Modifying Referenced Components 
The components that you use in your model can come from a variety of sources, but for purposes of manipulating them, they are grouped in two categories:
Modeled components: Composite views and data services that have been created within Visual Composer and which reside in development components of the local repository or source-control system
Coded components: Composite views (such as a Web Dynpro scenario) and data services (such as an enterprise service) that have been created outside Visual Composer and which reside in a development component of the source-control system or in a back-end system
A modeled component that is referenced in a model is called into the system cache and maintained there for all usages of the same component. The same component can be used and modified by other Visual Composer users with access to the same development component, so that upon closing and reopening a model, a user may discover that the referenced component has been altered.
Coded components, unlike modeled components, can be altered in the back-end system, so that changes are not displayed when a model is saved and reopened.
In order to update or modify referenced components, two similar functions are used:
Redefine Ports is used to recall a referenced modeled component from the development component (in which it was created and currently resides). The latest port information is automatically retrieved from the cache of the latest checked-in version of the component and displayed in the Redefine Ports dialog box.
Reload Data Service and Reload Component are used to recall (reimport) a coded data service or view (respectively) from the back-end system. The latest port information for the coded component is retrieved from the back-end system and displayed in either the Reload Data Service dialog box or the Reload Component dialog box.
The dialog boxes for the modeled and coded components are basically identical, and enable you to choose the ports that you want to display on the referenced component, so that you can connect to and from the ports when defining the data flow between elements. The dialog box opens automatically when you add a data service that contains a large number of ports. It is also displayed when you select the option from the context menu of the referenced element in order to change the ports that are displayed on the component. If new ports have been added to the component since you referenced it from your model, they are displayed along with the other ports in the dialog box.
When you click OK in the dialog box, this latest version of the component is copied into the cache and the updated port information is displayed in the dialog box. When you save the model, the port information is saved in the development component and is called up for all usages of the component in all models of the development component.
More information: Redefine Ports/Reload Component/Reload Data Service/Replace Components Dialog Box
Prerequisites
You have referenced a component from the model on the Design board.
Procedure
Right-click the referenced component and from the context menu choose:
Redefine Ports for modeled components
Reload Data Service for coded data services
Reload Component for all other coded components
The relevant dialog box is displayed, showing all ports defined for the component. Any ports that are already displayed on the component icon are selected in this dialog box. Any ports of a coded component that were added or changed by another user who performed Reload Data Service / Component are displayed in the dialog box but are not selected.
In the left pane, review and modify the port/node selections. Clicking on a node displays the fields of the node in the right pane. You can expand or collapse complex fields to show or hide their fields. You can select and clear the checkboxes of the ports, sub-nodes and fields to achieve the component configuration that you require. Filtering out unneeded ports and fields streamlines service consumption. If a change creates a potential conflict, such as the loss of an existing data link, the relevant warning is displayed in the Conflicts pane in the lower part of the dialog box.
When working with a data set that contains a large number of nodes or fields, it may be difficult to find the specific node or field that you need. You can use the Search for... area to specify the name (or partial name) of the field you want to locate and click the
(Search) button. All fields that match the search criteria are displayed in the Search Results pane, located in
the lower part of the dialog box. You can click a node or field in the Search Results pane to highlight that node or field in the tree or field list.You can further refine the search by clicking the arrow to the right of the
(Search) button and choosing one or more of the following options:Search in Selected Node Only: Restricts the search to the node currently selected in the tree, together with all of its child nodes.
Find Whole Names Only: Restricts the search to finding fields or nodes with the exact name that you specify in the Search for... area (no partial matches are displayed).
Search in Name and Description: Searches for the specified string within node and fields names, as well as in field descriptions (if any exist).
When you have finished modifying the component configuration, click OK to update the cache with the latest version of the component.
Result
The changes that you made to the port selections are reflected in the component icon on the Design board. You can now connect elements to the component ports.