Defining Business Objects

This portal is used to view and maintain information about a business object.

You can access the portal from the Admin Menu > System > Business Object. You are brought to a query portal with options for searching for a specific business obejct. Once a business object has been selected you are brought to the maintenance portal to view and maintain the selected record.

Refer to Understanding Business Objects for more information.

CAUTION: Important! If you introduce a new business object, carefully consider its naming convention. Refer to System Data Naming Convention for more information.

The following zones may appear as part of the portal's Main tab page.

  • Business Object. This zone provides information about the selected business object.
  • Schema Editor. This zone describes the business object’s schema and supports basic edits in plain text. Refer to the Schema tab below for additional schema editor information.

The following zones may appear as part of the portal's Schema tab page.

  • Schema Editor. This zone allows you to edit the business object's schema using the Schema Designer tool. The purpose of the schema is to describe the business object's properties and map them to corresponding maintenance object fields.
    Fastpath: Refer to Schema Syntax and UI Hint syntax for a complete list of the XML nodes and attributes available to you when you construct a schema.
    Tip: Click the View Schema hyperlink to view the business object's expanded schema definition. Doing this opens the schema viewer window.

The following zones may appear as part of the portal's Algorithms tab page. Refer to A Business Object May Define Business Rules for more information.

  • Algorithms. This zone is used to maintain the algorithms associated with the current business object.
  • Hierarchy Algorithms. This zone displays all algorithms associated with the business object's inheritance hierarchy. The zone is visible when the current business object is part of a hierarchy and such algorithms exist.

The following zones may appear as part of the portal's Options tab page. Refer to A Business Object Defines Options for more information.

  • Options. This zone is used to maintain various configuration options associated with the current business object.
  • Hierarchy Options. This zone displays all options associated with the business object's inheritance hierarchy. The zone is visible when the current business object is part of a hierarchy and such options exist.

The following zones may appear as part of the portal's Lifecycle tab page. This tab is only available when the maintenance object supports lifecycle definition.

  • Lifecycle. This zone describes and maintains the current business object’s lifecycle definition. Broadcast a specific status to review its complete configuration.
  • Status Details. This zone is used to maintain basic definition information for a selected status within the current business object’s lifecycle.
  • Status Algorithms. This zone is used to maintain algorithms for a selected status within the current business object’s lifecycle.
  • Status Options. This zone is used to maintain various configuration options for a selected status within the current business object’s lifecycle.
  • Hierarchy Status Algorithms. This zone displays all algorithms associated with the business object's inheritance hierarchy for a selected status. The zone is visible when the current business object is part of a hierarchy and such algorithms exist.
  • Hierarchy Status Options. This zone displays all options associated with the business object's inheritance hierarchy for a selected status. The zone is visible when the current business object is part of a hierarchy and such options exist.
  • Status Reasons. This zone is used to maintain reasons for a selected status. The zone is visible when the maintenance object supports a reason field and usage of reasons is allowed by the status definition.

The following zones may appear as part of the portal's Lifecycle View tab page. This tab is only available when the maintenance object supports lifecycle definition.

  • Lifecycle View. This zone provides a schematic view of the current business object’s lifecycle definition. Broadcast a specific status to review its complete configuration.
  • Status Details. This zone is used to maintain basic definition information for a selected status within the current business object’s lifecycle.
  • Status Algorithms. This zone is used to maintain algorithms for a selected status within the current business object’s lifecycle.
  • Status Options. This zone is used to maintain various configuration options for a selected status within the current business object’s lifecycle.

The following zones may appear as part of the portal's Hierarchy tab page. This tab is only available when the current business object is part of a hierarchy.

  • Business Object Hierarchy. This zone lists the inheritance hierarchy of business objects up to and including the current business objects. The zone is visible if the current business object is not the top level business object of the hierarchy.
  • Business Object Tree. This zone describes the entire hierarchy of the current business object.
  • Hierarchy Algorithms. This zone lists all algorithms defined for the current business object. The zone is visible if algorithm information exists for the current business object.
  • Hierarchy Lifecycle Algorithms. This zone lists all algorithms associated with the current business object’s inheritance hierarchy. The zone is visible if the current business object is not the top level business object of the hierarchy and algorithm information exits. Refer to Inheriting Lifecycle for more information.
  • Hierarchy Options. This zone lists all configuration options for the current business object’s lifecycle. The zone is visible if options information exists for the current business object.
  • Hierarchy Lifecycle Options. This zone displays all options associated with the current business object's inheritance hierarchy. The zone is visible if the current business object is not the top level business object of the hierarchy and options information exits. Refer to Inheriting Lifecycle for more information.

The following zones may appear as part of the portal's References tab page.

  • Business Object References. This zone list various configuration entities referencing the current business object or its schema.

Actions

The page supports the following special actions:

  • Generate User Interfact Configuration Artifacts.When creating a new buisiness object or editing an existing one, you may request to generate the user interface configuration artifacts needed to properly maintain and display the business object on an existing portal.

    For example, if a display script is needed to further prepare the business object's details for presentation then request to generate such script. You can then navigate to the script from the User Interface Configuration section and adjust it as needed.

  • Subclass a Business Object. Use the Subclass action to create a new business object that is a child of an existing business object. The action generates the new business object's schema as inherited from the existing business object. Refer to Business Object Inheritance for more information.

    Once created, you may extend and adjust the new business object's schema and rules as needed.

  • Create an Algorithm. Use this action, on the Algorithm tab or the Lifecycle tab for a specific status, to creates a script based algorithm related to this business object. You are prompted for information regarding the plug-in spot (BO or BO Status) and the system event, the name, description, etc. Once all the information is provided, the system creates an algorithm type, a script, an algorithm and links the algorithm to the business object. You may then navigate to the script to adjust it as needed.

  • Inactivate / Activate Base Algorithms. You can inactivate algorithms on base Business Objects. Your implementation may want to use a business object provided by the base product, but may want to inactivate one or more algorithms provided by the base business object. To do that, use the "Inactivate" action on the appropriate algorithm entry on the Algorithm tab. Use use the "Activate" action to mark an inactive algorithm as active.

    Note that these actions add and remove the "Inactive Algorithm" businesss option as needed.

  • View Schema. Click the hyperlink to view the business object's expanded schema definition. Doing this opens the schema viewer window.