Object-Based Navigation 

Purpose

Object-based navigation (OBN) offers portal users an additional method of navigation based on business objects from productive back-end systems, or even logical objects, which are not defined in a portal system. Business objects can be imported from systems in the Portal Content Directory (PCD), or imported to the Business Objects folder in the Portal Content Catalog as semantic objects, using the Business Object Importer. In the Business Objects folder they can be arranged logically into sub-folders as desired.

The primary capability offered by OBN is that the data returned to the user during navigation is role-based and accessed dynamically during runtime. While navigating in the portal, users receive different kinds of data from iViews based on business objects, according the needs and requirements of their role in the organization. In other words, two different users may perform the same navigation operation, for example, drag the same link from the same iView onto the same target iView, and the data returned to each of them will be different because it is role dependent. This is the work of business object operations.

If you are implementing a federated portal network, see the relevant notes in Using Object-Based Navigation in the documentation for that scenario.

Business Object Operations

The business object operation is the crux of OBN administration. It is the operation that serves as the connection between the business object and the iView that implements it during runtime. Navigation is defined by means of operations attached to the business objects.

The operation defines the connection between the business object and the iView that implements it during runtime. Since multiple operations may be assigned to a single business object, numerical priorities are assigned to each operation. The priority specifies the default operation to be implemented for the specific business object.

Implementation by iView

Just as a business object may have multiple operations attached to it, the single business object operation may have multiple implementing iViews associated with it. The implementing iView displays business information relevant to the users for whom it is authorized. In the event of multiple associated operations, the iView implemented during runtime depends on two considerations:

·        The role of the user

iViews are role-based, with permissions defined for them by the portal administrator.

·        The operation priority

For a user having more than one role, runtime may be presented with a choice of more than one iView to implement the same operation. OBN resolves this conflict by permitting the modification of the operation priority, in the Object Based Navigation Editor, from the iView context, or, in other words, from the iView end of OBN administration.

Any modification  in priority from the iView-based Object-Based Navigation Editor is relevant only in the context of the selected operation of the specific iView from which the change is made. Also, any change in priority made from in the OBN Editor overrides the priority defined for that operation in the Business Object Editor. This is only with regard to the current iView.

The usefulness and efficiency of OBN as a mode of navigation is in its ability to return, from a single business object-based iView, variable, role-specific back-end information that can be pre-planned to be relevant to any number of roles.

Portal pages, as well as iViews, can be attached to business object operations in order to implement them. The object-based navigation documentation will refer mainly to iViews, for the sake of simplicity, and because it is typically the iView that implements the business object operation.

Example

A sales representative and a sales manager both choose to display an iView based on the same business object, representing a specific account. The default operation for this business object has two role-based iViews attached to it, one showing Account Details, the other showing List of Opportunities.

The sales representative sees Account Details. The role “sales representative” is not authorized to see List of Opportunities and for this role the operation Account Details was assigned the higher priority.

The sales manager is authorized to see the iViews implementing both operations. For the Sales Manager role, however, the operation List of Opportunities has the higher priority.

See also:

For more information on the tasks required for creating OBN content, see Object Based Navigation Workflow.