Using a custom missing data retrieval process to collect data

Describes collecting missing data.

Description

The custom process used to collect missing data can be another collaboration object, a user interface, a WebSphere® MQ Workflow process, or even an email function. Regardless of the method used, it must set each missing attribute value it acquires into the internals.customer_data_missing_attributes.attributeValue attribute of the Retail_Item business object. In the context of the Product Information Management for Retailers solution, it must then call an ItemCollector collaboration object, which assembles the complete Retail_Item business object by merging the values of each missing attribute,internals.customer_data_missing_attributes.attributeValue, into its proper place in a previously stored, complete Retail_Item business object retrieved from the item store. See Merging data into a complete item for information about how the ItemCollector collaboration object merges missing information.
Note: If the custom missing data retrieval process is not asynchronous, or can persist a complete Retail_Item business object, an ItemCollector collaboration object does not have to be used. The custom process can reuse code in the ItemCollector collaboration template to merge the collected data into the Retail_Item business object and then pass the merged Retail_Item business object to a Process_Reviewed_Item collaboration object. The DELETE_FROM_LOCAL_STORE property of the Process_Reviewed_Item collaboration object would need to be set to false. It is recommended that the custom missing data retrieval process not be connected to an ItemValidation collaboration object because of error flows. If an error occurs, the Process_Reviewed_Item collaboration object calls a UCCnetMessageSend collaboration object to send a response back to the original sender (UCCnet in the context of the Product Information Management for Retailers solution).

Parent topic: Validating an item by requiring data for specific attributes