Business Key Tab

The Business Key is a unique key by which the user identifies the object. The business key is alpha-numerical and can reflect the naming conventions of the business object.

Note: There is also an internal numerical technical key – the user is not aware of this technical key.

On this tab, the Valuemation administrator can specify the following properties for the business key:

• Client

  Informative field only. It shows the current client which the business key belongs to.

• Attribute Name

  Determines which attribute of the business object is used as a business key. The Generate Key function in the Business Object Editor during Create operations will refer to this attribute. Note that an attribute of the Rich Text type cannot be used as a business key.

• Prefix

  A fixed prefix which should be put at the beginning of proposed business keys for this object during create operations.

• Suffix

  A fixed suffix which should be put at the end of proposed business keys for this object during create operations.

• Key Length

  Total key length to be used at the GUI. The full available length is rarely needed for a business key.

• BusinessID Unique index

  When relational settings using primary keys are transferred to another database (e.g. from test to production environment) using the export/import functionality, the transfered relational setting may be incorrect because the primary key may refer to completely different object in the other database. This problem is solved by defining 'BusinessID Unique index' and transferring this information during export/import so that unique identification across databases is assured.

  Several unique indexes may be defined at the database level for a given business object type. Use the 'BusinessID Unique index' field to select the one to be used for the above described cross-database identification of objects of the object type.

  The information about selected BusinessID Unique index (i.e. which combination of attributes is considered as unique object identification) is then saved as a Valuemation mainparameter and exported from one database to another, making unique object identification across databases possible.

  Notes:

  • When a unique index is selected in the 'BusinessID Unique index' field, the attributes whose unique combination constitutes the index are displayed in the 'Here are displayed...' table below.
  • If only one unique index has been defined for the object type, it is automatically used as 'BusinessID Unique index'.
  • If several unique indexes exist for the object type, the first one is arbitrarily used. If the attribute combination it represents is not suitable for cross-database identification, select a different unique index in the 'BusinessID Unique index' field.