Defining an Association Between Data Objects 

Use

This procedure allows you to define a relationship between data objects. This relationship between the data objects is defined at the node level. For example, the line items node of an Order data object could contain attributes that are dependent on the attributes of the corresponding Product data object. This dependency between the two data objects is defined using associations (more information: Associations Between Data Objects).

You can also define associations between data objects that belong to different software component versions (SWCVs). In this case, the target data object must be part of an SWCV that is dependent on the SWCV of the source data object.

Prerequisites

·        You have created a data object with the required nodes.

·        The target data object must be active.

Procedure

...

       1.      Log on to the NetWeaver AS and start transaction SDOE_WB.

       2.      In the Data Orchestration Engine Workbench, locate and click the required node with the secondary mouse button and choose Change.

       3.      Choose the Node Association tab.

       4.      In Associations, choose  Add Association.

       5.      Choose Continue.

       6.      In Association Details, enter the following details:

Field name	Description	User action and values
Association Name	Indicates the name of the association	Enter a name for the association. The name must not contain more than three characters.
Description	Indicates a brief description of the association	Enter a description for the association.
Data Object Name	Indicates the name of the associated data object	Choose F4 to select the data object.

       7.      In Association Type, select the required option.

Field name	Description	Comment
Complete	Specifies that all the back-end keys of the associated data object are mapped to the corresponding fields in the data object you are modeling.	There is a 1:1 association between one instance of the associated data object and one instance of the data object you are modeling.
Partial	Specifies that a subset of the back-end keys of the associated data object is mapped to the fields in the data object you are modeling	There is a 1:N association between the data object instances. In this case, one instance of the data object you are modeling can be mapped to multiple instances of the associated data object. As a result, the associated Sync keys must be maintained in a separate table and a new node is generated to store the associated data objects Sync keys.

       8.      Choose Continue.

       9.      In Key Mapping for Association in the Node Attributes field, choose F4 to select a node attribute (field) to be mapped with the Sync Key and the BE Key fields of the associated data objects root node.

You can also choose Generate Sync Key to generate a node attribute. In this case, the name of the node attribute is prefixed with the name of the association you specified in Step 4.

   10.      Choose Continue.

   11.      In Association Link Details, enter the following details:

Field name	Description	User action and values	Comment
Link Field	Indicates a condition field	Enter the name of the attribute or choose F4 to select the attribute.	This attribute must not be any of the following: ·        Sync key field ·        Back-end key field ·        Parent Sync key, if the node from which you are defining the association is a child node
Link Value	Specifies that the association is established based on the value in this field	Enter a value for the field.

   12.      Choose Continue.

   13.      Choose Complete.