Components of a business object definition

Overview of IBM WebSphere InterChange Server, described the components of a business object in somewhat simplified terms as a type, attribute values, and verbs. This section goes into more detail about the major components of a business object definition.

Overall, a business object definition is identified by its name. The name indicates the business object definition type, such as Customer, VantiveCase, or Invoice. An application-specific business object can also have application-specific information that helps the connector agent process it. All business objects also contain attributes and verbs, as the next sections describe.

Attributes

Attributes in a business object definition describe the values connected with the entity, such as Last Name, Employee ID, Case Number, Amount, or Date Initiated. At runtime, attributes are filled in with actual data.

For example, an Employee business object definition might contain attributes for the employee's name, address, employee ID, and other relevant information. The attributes of a business object are analogous to the fields of a form or columns in a database table.

An attribute can also refer to a child business object or to an array of child business objects, such as an array of line items in a contract or part references in an invoice.

ObjectEventId attribute

The ObjectEventId attribute is a required attribute and is the last attribute in every business object. When a connector publishes an event, it uses the ObjectEventId attribute of the business object definition to store a unique value that identifies the specific business object instance that is being created.

The value of the ObjectEventId attribute is generated and handled by the system, which uses it to identify and track the flow of the specific event through the system. The developer should not map the ObjectEventId attribute or populate it through the use of a connector agent or data handler.

Simple and compound attribute types

If an attribute's type is a basic data type, such as String, Boolean, Double, Float, or Integer, the attribute value is a discrete piece of data, such as the value of a field in a database. Such an attribute is often called a simple attribute. Examples include LastName, CustomerID, PartNumber, AssignedTo, and Price.

If an attribute's type is the name of another business object definition (a compound type), the attribute value is a child business object or an array of child business objects. Such an attribute is called a compound attribute. Examples include Customer, Contract, and Oracle_Contact.

Attribute properties

A number of properties define the value that the attribute represents. Without showing all possible properties, Figure 26 illustrates the place of attribute properties in a business object definition.

Figure 26. Attribute properties


The set of properties for a particular attribute depends on whether the attribute type is basic or compound; that is, an attribute's properties differ depending on whether the attribute refers to a single unit of data or to a child business object.

Verbs

Verbs indicate actions on the data in the business object. A business object definition contains a list of verbs; a business object contains only one verb. The most common verbs associated with business object definitions are Create, Retrieve, Update, and Delete. The meaning of a verb differs according to the role of the business object. The verb can describe an application event, make a call, make a request, or identify the result of a previous request.

Note:
Some applications do not support requests for hard deletes. For such applications, the IBM WebSphere InterChange Server system performs the equivalent logical deletion, which is usually an update to inactive status. Furthermore, even if an application supports hard deletes, you can configure the IBM WebSphere InterChange Server system so that it converts Delete verbs to Update verbs when sending requests to that application.

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