Value Objects

Value objects are a specific type of source file that holds input and output data, much like a data structure passes data. The input and output parameters of business service operations are called internal value objects. Business service internal value objects are not published interfaces. Business service operations use one internal value object for both input and output. Examples of internal value objects include InternalAddAddressBook, InternalProcessPurchaseOrder, InternalEntity, and so on.

The input and output parameters of the published business service business operations are called value objects. These parameters are the payload of the web service. A business operation defined in a published business service takes one value object as its input parameter and returns one value object as its output parameter. Examples of published business service value objects include AddAddressBook, ProcessSalesOrder, ProcessPurchaseOrder, GetCustomer, ConfirmProcessPurchaseOrder, and so on.

The structure of a value object is modeled after the business object document (BOD) defined by Open Applications Group, Inc. (OAGIS). The structure represents the hierarchy of a business process. The following example value object shows the hierarchy for AddAddressBook:

Value objects are made up of components, compounds, and fields.