Business Foundation overview

Business Foundation extends the attributes of the Customer Management system to give you more flexibility with the displayed and collected fields and attributes. Business Foundation works with the metadata engine for no-code customization of the data mode, allowing you to define new objects and relations between them for the Customer Management system.

You can specify the fields you want to display and work with system fields. For example, you can create a Gift Card field to track how much money a customer has on a gift card.

Create a business object

A business object extends customer forms to track and relate types of data. You can create a new business object to support customized business scenarios.

1. Open Commerce Manager and go to Administration > Business Foundation.
2. Click New Business Object.
3. Enter the Base Info.
   1. System Name – Enter the name of the business object. The Friendly Name and Plural Name fields are automatically populated.
   2. Friendly Name – An alternative to the System Name.
   3. Plural Name – Plural version of the system or friendly name.
4. Enter the Field Info.
   1. System Name – Enter a system name.
   2. Friendly Name – Enter an easy-to-understand name.
   3. Maximum Length – Enter the maximum number of characters allowed in this field.
5. Click Save.

Add fields to a business object

You can customize existing Business Foundation objects to have additional data entry fields. For example, you can add fields to the built-in Commerce Manager New Credit Card form.

1. Go to Administration > Business Foundation to access the list of objects.
2. Select the business object in the list to open it for editing.
3. Go to Fields > Create New Field.
4. Enter the Field Name. This name automatically populates the Friendly Name field.
5. Change the Friendly Name, if desired. It must be unique from an existing field. You may use special characters and spaces. 
6. Give the field a Description, if desired. This text appears below the data entry field.
7. Select Allow Nulls to make this an optional field that the user fills in while editing a form. Deselect the box to make it a required field.
8. Select a Field Type from the dropdown list, such as Integer, DateTime, or String.
9. Fill in additional information as necessary, depending on the Field Type you select. For example, you may need to choose a Format Type and enter a Maximum Length, Default Value, or Maximum Value.
10. Click Create New Field when done.
11. Check the form to verify the new field.

Relate business objects

Business objects must be related to other business objects to connect, track, and record relevant data.

You can have the following relationship types:

• 1-to-Many Relationship (1:N) – Relate one object with multiple object data. For example, you can relate one organization with multiple contacts.
• Many-to-1 Relationship (N:1) – Relate multiple object data with a single object. For example, you can create multiple contacts for a single organization.
• Many-to-Many Relationship (N:N) – Relate multiple object data with multiple objects. For example, you can relate different SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) with a number of warehouses for tracking and storage.

Add a 1-to-Many (1:N) relationship

To add a one-to-many relationship to a business object, you need to create a new business object or use an existing one.

1. Select a business object and click 1:N Relations.
2. Click Create New 1:N Relation. The primary object is automatically set to the business object you selected.
3. Choose the Related Object.
4. Edit the Field Name, if desired. It must be must be unique from an existing field name. Use only letters, numbers and underscores (_); no spaces or special characters. 
5. Edit the Friendly Name, if desired. It must be unique from an existing field name. Special characters and spaces are permitted.
6. Select Allow Nulls to make this an optional field that the user fills in while editing a form. Deselect the box to make it a required field.
7. Click Create 1:N Relation. 

The Related Object has the Primary Object appear under the opposite relationship (N:1) on its configuration form. For example, if Organization is the Primary Object and the Related Object is Address, the relationship is automatically generated under the N:1 Relations tab in Address.

Add a Many-to-1 (N:1) relationship

1. Select a business object and click N:1 Relations.
2. Click Create New N:1 Relation.
3. Select the Primary Object to relate. The Related Object is automatically set to the business object you selected.
4. Edit the Field Name, if desired. It must be must be unique from an existing field name. Use only letters, numbers and underscores (_); no spaces or special characters. 
5. Edit the Friendly Name, if desired. It must be unique from an existing field name. Special characters and spaces are permitted.
6. Select Allow Nulls to make this an optional field that the user fills in while editing a form. Deselect the box to make it a required field.
7. Click Create N:1 Relation.

Like an 1:N relationship, if you create a N:1 relationship with a Primary and Related Object, a 1:N relationship is automatically generated for the Primary Object on the 1:N Relations tab.

Add a Many-to-Many (N:N) relationship

1. Select a business object and click N:N Relations.
2. Click Create New N:N Relation. The Current Object defaults to the name of the business object.
3. Select a Related Object from the list.
4. Fill in the Relation N:N dialog box.
5. Edit the Relation Name, if desired. It is automatically populated by Current Object Name_Related Object Name. The name must be unique, and you can use only letters, numbers, and underscores (_); no spaces or special characters.
6. Edit the Friendly Name with a unique name, if desired (special characters and spaces are permitted).
7. Click Create N:N Relation.

Delete business objects

Go to Administration > Business Foundation to delete any customized business object that was published. Click the Delete icon beside the object and confirm the deletion.