Defining the object structure content

Application users can be granted access to export or import data directly from an application. An administrator can identify an appropriate object structure for an application and grant export and import capabilities to manage application data in a file, such as a CSV file that can be maintained in spreadsheet.

About this task

Determine the object structure to use for the integration transactions and then modify the content of the object structure to limit data exchange to the content that is required.

Procedure

  1. In Application Designer, open the workspace for the application that you want to enable and note the value in the Main Object field in the header area.
    This value must be the main object in the object structure that you modify for application data import and export.
  2. In the Object Structures application, specify the name of the main object in the Object Structure field to filter for object structures based on this object.
    If the search does not return any object structures based on the main object, you must create an object structure and the following steps do not apply.
  3. If the search returns multiple object structures, select an object structure where the value in the Consumed By field is set to Integration.
  4. Review the content of the object structure to answer the following questions:
    1. Is the main object of the object structure the same as the main object of the application that you want to enable for data export and import?
    2. Does the object structure include child objects that contain data that users do not need to import or export?
      For example, the MXPERSON object includes the PHONE, EMAIL, and SMS child objects. Your users may want to import and export data for the PERSON and PHONE objects only.
  5. After you review the content of the object structure, you can choose to use the predefined object structure with all of its existing content or to duplicate this object structure and modify its content.
    If you make changes to a predefined object structure, it can affect any other integration scenarios that use this object structure. Duplicating the object structure and using this as a template does not cause unexpected behavior for other integration users.
  6. Assuming that you duplicate the object structure to provide a new object structure for this scenario, delete any child objects that are not necessary for your integration users.
  7. For each object that remains in the object structure, select the Include/Exclude Fields option in the Select Action menu, and deselect all fields that users do not require to import or export.
    This step limits the data fields to only those needed by the application users.
  8. If delimited flat files are required (for use in a spreadsheet), select the Support Flat Structure check box.
    This step activates a validation to ensure that every column for every object in the object structure has a unique name. If the validation fails, an Alias Conflict indicator is set.
  9. If the object structure contains an alias conflict, select the Add/Modify Alias option in the Select Action menu to assign a unique alias for any field name where a duplicate exists.
    Alias conflicts do not exist in any of the predefined object structures.
  10. Save the object structure.

What to do next

The content of the object structure is now configured and you can grant application access to it in the Object Structures application.