Data Provider Editor Interface Tab

Use the Data Provider editor Interface tab to define the input parameters and default settings for the external system and specify the provider class and cache settings.

Field	Use
Parameters	When you create a new data provider, Design Studio displays all of the mandatory and optional parameters based on the selected provider type. Mandatory parameters are shown with an asterisk (*) to differentiate them from optional parameters. Click Add to add an input parameter, and select the new parameter to rename it. Input parameters specify named parameters whose values are used when retrieving an external instance. The value is determined at run time and is based on the XPath or XQuery expression you define in the Default Value field.
Default Value	Define the content of the associated parameter element as an XPath to a node or as an XQuery expression. XPath supports functions in expressions and provides for a core library of functions dealing with strings, numbers, Booleans, and node sets. In addition to the core XPath functions defined by the XPath standard, a number of extended functions are supported with OSM. These extended functions provide additional functionality that is useful to create behaviors but does not conform to the XPath standard. For more information about XPath functions, see OSM Developer's Guide. XQuery enables the use of sophisticated expressions and XML transformations. XQuery syntax is backwards compatible with XPath 1.0 and contains additional syntax elements. You can use XQuery in situations where a more expressive language or transformation abilities are needed.
Result Document	(Optional) Specify the structure of the XML document. Though this field is optional, if you do not provide an XML structure, the system will not display the parameters on the Data Instance Behavior Properties tab.

Field

Use

Parameters

When you create a new data provider, Design Studio displays all of the mandatory and optional parameters based on the selected provider type. Mandatory parameters are shown with an asterisk (*) to differentiate them from optional parameters.

Click Add to add an input parameter, and select the new parameter to rename it. Input parameters specify named parameters whose values are used when retrieving an external instance. The value is determined at run time and is based on the XPath or XQuery expression you define in the Default Value field.

Default Value

Define the content of the associated parameter element as an XPath to a node or as an XQuery expression.

XPath supports functions in expressions and provides for a core library of functions dealing with strings, numbers, Booleans, and node sets. In addition to the core XPath functions defined by the XPath standard, a number of extended functions are supported with OSM. These extended functions provide additional functionality that is useful to create behaviors but does not conform to the XPath standard. For more information about XPath functions, see OSM Developer's Guide.
XQuery enables the use of sophisticated expressions and XML transformations. XQuery syntax is backwards compatible with XPath 1.0 and contains additional syntax elements. You can use XQuery in situations where a more expressive language or transformation abilities are needed.

Result Document

(Optional) Specify the structure of the XML document. Though this field is optional, if you do not provide an XML structure, the system will not display the parameters on the Data Instance Behavior Properties tab.

Note:

XPath and XQuery fields are limited to 4000 characters