IBM WebSphere Business Integration Adapter manual Understanding business objects for the connector

Chapter 3. Understanding business objects for the connector

This chapter describes the structure of i2 business objects, how the connector processes the business objects, and the assumptions the connector makes about them. Use this information as a guide to modifying existing business objects for i2 or as suggestions for implementing new business objects.

The chapter contains the following sections:

v“Defining connector metadata” on page 11

v“Overview of business object structure” on page 11

v“i2 business object structure” on page 12

v“Specifying business object attribute properties” on page 14

v“Identifying business object application-specific information” on page 15

For information on the Object Discovery Agent (ODA) utility that automates the creation of business objects for the IBM WebSphere Business Integration Adapter for i2, see Chapter 4, “Generating business objects using i2 ODA”, on page 17.

Defining connector metadata

The i2 connector is metadata-driven. In the WebSphere business integration system, metadata is application-specific information that is stored in a business object and that helps the connector interact with the application. A metadata-driven connector handles each business object that it supports based on the metadata encoded in the business object definition rather than on instructions hardcoded in the connector. Business object metadata includes the structure of the business object, the settings of its attribute properties, and the content of its application-specific information. Because the connector is metadata-driven, it can handle new or modified business objects without requiring modifications to the connector code.

The connector makes assumptions about the structure of its supported business objects, the relationships between parent and child business objects, and the format of the application-specific information.

Therefore, when you create or modify a business object, your modifications must conform to the rules the connector is designed to follow, or the connector will not be able to process new or modified business objects correctly.

Overview of business object structure

In the WebSphere business integration system, a business object definition consists of a type name, supported verbs, and attributes. An application business object is an instance of a business object definition. It reflects a specific application’s data structure and attribute properties.

Some attributes, instead of containing data point to child business objects or arrays of child business objects that contain the data for these objects. Keys relate the data between the parent record and child records.

WebSphere Business Integration Adapter business objects can be flat or hierarchical. A flat business object only contains simple attributes, that is, attributes that represent a single value (such as a String) and do not point to child business

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