Using JDBCODA in Business Object Designer Express

This section describes how to use JDBCODA in Business Object Designer Express to generate business object definitions. For information on launching Business Object Designer Express, see the Business Object Development Guide.

After you launch an ODA, you must launch Business Object Designer Express to configure and run it. There are six steps in Business Object Designer Express to generate a business object definition using an ODA. Business Object Designer Express provides a wizard that guides you through each of these steps.

After starting the ODA, do the following to start the wizard:

  1. Open Business Object Designer Express.
  2. From the File menu, select the New Using ODA... submenu.

    Business Object Designer Express displays the first window in the wizard, named Select Agent. Figure 6 illustrates this window.

To select, configure, and run the ODA, follow these steps:

  1. Select the ODA
  2. "Configure initialization properties"
  3. "Expanding nodes and selecting tables and views"
  4. "Confirming database object selections"
  5. "Generating definitions" and, optionally, "Providing additional information"
  6. "Saving definitions"

Select the ODA

Figure 6 illustrates the first dialog box in Business Object Designer Express' six-step wizard. From this window, select the ODA to run.

Figure 6. Selecting the ODA

To select the ODA:

  1. Click the Find Agents button to display all registered or currently running ODAs in the Located agents field.
    Note:
    If Business Object Designer Express does not locate your desired ODA, check the setup of the ODA.
  2. Select the desired ODA from the displayed list.

    Business Object Designer Express displays your selection in the Agent's name field.

Configure initialization properties

The first time Business Object Designer Express communicates with JDBCODA, it prompts you to enter a set of initialization properties as shown in Figure 7. You can save these properties in a named profile so that you do not need to re-enter them each time you use JDBCODA. For information on specifying an ODA profile, see the Business Object Development Guide.

Figure 7. Configuring agent initialization properties

Configure the JDBCODA properties described in Table 14.

Table 14. JDBCODA properties

Row number Property name Property type Description
1
UserName
 
String Name of the user with authorization to connect to the database
2
Password
 
String Password of the user with authorization to connect to the database
3
DatabaseUrl
 
String URL that enables a connection to the database. For example: jdbc:oracle:thin:@MACHINENAME:1521:SIDNAME
4
DatabaseDriver
 
String Name of the driver used to establish the connection. For example: oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver
5
DefaultBOPrefix
 
String Text that is prepended to the name of the business object to make it unique. You can change this later, if required, when Business Object Designer Express prompts you for business object properties. For more information, see "Providing additional information".
6
TraceFileName
 
String File into which JDBCODA writes trace information. If the file does not exist, JDBCODA creates it in the \ODA\JDBC directory. If the file already exists, JDBCODA appends to it. JDBCODA names the file according to the naming convention. For example, if the agent is named JDBCODA, it generates a trace file named JDBCODAtrace.txt. Use this property to specify a different name for this file.
7
TraceLevel
 
Integer Level of tracing enabled for JDBCODA
8
MessageFile
 
String Name of the error and message file. JDBCODA displays the filename according to the naming convention. For example, if the agent is named JDBCODA, the value of the message file property displays as JDBCODAAgent.txt.Important: The error and message file must be located in the \ODA\messages directory. Use this property to verify or specify an existing file.
Important

Correct the name of the message file if the default value displayed in Business Object Designer represents a non-existent file. If the name is not correct when you move forward from this dialog box, Business Object Designer displays an error message in the window from which the ODA was launched. This message does not popup in Business Object Designer. Failing to specify a valid message file causes the ODA to run without messages.

Expanding nodes and selecting tables and views

After you configure all initialization properties for JDBCODA, Business Object Designer Express connects to the specified database and displays a tree with all the schema names in the database. These names, which are presented as nodes in the tree, are expandable. Click on them to display all the tables and views in each schema. Figure 8 illustrates this dialog box with some schema expanded.

Figure 8. Tree of Schema with Expanded Nodes

To identify all the database objects that store data for the generated business object definition, select all the required tables and views, and click Next. For information on how to filter the objects returned, see the Business Object Development Guide.

Confirming database object selections

After you identify all the database objects to be associated with the generated business object definition, Business Object Designer Express displays the dialog box with only the selected tables and views. Figure 9 illustrates this dialog box.

Figure 9. Confirming Selection of Database Objects

This window provides the following options:

Generating definitions

After you confirm the database objects, the next dialog box informs you that Business Object Designer Express is generating the definitions.

Providing additional information

If the JDBCODA needs additional information, Business Object Designer Express displays the BO Properties window, which prompts you for the information.

In the BO Properties window, enter or change the following information:

Note:
If a field in the BO Properties dialog box has multiple values, the field appears to be empty when the dialog box first displays. Click in the field to display a drop-down list of its values.

Saving definitions

After you provide all required information in the BO Properties dialog box and click OK, Business Object Designer Express displays the final dialog box in the wizard. Here, you can save the definition to the server or to a file, or you can open the definition for editing in Business Object Designer Express. For more information, and to make further modifications, see the Business Object Development Guide.

Copyright IBM Corp. 2003