, see Code for the Service Function.

   3. Choose the File menu, and then the Save menu item.

Table 10 describes the custom business service methods you add.