Creating Business Data Catalog Entities in SharePoint Server 2007

The Business Data Catalog is a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 feature that exposes and incorporates line-of-business (LOB) data into other baseline portal functionality, such as lists and enterprise search. To incorporate this data into your portal, you must build an XML file that identifies where the data is stored (either Microsoft SQL Server or a Web service) and what the data looks like (for example, what the data types and primary keys are).

This section walks through building a Business Data Catalog metadata file that defines a simple LOB data entity. The prerequisites are as follows:

1. Install Microsoft SQL Server 2005 with the AdventureWorks database.
   
   
2. Copy the Business Data Catalog schema files, Bdcmetadata.xsd and Bdcmetadataresource.xsd, into the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Schema Library. Copy these files from program files\Microsoft Office Servers\12.0\Bin\ to program files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Xml\Schemas\.
   
   

To build a Business Data Catalog metadata file that defines a simple LOB data entity, follow these instructions:

1. Create an Empty XML File

Begin by creating an empty XML file.

To create an empty XML file

2. Define the LOB System

Add the following XML to the file (below the XML declaration) to define the LobSystem top-level parameters:

<LobSystem
   Type="Database"
   Version="1.0.0.01"
   Name="CRM"
   xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/03/BusinessDataCatalog">
</LobSystem>

3. Define Top Level Security Parameters

Note:

This is optional. You can also configure these parameters in the Business Data Catalog admin pages.

Add the following XML to the end of the LobSystem element (before the </LobSystem> end tag). Note that you must update the Principal attribute values with the correct domain and user or group names.

<AccessControlList>
   <AccessControlEntry Principal="your domain\you">
      <Right BdcRight="Execute"/>
      <Right BdcRight="Edit"/>
      <Right BdcRight="SetPermissions"/>
      <Right BdcRight="SelectableInClients"/>
   </AccessControlEntry>
   <AccessControlEntry Principal="your domain\your BDC users"> 
      <Right BdcRight="Execute"/>
      <Right BdcRight="SelectableInClients"/>
   </AccessControlEntry>
</AccessControlList>

4. Define the LOB System Instance

With a database, the system instance defines the database connection parameters that the Business Data Catalog uses. Add the following XML as a child of the LobSystem element (after the AccessControlList element). Note that you must replace the text your_server_name with the actual server name.

<LobSystemInstances>
   <LobSystemInstance Name="CRMDB">
      <Properties>
         <Property Name="AuthenticationMode" Type="System.String">
         PassThrough</Property>
         <Property Name="DatabaseAccessProvider" Type="System.String">
         SqlServer</Property>
         <Property Name="RdbConnection Data Source" Type="System.String">
         your_server_name</Property>
         <Property Name="RdbConnection Initial Catalog" Type="System.String">
         AdventureWorks</Property>
         <Property Name="RdbConnection Integrated Security" Type=
         "System.String">SSPI</Property>
      </Properties>
   </LobSystemInstance>
</LobSystemInstances>

Note:

A drawback to using pass-through authentication is that the operating system exposes only the user name and password. Therefore, if a company uses two-factor authentication (that is, users are required to have some specific—private—information in addition to a user name and password), you cannot use pass-through authentication. Despite these drawbacks, its simplicity makes pass-through authentication a good candidate for use in a testing environment. If your company is using two-factor authentication and you want to connect the Business Data catalog to a SQL Server database, you can use Single Sign On (SSO). To use SSO, follow either these instructions Step 6 (Optional): Use Single Sign-On to Connect to the AdventureWorks2000 Database (WindowsCredentials), or these instructions How to: Adapt the Samples to Connect to Oracle and Other Databases (RdbCredentials).

5. Define the Customer Entity

An entity consists of a title (defined in the Properties element), a unique identifier (which equates to a primary key), and methods that both define the fields of an entity and indicate to the Business Data Catalog how to pull the entity data out of the LOB system. The following steps define an entity named Customer.

To define the customer entity

6. Upload the Completed Metadata File into the Shared Service Provider

The next step is to upload the completed metadata file into the shared service provider.

To upload the completed metadata file to the shared service provider

7. Use the Business Data List Web Part to Show the Customer Data

The next step is to use the Business Data List Web Part to show the customer data.

To use the Business Data List Web Part to show customer data

The Business Data Catalog is a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 feature that allows you to include LOB data that is hosted outside of the portal in such items as lists and enterprise search. The Business Data Catalog requires an XML metadata file that defines the connection parameters to the external data source, the various queries (or Web service method calls), and both the input and output parameters of each query or method. To build the metadata file, it is important to understand its structure. However, understanding entities is the most important part of understanding the Business Data Catalog. Entities consist of:

• Properties, which enable the Business Data Catalog developer to define certain metadata at the entity level, such as the default display element (Title).
  
  
• Identifiers, which are the collection of LOB fields that uniquely identify the entity.
  
  
• Methods, which contain the T-SQL or Web service methods that retrieve the entity data. Entities can contain multiple methods and can optionally have parameters and filters defined that Business Data Catalog users can use to filter results.
  
  

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