Working with Business Object Designer

Full Training

The Business Object Designer (BOD) is an administrator-level tool for viewing, editing, and creating business objects especially for iMIS. It provides a graphical user interface to the properties related to business objects.

Warning! Do not share a login while using the Business Object Designer. Using the same login to concurrently access and edit business objects can cause business objects to be overwritten, properties to be incorrectly modified, and will corrupt your business objects.

Do the following to explore Business Object Designer:

  1. Go to RiSE > Business Object Designer.
  2. Select a business object in the list, such as Campaign.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Explore the Definition, Properties and Database tabs.

    5. Note: You cannot edit a locked Business Object. You must save a copy of a locked Business Object and make edits to the saved copy.

In This Article 

Commonly queried CsObjects include but are not limited to the following
CsActivity CsDuesHisotry CsOrderLines
CsAddress CsEvent CsOrders
CsCalls CsEventHistory CsPledges
CsCommittee CsFunction CsProduct
CsContactBasic CsGeneralLookupTables CsRegistration
CsDonations CsInventory CsRelationship
CsDonationsDetail CsMemberType CsStaffUser
CsDonorData CsOrderHistory CsSubscriptions
These objects include but are not limited to the following
AccessArea User
AccessItem Role UserRole
AccessMain UniformRegistry UserToken

Accessing business objects

Note: You must have system-level administrator privileges to perform the tasks discussed in this section. Having administrator privileges for a given module is not sufficient authority to change business objects.

Business objects are central to creating IQA queries, generating reports, and running processes. You can view the list of available business objects by navigating from the Staff site to RiSE > Business Object Designer.

Finding underlying table data for business objects

Business objects are user-friendly abstractions and collections of data from the iMIS tables. These abstractions enable you to write powerful queries and reports safely, without needing to be familiar with the iMIS database schema.

In most cases, the business object name and the names of its various properties are suggestive enough to guide experimentation. At times, however, it can be useful to trace the properties of a business object to their underlying table columns. Do the following to trace business object properties to their underlying table data.

Important! It is recommended to exercise caution when using dynamic group views (those beginning with vlqa) in custom business objects, as they may lead to poor performing queries, or may present problems if the dynamic groups are changed in the future.

  1. Go to RiSE > Business Object Designer.
  2. Double-click the business object that you want to examine.
  3. (Properties tab > Definition sub-tab) Select the property that you want to trace. The Database table and Database column fields specify the table and column from which the property derives its data.
  4. (Database tab) It can also be useful to examine the table joins used in a business object that comprises multiple tables. Examine the Joins field.

    5. Note: Some business objects might use the term Appeal to refer to Source Codes.

Building a new business object

To build a new business object you should build a new SQL table or view (or identify an existing one to use), customize the properties for the new business object, then build and publish the new business object.

Note: If no table exists for this business object, open SQL Server and create it, granting appropriate permissions.

  1. Go to RiSE > Business Object Designer.
  2. Select New > Design Business Definition.
  3. (Definition tab) Enter the business object's information.
  4. Click Create Object.
  5. Add properties to the business object, saving after you edit each tab:
    1. (Database tab) Add the Tables that contain the columns you want to use in your business object. In the Available Columns list, select which columns to use.
    2. Click Add as Properties or Add All as Properties.
    3. Select Save.
    4. (Properties tab) Select properties from the list to define the property's characteristics. To create a lookup, select the field you want to edit.
    5. (Properties tab > Values sub-tab) Define any lookups you need.
    6. Edit these values as needed.
    7. Click Save.
  6. Build and publish the new business object:
    1. Select the new object.
    2. Click Edit.
    3. Click Publish.

Note: If an error occurs when publishing the business object, check the Database tab and ensure that appropriate Joins are defined if more than one table is listed in the Tables list.

Managing business object properties

Changing property displays

A property’s display determines what your users see in iMIS. The property’s display value is used by default on windows and outputs, but you can design queries to override these defaults.

  1. Go to RiSE > Business Object Designer.
  2. Select an object from the list.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. (Properties tab) Select the property to be changed.
  5. (Properties tab > Display sub-tab) Change the value of Prompt for field.
  6. Click Save, and then Publish. Any messages should state that there are no errors.
  7. Click Close.
  8. Test your changes. Write a query against the object and select the updated property on the Display tab.

Adding value lists to properties

Adding Value lists to properties can make querying and data entry easier for end users. Value lists define the values that can be stored or selected for a property. There are three ways of adding Value lists to properties:

Defining property values using IQA

Use IQA to query the values from an object within the database, for example, General Look Up tables or CsActivityTypes.

Important! It is recommended to exercise caution when using dynamic group views (those beginning with vlqa) in custom business objects, as they may lead to poor performing queries, or may present problems if the dynamic groups are changed in the future.

Selecting values to display for a property

Do the following to select values to display for a property:

  1. Go to RiSE > Business Object Designer.
  2. Select an object from the list.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. (Properties tab) Select the property that needs values.
  5. (Properties tab > Values sub-tab) Select the Query object radio button.
  6. Browse for and select the query you saved.
  7. Define the Data value to match the code that exists in the data.
  8. Define the Display value to match the expanded description that describes the Data value.
  9. Click Save, and then Publish. Any messages should state that there are no errors.
  10. Test your changes. Write a query against the object. Select the property on the Filters tab, and confirm that it now includes a value list.

Building a value display manually

Manually add the codes and expansions to the property within the business object. The Business Object Designer allows for value displays to be built directly within the object itself.

  1. Go to RiSE > Business Object Designer.
  2. Select an object from the list.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. (Properties tab) Select the property that needs values.
  5. (Properties tab > Values sub-tab) Select the Value list radio button.
  6. Build your value list by entering the code into the Data Value property column, and the expanded description for the code into the Display Value column.

    7. Note: The Data Value can match the Display Value as long as the code value is not longer than the Data Type allows. Spaces can be used as well.

  7. Click Save, and then Publish. Any messages should state that there are no errors.
  8. Click Close.
  9. Test your changes. Write a query against the object. Select the property on the Filters tab, and confirm that it now includes a value list.

In many ways, using IQA to manage value lists is the most flexible and user-friendly way to manage a lookup. Values can be added to look up tables and to the modules within iMIS. Interfaces can be modified by adding values to a table that otherwise would not be available to users. These interfaces can be accessed by users who do not have the SysAdmin role access in iMIS. Value lists that are managed within the business object can only be managed through the Business Object Designer.

Adding properties to business objects

You can add new properties to your objects that are based on a table or view in your iMIS database.

  1. Go to RiSE > Business Object Designer.
  2. Select an object from the list.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. (Database tab) Select the property from the Available Columns that you want to add to the object.

    5. Important! It is recommended to exercise caution when using dynamic group views (those beginning with vlqa) in custom business objects, as they may lead to poor performing queries, or may present problems if the dynamic groups are changed in the future.

  5. Click Add as Properties or Add All as Properties to move the property from Available Columns to Used Columns.

    6. Note: Any properties you add to the business object will display at the end of the list of properties displayed in the Filters and Display tabs in IQA.

  6. Click Save, and then Publish. Any messages should state that there are no errors.
  7. Test your changes by writing a query against the object. Add the new property on the Display tab.

Modifying display properties to create hyperlinks in a query

Note: You cannot edit a locked business object. You must save a copy of a locked business object and make edits to the saved copy.

Staff can create hyperlinked websites and email addresses in query results by modifying business object properties. Create the hyperlink by selecting Email Address or Web Address from the Display control drop-down.

These links allow users to quickly open a website related to a contact or send the contact an email from the query results.

The following business objects allow for hyperlinked results out-of-the-box when used in a query:

  • CsContact (Email and Website properties)
  • CsContactBasic (Email and Website properties)
  • NetContact (Email and Website properties)
  • NetContactBasic (Email and Website properties)
  • NetContactData (Email and Website properties)

To make email and website address links available in the query results, do the following:

  1. Go to RiSE > Business Object Designer.
  2. Make a copy of the CsContactBasic business object.
  3. (Properties tab > Display sub-tab) Select the Email property.
  4. Scroll to the Display control drop-down and select Email Address.
  5. (Properties tab > Display sub-tab) Select the Website property.
  6. Scroll to the Display control drop-down and select Website address.
  7. Save the modifications, and then Publish.
  8. Create a query using the business object and select the updated property on the query's Display tab.

Note: When creating the website link, ensure that you correctly enter the web address.