Working with Business Objects
Administrators can create business objects. They are defined by sets of metadata stored in a business object definition. A business object is created by defining the fundamental properties such as name and purpose, and then you edit it to assemble the required components for it to be used, such as forms, layouts, and business rules.
Service Manager includes several default business objects, designed for your business needs. As an administrator, you can use these business objects, edit them, delete them, or create your own. However, some definitions are restricted from editing to prevent the modification or removal of required items and you may be limited in how you can customize some business objects.
•Business Object Relationships
•Working with Business Object Templates
Business Object Properties
A business object has many components, one of which is its properties. These properties are defined by a business object definition and are stored in a record associated with the business object in a Service Manager system table in the database.
These properties control how the business object is identified and how it operates. When you create a business object, you define fundamental properties such as name and purpose. Then you can define more complex properties such as indexing and annotations, and modify existing properties by editing the business object. See Business Object Tabs for a description of these properties.
In addition to properties, a business object has business rules, forms, lists, layouts, and so on. All of this together forms the business object.
Business Object Records
The business object data is stored in records. Each record is of the same type as the business object that stores it. For example, employee records are stored in the Employee business object and notes records are stored in the Notes business object. As a result, a record (such as the Birthdate field) is subject to the same rule as its associated business object.
Business Object Relationships
A business object relationship lets two business objects collaborate through the records in the business objects. In a relationship, business objects can belong to other business objects or simply be associated with other business objects.
Business Object Relationships
Each relationship contains a:
•Parent business object: The center of a relationship with one or more child business objects.
•Child business object: The supplier of additional data to a parent business object.
For example, the Incident business object can have a relationship with the Notes business object so that you can track notes pertaining to a specific incident. Incident becomes the parent business object to the child business object.
• When you create a business object relationship between two business objects, you define the fundamental properties that tell the relationship how to operate. We highly recommend that you plan a relationship before you create it. Thoughtful design can alleviate complications.
• The application restricts the modification and removal of some business object relationships to prevent modifying or removing mandatory items. The default constraint (ParentLink field) can only be used in one relationship. Relationships using the ParentLink field allow the child business object (for example, Notes) to be part of several parent business objects (for example, incident and problem).
•Service Manager uses a relationship string to specify a field, business object, or group of business objects. A relationship string is defined in the context of a specific base business object. See Expression Grammar for more information about syntax.
See also Using Relationships for more information about relationships.
Viewing Business Objects
You can view business objects in three ways - you can view common, other and all business objects.
Viewing common business objects:
1.From the Configuration console, click Build > Business Objects.
2.Click a business object to view its features. The application displays business objects here if the Commonly Used field is checked for the business object.
Viewing other business objects:
1.From the Configuration console, click Build > Business Objects.
2. In the Find box, enter the name of a business object (for example, employee), then click Go.
3.Select a business object from the list that appears to view its features.
The application uses the type ahead feature and displays business object names as you type.
Viewing all business objects:
1.From the Configuration console, click Build > Business Objects > click View All.
2.Click a business object to view its features.
The value in the Object Name column is the name of the business object stored in the Service Manager database and the value in the Display Name column is how it appears in Service Manager.
The following additional actions can be performed from the Business Objects workspace: