Use Row Variables for a Business Object

A row variable is a custom field you can add to a layout that allows business users to capture details for a row, such as a range start date for a date effective object. The row variable feature is intended to provide improved support for date effective objects.

When creating an integrated workbook for a date effective business object, you'll need to configure additional REST request headers of type Effective-Of. These headers may include a range attribute, such as RangeStartDate, that requires a date. See Support for Date Effective Objects.

The row variable feature provides a way for the business user to capture an appropriate date for a row that can be used in the header during upload.

Configure a Row Variable for a Layout

Create a row variable for a business object and add it to your layout. A row variable is similar to a business object field and allows business users to capture details for a row, such as a range start date for a date effective object.

Unlike a business object field, a row variable is not defined in the service metadata and the value of a row variable isn’t included in upload request payloads.

This feature is intended to provide support for workbooks with date effective objects. If you create a layout for a date effective object, you may need to create a REST request header of type Effective-Of that includes a range start date. This header can use an expression to reference a date value stored in the row variable you create.

This task uses the example of a row variable to capture the RangeStartDate range attribute that will be referenced in an Effective-Of REST request header. See EffectiveOf Headers in Multi-Row Requests for more information.

To configure a row variable for a layout:

1. Open the Business Object Editor for the data effective object.
2. Click the Variables tab in the Business Object Editor.
   Row variables are not defined in service metadata so the Row Variables list is empty until you create one.
3. Click Add Row Variable ().
4. Select the new variable, then click Edit Row Variable () to open the Row Variable Editor.
5. Type an ID and title for the row variable, then select a data type from the Data Type list.
   In this case, choose Date (no time) for the date effective object's new row variable.
   
   

   
   Description of the illustration row-variable-editor.png

   
   
6. Click Done to close the Business Object Editor.
7. From the Layout Designer, click the Columns tab, then click Manage Columns ().
8. From the Table Column Manager, click the Variables tab from the Available Fields pane, then select the new row variable—in this case, Range Start Date.
   
   

   
   Description of the illustration add-row-variable.png

   
   

   If required, drag the row variable to another position in the Selected Fields list.

Now that you've created a row variable and added it to your layout, your business users can use this row variable to select a range start date for an updated row.

If you've created the row variable for a date effective object, go ahead and configure a REST request header that references this row variable. See Configure a Request Header