FILLING ATTRIBUTE VALUES OF BUSINESS OBJECTS
Various embodiments of systems and methods for tilling attribute values of business objects are described herein. A trigger point to fill a trigger attribute with a value is received. The trigger attribute is associated with a trigger node of a trigger business object. A navigator that defines a navigation path to a source for filling the value for the trigger attribute from the source is identified. The navigator is identified from a router comprising a collection of navigators that define navigation paths to respective sources for filling attribute values of business objects. The router is assigned to the trigger attribute. The value for the trigger attribute is then filled from the source by following the navigation path defined in the identified navigator.
1 . An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer readable storage medium to tangibly store instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
receive a trigger point to fill a trigger attribute with a value, wherein the trigger attribute is associated with a trigger node of a trigger business object;
identify a navigator that defines a navigation path from the trigger node to a source for filling the value for the trigger attribute from the source, wherein the navigator is identified from a router comprising a collection of navigators that define navigation paths to respective sources for filling attribute values of business objects and the router is assigned to the trigger attribute,
wherein the navigators comprise an association navigator that defines a navigation path from the trigger node to a provider node of a provider business object; and
fill the value for the trigger attribute from the source by following the navigation path defined in the identified navigator.
2 . The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the provider node includes a provider attribute and the provider business object is related to the trigger business object via a cross-business object association.
3 . The article of manufacture of claim 2 , wherein the instructions to fill the value for the trigger attribute comprises instructions to:
copy the value for the trigger attribute from a value of the provider attribute.
4 . The article of manufacture of claim 3 , further comprising instructions which when executed cause the computer to:
after the value is filled for the trigger attribute, automatically update the value of the trigger attribute for a change in the value of the provider attribute.
5 . The article of manufacture of claim 2 , wherein a first instance of the provider node is considered if cardinality is more than one.
6 . The article of manufacture of claim 2 , wherein an instance of the provider node is considered based on a parameterized association.
7 . The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the navigators comprise:
an external business object navigator that defines a navigation path from the trigger node to a provider node of an external business object that is not associated with the trigger business object; and
an external source navigator that defines a navigation path from the trigger node to an external source.
8 . The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the trigger point includes at least one of an action assigned to a business object node or a determination.
9 . A computer-implemented method for filling attributes of business objects, the method comprising:
receiving a trigger point to fill a trigger attribute with a value, wherein the trigger attribute is associated with a trigger node of a trigger business object;
identifying a navigator that defines a navigation path to a source for filling the value for the trigger attribute from the source, wherein the navigator is identified from a router comprising a collection of navigators that define navigation paths to respective sources for filling attribute values of business objects and the router is assigned to the trigger attribute; and
filling the value for the trigger attribute from the source by following the navigation path defined in the identified navigator.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the navigators comprise an association navigator that defines a navigation path from the trigger node to a provider node of a provider business object, the provider node includes a provider attribute and the provider business object is related to the trigger business object via a cross-business object association.
11 . The method of claim 10 , filling the value for the trigger attribute comprising:
copying the value for the trigger attribute from a value of the provider attribute
12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
after the value is filled for the trigger attribute, automatically updating the value of the trigger attribute for a change in the value of the provider attribute.
13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein a first instance of the provider node is considered if cardinality is more than one.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein an instance of the provider node is considered based on a parameterized association.
15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the navigators comprise:
an external business object navigator that defines a navigation path from the trigger node to a provider node of an external business object that is not associated with the trigger business object; and
an external source navigator that defines a navigation path from the trigger node to an external source
16 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the trigger point includes at least one of an action assigned to a business object node or a determination.
17 . A computer system for filling attributes of business objects, comprising:
a computer memory to store program code; and
a processor to execute the program code to:
receive a trigger point to fill a trigger attribute with a value, wherein the trigger attribute is associated with a trigger node of a trigger business object;
identify a navigator that defines a navigation path to a source for filling the value for the trigger attribute from the source, wherein the navigator is identified from a router comprising a collection of navigators that define navigation paths to respective sources for filling attribute values of business objects and the router is assigned to the trigger attribute; and
fill the value for the trigger attribute from the source by following the navigation path defined in the identified navigator.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the navigators comprise an association navigator that defines a navigation path from the trigger node to a provider node of a provider business object, the provider node includes a provider attribute and the provider business object is related to the trigger business object via a cross-business object association
19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the program code to fill the value for the trigger attribute, comprises program code to:
copy the value for the trigger attribute from a value of the provider attribute
20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the processor further executes the program code to:
after the value is filled for the trigger attribute, automatically update the value of the trigger attribute for a change in the value of the provider attribute
21 . The system of claim 18 , wherein a first instance of the provider node is considered if cardinality is more than one.
22 . The system of claim 18 , wherein an instance of the provider node is considered based on a parameterized association.
23 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the navigators comprise:
an external business object navigator that defines a navigation path from the trigger node to a provider node of an external business object that is not associated with the trigger business object; and
an external source navigator that defines a navigation path from the trigger node to an external source.
24 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the trigger point includes at least one of an action assigned to a business object node or a determination.