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Function documentation Object Relationship Service  Locate the document in its SAP Library structure

Purpose

The object relationship service offers you the possibility to also relate documents with similar contents over application and system boundaries. Thus, navigation between the different documents in a business process is possible.

Example

In a business process in sales, a request for a quotation is followed by a quotation, then an order and then a delivery occurs. The person responsible can trace the business process directly from the delivery by using the documents.

You can relate objects using multiple steps and create whole relationship networks. Access to the relationship records is possible from every object involved. You can call these functions using the interface, without the need to implement a separate application logic. The relationship service provides a browser for the end user. 

The relationships can also be created with documents from various SAP Systems and non-SAP Systems. Navigation to the objects outside an SAP System is also possible.

Integration

The object relationship service is a component of the SAP Web Application Server that transfers creation, reading and changing of relationships. The relationships are modeled by application developers and are transferred to the object service using an interface.

Note

The object relationship service has been converted for SAP Web Application Server Release 6.10. In comparison to the predecessor, the new service offers the possibility to relate persistent objects (business classes) in addition to business objects. Objects can also be related, without the need for the roles to be persistently saved. You can find documentation related to maintaining and migrating older object relationships in the section Object Relationship Service to Release 4.6D.

 

Application developers who have used the relationships for an earlier release can continue to use the predecessor. However, the new object relationship service also provides tools for migration. If you want to model new object relationships in your application, SAP recommends that you use the new service.

Application developers can find more information in Connecting to the Object Relationship Service.

 

Features

The object relationship framework provides the following functions:

·         Maintenance of role-based relationship models

·         Logging of those responsible for the relationship and last changers

·         Creation, change and deletion of binary relationships

·         Connection to the update using the persistence and transaction services of object services

·         Support for cross-system relationships

·         Support for application attributes to relationship records

·         Reads the relationships of an object

·         Existence check of relationships

·         Archive connection

·         Tools for the transfer of model data from the old relationship service

In comparison to its predecessor, the new object relationship service offers new functions in the following areas:

Model data maintenance:

Application attributes:

 

 

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