Define General Properties for a Business Object

Use the General page in the Business Object Properties window to:

Provide generation information .
Define a Public ID .
Select a Business Object Type: Major, Supporting, or Lookup.
Set tracking options.
Choose Business Object behavior options.
Define menus and shortcut keys for Major Objects.

Provide General Information for the Business Object

To define general properties for a Business Object:

Open the Business Object Properties window.
Click the General page.

Define general information for the Business Object.


Option	Description
Name	Provide a display name. Ampersands (&) are not supported in Business Object names.
Plural Name	When you provide a display name, the plural name is automatically populated (an s is added to the end of the display name; this might need to be edited). The plural name is used whenever the Business Object is displayed in text that needs a plural form.
Internal Name	When you provide a display name, the internal name is automatically populated with the Business Object display name, but with spaces and punctuation removed. In most places in the interface, the display name is used; however, the internal name is used when accessing the Business Object using APIs. By default, the internal name is also used as the custom storage name on the Database page (except for Group Objects, which use the Group Leader's storage name). The storage name can be overridden in the database properties for a Business Object. However, it must adhere to SQL Table naming conventions (example: Automatically be derived from the display name, not use invalid values such as spaces, etc.).
Description (optional)	Provide a description.

Define a Public ID for the Business Object

CSM uses a unique identifier (usually RecID) for each Business Object instance, but this is not User-friendly. A Public ID allows you to define your own ID that is displayed to Users. This is a single Field that best represents the Business Object (example: Incident ID for the Incident object, Customer's full name for the Customer object, etc.).

Important: A Public ID is required for Major Business Objects.

To define a Public ID for a Business Object:

Select the Use Public ID check box to use a Public ID for the Business Object.

Choose one of these options:

Use Existing Field
In the drop-down, select a Field containing the value that best describes the Business Object (example: IncidentID for Incident or Full Name for Customer).

Create New Field

Click New to create a new Public ID field, and then provide the following properties:


Option	Description
Display Name	Type a display name for the Field.
Internal Name	Type an internal name for the Field (what the system uses internally). This is automatically populated with the Field name (without spaces and punctuation), but can be changed if needed.
Field Size	Use the up/down arrows to increase or decrease the number of characters the Field can hold (default is 10).
Use Counter	Select this check box to use a Counter in the Field. Then, click the Ellipses button to open the Counter Manager, where you can select an existing Counter or create a new Counter. You can do this if you want each new record to have a new and unique, ever-increasing Public ID.

Multi-tab browsing support in the Browser Client and Customer Portal uses a unique tab display name, which allows Users to easily identify what they are working in each tab. Major Business Objects (Incident, Problem, etc.) use the Public ID field to populate the tab name. Consider using a consistent Public ID naming convention to promote enhanced usability throughout the tabs.

Select the Prefix with Business Object Name check box to display the Business Object name along with the Public ID. This is useful if the Public ID is numeric (example: An Incident ID of 12345 is displayed as Incident 12345 rather than just 12345).
When you define a Public ID, a window opens asking if you want to create an index. We recommend clicking Yes so that Public ID can be used in CSM Searches.

Define Tracking Options

Define tracking options, which creates Fields to track information in the Business Object (example: Ownership, who created or last modified a record, creation and modification dates). If you clear one of the tracking check boxes, the selected track Field is deleted from the Business Object.

Tracking options are:


Option	Description
Track Creation	Select this check box to track when records are created. Selecting this check box automatically adds the following Fields to the Business Object: Created Date Time, Created By, and Created By ID.
Track Modified	Select this check box to track when records are modified. Selecting this check box automatically adds the following Fields to the Business Object: Last Mod Date Time, Last Mod By, and Last Mod By ID.
Track Owner	Select this check box to track who owns a record. Selecting this check box automatically adds the following Fields to the Business Object: Owned By and Owner ID. The initial record owner is the person who creates the record.
Track Team Owner	Select this check box to track which Team owns a record. Selecting this check box automatically adds the following Fields to the Business Object: Owned By Team and Owner Team ID.

For more information about the Track Owner and Track Team Owner options, refer to Record Ownership.

Define Business Object Behaviors

You can set various behaviors, including where the Business Object appears in CSM (example: In Saved Searches, One-Step Actions, Expressions, etc.).


Option	Description
Image	Select the Image to open the Image Manager, and then select an existing image or import a new image to represent the item in the UI.
Uses Queues	(Major and Supporting Objects only.) Select this check box to allow Users to add this Business Object to Queues.
Show in Search Manager	(Major and Supporting Objects only.) Select this check box to allow Saved Searches to be associated with the Business Object (Business Object is available in the Association drop-down in the Search Manager).
Show in One-Step Actions	Select this check box to allow One-Step Actions to be associated with the Business Object (Business Object is available in the Association drop-down in the One-Step Action Manager) and to define Actions/One-Step Actions for the Business Object.
Show in Expression Manager	Select this check box to allow Expressions to be associated with the Business Object (Business Object is available in the Association drop-down menu in the Expression Manager).
Show in Table Management	(Supporting and Lookup Objects only.) Select this check box to allow values to be provided for the Business Object via Table Management. By default, this is selected for Lookup Business Objects so that Users can easily add new values.
Show in E-mail Address Book	Select this check box to show the Business Object in the CSM Address Book (in the Show Names From drop-down). Then, select the Field that holds the e-mail address value (you might need to create this Field). Typically, this is used for Customer and UserInfo Objects. When first creating a Business Object, there is not an appropriate Field to hold the e-mail address. You must first create the Field and then edit the Business Object to set this option.
Show in Contact Manager	Select this check box to show the Business Object in the Contact Manager (in the Customer Type to Show drop-down menu). Then, select the Field to use to alphabetize records. This is selected by default for the Customer Business Object/Group Members. Typically, it is only selected for other objects if they represent external Customer data.
Show required field identifiers in labels	Select this check box to display an asterisk next to required field label controls in Forms. This option is enabled by default on new Business Objects. Fields that are conditionally required for save will not show an asterisk in the Form Editor. This functionality is not available for Related Item Picker fields.
Allow spell-checking	Select this check box to turn on spell-checking for the Fields in the Business Object. This checks for spelling errors in content that is provided in Business Object records. You can specify which Fields should be selected on a Field-by-Field basis.

Define Menu and Shortcut Keys

For Major Objects, you can define menus and shortcut keys.


Option	Description
New Record	Select a keyboard command to use as a shortcut to create a new Business Object record in CSM (example: CTRL+SHIFT+I creates a new Incident record).
Quick Search	Select a keyboard command that can be used to change the Search Control to this object in the CSM Desktop Client Task Pane and set the focus to the Search Control so that the User can provide search terms to run a Quick Search of the Business Object. To enable the Quick Search keyboard shortcut, you must select Show in Quick Search on the Search Results page. When this shortcut key is used in CSM, the Quick Search selector will automatically be changed to the appropriate Object, and the cursor will be placed in the Search Control ready for the User to provide a keyword to search.
Show on New Menu	Select this check box to show the New Record keyboard shortcut on the New menu on the CSM Desktop Client menu bar and toolbar.