IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Programming IBM BPM > Business objects programming > Programming model > Modeling business object type metadata

Converting annotation into DataObjects

The business object framework provides the capability to transform annotations into a usable DataObject structure.

The annotations associated with a business object definition can be read at run time by using the SDO implementation-specific set of APIs. However, the problem with these APIs is that they return a binary large object (BLOB). However, the business object framework provides a utility that, if the recommended annotation patterns have been followed, reads the BLOB, validates it, and transforms it into a usable DataObject structure.

To convert an annotation into a DataObject.

Procedure

1. Obtain an annotation.

2. Use the BOTypeMetadata to convert that annotation into an SDO DataObject. The BOTypeMetadata implementation is available as a singleton using the BOTypeMetadata.INSTANCE instance.

Example

The following example demonstrates how to use the APIs to obtain an annotation and then the use the BOTypeMetadata API to convert that annotation into an SDO DataObject. The metadata is defined in BOTypeMetadata.xsd.

<schema>
	targetNamespace="http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/websphere/botm/7.0.0"
	xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
	xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
	elementFormDefault="qualified">

	<complexType name="VerbInfo">
		<sequence>
			<element name="verbInfo" type="string"/>
		</sequence>	
	</complexType>
</schema>

One of the capabilities of the business object framework is the ability to add additional supported verbs and accompanying metadata to enable meta-driven capabilities at run time. The capability is supported through the use of verbs and the VerbInfo metadata to annotate the verbs with additional metadata. The following example demonstrates the places where the VerbInfo metadata would be added for each of the possible Verb values.

<schema
	targetNamespace="http://www.scm.com/ProductCategoryTypes/ProductCategoryBG"
	xmlns:pcbg="http://www.scm.com/ProductCategoryTypes/ProductCategoryBG"
	xmlns:pc="http://www.scm.com/ProductCategoryTypes"
	xmlns:sdo="commonj.sdo"
	xmlns:bo="http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/websphere/bo/7.0.0"
	xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
	xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
	elementFormDefault="qualified">

	<import namespace="http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/websphere/bo/7.0.0"
		schemaLocation="BusinessGraph.xsd"/>

	<import namespace="commonj.sdo"
		schemaLocation="DataGraph.xsd"/>

	<import namespace="http://www.scm.com/ProductCategoryTypes"
		schemaLocation="ProductCategoryTypes.xsd"/>

	<complexType name="ProductCategoryBG">
		<complexContent>
			<extension base="bo:BusinessGraph">
				<sequence>

					<element name="verb"
						minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1">
						<simpleType>
							<restriction base="string">
								<enumeration value="Create">
									<annotation>
										<appinfo source="http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/websphere/botm/7.0.0">
											<botm:VerbInfo 
												xmlns:botm="http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/websphere/botm/7.0.0">
												<verbInfo>Metadata relating to Create</verbInfo>
											</botm:VerbInfo>
										</appinfo>
									</annotation>
								</enumeration>
								<enumeration value="Retrieve">
									<annotation>
										<appinfo source="http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/websphere/botm/7.0.0">
											<botm:VerbInfo 
												xmlns:botm="http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/websphere/botm/7.0.0">
												<verbInfo>Metadata relating to Retrieve</verbInfo>
											</botm:VerbInfo>
										</appinfo>
									</annotation>
								</enumeration>
							</restriction>
						</simpleType>
					</element>

					<element name="productCategory" type="pc:ProductCategory"
						minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/> 

				</sequence>
			</extension>
		</complexContent>
	</complexType>
	
	<element name="productCategoryBG" type="pcbg:ProductCategoryBG"/>

</schema>

Modeling business object type metadata