View Business Object Relationships

You can use a Business Object Visualizer to view diagrams depicting the relationships of business objects to one another.

It's a view-only tool; you can't use it to modify objects or their relationships to other objects. However, an understanding of object relationships can help you to select objects as you create or edit models.

Note: In the Visualizer, you can select among all business objects even though some of them, such as audit business objects, have no relationships to other objects.

Getting Started

In the Advanced Controls work area, click a Business Object Visualization tab to open the Business Object Visualization page. The home page displays listings for both business objects and business-object types:

Type indicates an activity or product offering that a set of objects supports, for example Financials. Each type listing has an icon depicting a hierarchical structure. Click either the icon or the type name to open a page listing the objects of its type. Click any object name to view its relationships to other objects.
The listing for a business object displays its name and the type it belongs to. Click the name to view the object's relationships to other objects.

The home page, as well as those that display objects that belong to a type, offer two views:

A list view displays rows, each of which represents one object or one type. This is the default view. If it's not in use, click the List View icon to restore it.
A card view presents "cards" (rectangular spaces), each representing one object or one type. Click the Card View icon to use it.

You can search for records by object or type name. As you begin to type in the Search field, a window presents the names of objects and types that contain the letters you've typed. You can click on a name to select its object or type. To return to the home page, click All in a bread-crumb path in the header area of the page.

View Object Relationships

When you select a business object, you open a page displaying an image that consists of nodes representing your focal object and objects related to it. Arrows connect these nodes to indicate that objects either feed data to your focal object or receive data from it. You can choose between views that arrange these nodes in differing ways:

Layers: The nodes form up to three rows. Your focal object occupies the middle row. Above it, a row may contain objects that feed data to the focal object (known as "In" objects). Below, a row may contain objects that receive data from the focal object (known as "Out" objects). This view is the default.
Radial: Nodes for related objects form a circular pattern around the focal object. A Radial diagram that includes both In and Out objects looks similar to the Layers diagram, with In objects above, and Out objects below, the focal object. But the related objects from a more curved pattern around the focal object. If all related objects are of one type, In or Out, they form a circle around the focal object.

Use the Control Panel

In a Control Panel, use the Switch Layout option to select the view you want. You can also use these options:

Zoom In: Enlarge the image. You can also use the mouse wheel to zoom in.
Zoom Out: Reduce the image. You can also use the mouse wheel to zoom out.
Zoom to Fit: Center the image and size it so that it's as large as it can be while fitting entirely in its display window.
Magnify: Activate a magnifying glass, then position it over nodes to enlarge them temporarily. You can use the mouse wheel to zoom in or out of the area beneath the magnifying glass. Click Magnify a second time to deactivate the magnifying glass.
Search: Enter text to locate nodes whose names contain matching text. You can search only for nodes that the image is currently expanded to reveal.
Control Panel: Hide or expose the Control Panel.

View Information About Objects

In either the Layers or Radial view, each node displays the name of the object it represents and the number of objects it relates to. Hover over any node to review this information about its object:

Once again, its name and the total number of objects it relates to.
A Link value, which reveals the point of contact between the object and the one it's connected to.
The numbers of In and Out relationships of this object to all other objects (not only those depicted in the diagram).

You can also view the attributes that belong to the focal business object. Click the Attributes icon. Or, right click on the focus node and select See Attributes.

Use the Legend

Nodes vary in shape and color to distinguish the focal object from the objects that relate to it. A Legend tells which shapes and colors correspond to which objects. You can take the following actions:

Hover over an entry to highlight objects of its type (by graying out other entries).
Hide or expose the Legend by clicking its button.

Use the Overview

Click the Overview icon to open a thumbnail sketch of the diagram. Click any area of the thumbnail to focus the actual diagram on that area. Alternatively, you can click the background of the visualization and drag the entire image in any direction.

Refocus the Image

You can select any node in a diagram as the focal point for a new diagram: Right-click a node, then select Pivot.