IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Authoring services in Integration Designer > Defining and transforming data

Defining data objects

There are two types of data objects in IBM Integration Designer; business objects are containers for application (or payload) data related to business functions, such as a customer or an invoice. Business objects are based on a data-access technology called Service Data Objects. Service message objects contain business objects in addition to contextual data such as SOAP header information. The underlying structure of a business object is an XML schema definition (XSD).

The following topics provide key concepts and step-by-step instructions for creating and editing data in IBM Integration Designer.

• Business objects
  A business object (BO) is a container for application data, such as a customer or an invoice. Data is exchanged between components by business objects. The underlying structure of a business object is an XML schema definition (XSD).
• Business objects and XML Schema definitions (XSDs)
  Business objects are logical constructs of XSDs (XML Schema definitions). When you create or import an XSD file, a business object is created for each typed or anonymous complexType in the XSD.
• Service message objects
  Service message objects are enhanced business objects that include the application data and header information related to the transport protocol used to invoke a service such as SOAP or JMS. A service message object is composed of a body that contains the application data (also known as the payload or operation message) in a business object, and headers containing additional context information.
• Business object editor
  

  You can use the business object editor inIBM Integration Designer to build and edit business objects.

• Create business objects
  Data is defined by business objects. You can create business objects using the New Business Object wizard, or by creating or importing XSD files.
• Editing business objects
  

  You can edit existing business objects using the business object editor in IBM Integration Designer.

• Support for schemas from industry standard organizations
  IBM Integration Designer supports the use of schemas provided by industrial standard organizations, such as HL7, ACORD and OAGIS. xsd:anySimpleType can now be used to refer to any XSD simple type, xsd:anyType can be used to refer to any complexType or simpleType, while xsd:any can be used to refer to any elements. xsd:anyAttribute can be used to refer to any XSD global attribute definition.
• Artifact evolution for business objects
  Artifact evolution is used to introduce new versions of existing artifacts to IBM Integration Designer and is supported for business objects.
• Considerations when creating or using business objects
  There are a number of considerations and limitations for creating and programming with business objects.
• Business graphs
  Business graphs are wrappers that are added around a business object, or around a hierarchy of business objects, to provide additional capabilities.

  For example, you could carry Change Summary and Event Summary information related to the business object in the business graph.

Defining and transforming data