BDC Meta Man Web Edition User Manual
Contents
What does BDC Meta Man do?
BDC Meta Man Web Edition allows users to create, edit and open Application Definition Files from within the browser. This means if the BDC Meta Man Web Edition feature has been enabled on a site collection and the current user is a site collection administrator they can create and begin to use a line of business system within SharePoint in a matter of minutes.
In the Trial Version you are limited by the following:
- Unable to open existing Line of Business (LOB) Systems
- Limited to 2 Entities on the Design Surface
This document assumes installation has been completed as per the BDC Meta Man Web Edition installation documentation.
The logged on user needs to be a Site Collection Administrator to use BDC Meta Man Web Edition
BDC Meta Man Web Edition is accessed through the 'Site Collection Administration' Group from within 'Site Settings'
When you first access the application it will appear like the following
The next thing that you will need to do is to click on the 'Connect to Data Source' button. The rest of the manually will describe what you can do:
BDC Meta Man Web Edition currently supports connections to SQL Server and Oracle
SQL Server
Supports: SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008
If you select SQL Server you have the option of using Windows Authentication to connect to your data source, all you will need to provide is the server name and click 'Connect'
If you are supplying credentials, enter the Server Name, Username and Password and click 'Connect'.
Oracle
Click on the Oracle button
Enter the Server Name, Username and Password and click 'Connect'
Databases
Once you have connected to your data source BDC Meta Man Web Edition will retrieve the Databases from the connection. You can show or hide this window by clicking the 'Show/Hide' tab
Click on a Database to retrieve its tables
Tables
When you click on a Database it will return the list of Tables available for the connection details entered, you can show or hide this window by clicking the 'Show/Hide' tab
Entities
Adding an Entity
An Entity is created when you drag and drop a table onto the Design Surface from the Tables list
Removing an Entity
An Entity is removed by clicking the 'Remove Entity' icon of the Entity you want to remove
About the Entity on the Design Surface
When you drop the table onto the design surface it will:
- Create an Entity for you with a Finder, Specific Finder and ID Enumerator Methods
- Update the table on the design surface with the Type Descriptors and their Types
Click on the 
icon on the top right of the Entity on the design surface to bring up the Edit Entity Dialog
The Entity Tab
On the first page of the Edit Entity Dialog you can
- View the Name of the Entity
- Change the Title Column
- View the Identifiers of the Entity
The Methods Tabs
When the entity is created 3 methods are created for you, these are the Finder, Specific Finder and the ID Enumerator. On this tab you are able to edit the methods.
By clicking on a methods name you are able to:
- Add, Edit or Remove Filters
- Change which columns are returned by the method
- Add, Edit or Remove a Localized Display Name (LCID)
- Enable or Disable 'Show In Picker' for the Column
These options are described in the following sections
Filters
In this section you will find information on adding, editing and removing a filter.
Adding a Filter
To add a new filter to the selected method click the 'Add' button from the Filters section to bring up the 'Add New Filter Descriptor' Dialog
Enter your Filter Properties and click the 'Save' button. The Filter will appear in the list.
Editing an Existing Filter
To edit an entity you can click on its name and click the 'Edit' button. You are unable to amend the filter name once created.
Removing a Filter
To remove a Filter click its name and click the 'Remove' button
Columns
The columns section displays the columns which are currently returned by the method. You can choose which columns to return by moving them between the two lists. You can also edit the properties of columns such as adding a LCID or choosing whether to show them in the BDC Picker with the 'Show in Picker' checkbox
Adding and Removing Columns
To remove a column from the selected method you can select it from the 'Select Columns' list and click the '<' button to move it to the available columns list. You can select multiple items if you wish to move more than one at once. There needs to be at least one 'Identifier' in the Selected Columns list, it will prevent you from removing all of them.
To add 'Available Columns' back into the 'Selected Columns' list you can just do the same but in the opposite direction.
Once you return back to the Design Surface the Entity will reflect the columns selected by the 'Finder' Method
Editing Column Properties
To add a LCID double click on the column in the 'Selected Columns' list to bring up the 'Column Properties' Dialog.
Show in Picker
If you want the column to be displayed when using the 'BDC Item Picker' check the 'Show in Picker' checkbox and click 'Save'
Localized Display Names (LCID)
If you have different language packs installed you are able to make use of a Localized Display Name for your column.
Adding a LCID
Click the 'Add' button under the Localized Values table to display the 'Add Localized Value for (column name)'
Select the 'Localization Code' from the Drop down box, Type its Value into the textbox and click 'Add'
Removing a LCID
To remove an LCID select it from the Localized Values list and click 'Remove'
The Actions Tab
The Actions tab is where you can create custom actions for your entity. A default action of 'View Profile' which links to the Entities profile page will be automatically created for you when the Application Definition File is imported into the Business Data Catalog.
Adding a custom action
To add a custom action click on the button this will display the Action Settings below
The Action Parameters allows you to incorporate information from your Entity into the URL. I.e. In the example above I am using the Products Name which has been assigned the Identifier 0. I am then able to perform a Google search using: http://www.google.com/search?q=%7b0%7d , this will replace {0} with the select items product name
1. Give the Action a Name
2. Add the Action parameter using the 'Select Action Parameter' drop down list and clicking 'Add'
3. Use the Action Parameters Identifier to build your URL
4. Click Save
Removing a custom action
Select the desired Custom Action from the list and click 'Remove Action'
Associations are used to create relationships between Entities, by creating an association you are able to make use of connected BDC Web Parts such as the 'Business Data Related List'
Creating an Association
Click and drag from the blue dot to the left of the Identifier on your 'Source' Entity to the Type Descriptor on the destination Entity. All Type Descriptors which can accept the 'Type' that is being dragged will have a link icon indicating that they can be used to create the Association.
Once you have created your association this will be indicated by a line from the source to the destination entity.
Only 1 association is able to created between two entities.
By drawing the association the 'Association Method' will be created on the destination entity, this can be seen by clicking on the edit entity icon and navigating to the methods tab
Removing an Association
Click on the association line, it will highlight in red, and press the 'delete' key on your keyboard
The LobSystem\Instance Management dialog is used to configure the Application Definition File for use within SharePoint and is broken up into 3 sections, Lob System Management, Lob Instance Management and SSO Authentication.
Lob System Management
Name - This is how the Application will be identified in the Business Data Catalog section of Shared Services Administration.
Version - This is the version of the LobSystem, it must be entered in the format of '#.#.#.#'
Lob Instance Management
Name - This is the name which will appear in the BDC Picker
For details about BDC Authentication settings please visit http://www.lightningtools.com/support.aspx
SSO Authentication
For details about SSO Authentication settings please visit http://www.lightningtools.com/support.aspx
This will generate and import the LobSystem automatically into the Business Data Catalog; it will also create the Profile Pages for the Entities.
The user who Imports the LobSystem will need to have the correct permissions on the Business Data Catalog.
Once the Application Definition File has been successfully imported you will see the following screen
The Logged on user will require sufficient permissions to open an existing LobSystem both for the Business Data Catalog and for the relevant Data Source. If the LobSystem uses an authentication method which holds a username and password then it will use these to re-connect to the data source, if the LobSystem is set to use Windows Authentication it will attempt to pass-through the currently logged on users details to the Data Source.
Upon a successful connection the Entities will be re-loaded onto the design surface.
Viewing Status
To view the current license status you can:
- Click the 'Licensing Information' link above the top right of the design surface
Or
- Run the Activation tool on a server in your farm
Activating a License
You will need to perform the following actions logged on as a Farm Administrator
1. Copy Lightning Tools Activation Application.exe to a server in your farm where the BDC Meta Man Web Edition Solutions have been deployed
2. Run the Activation Tool, you will be presented with the following
3. You will need to reply to the Licensing information you received from sales@lightningtools.com with your Licensing Guid*
*you may need to right click on the consoles title and go to Edit > Mark, select the license and press enter to copy it to the clipboard
4. Once you have received your license key enter it into the console application upon successful activation you will see the following screen. You now have a valid license.
