SmartObjects

From the Category System you can view, manage or edit SmartObjects that are deployed to the environment. The SmartObject properties page provides links to delete, move, copy and edit the SmartObject. You can also execute the methods of the SmartObjects, for example to test that the SmartObject is behaving as expected.

Members of the security administrators role can also apply SmartObject Authorization on SmartObjects in your environment. For more information see the Authorization Overview topic.

To view SmartObject properties, select the relevant SmartObject in the Category tree. The page on the right shows the properties of the SmartObject.


Field Description
Delete Delete the SmartObject.
Move Move the SmartObject to another location within the Categories system.
Copy Make a copy of the SmartObject in another location within the Categories system.
Design Edit the SmartObject with the Designer.
Definition Displays the Properties defined for the SmartObject, in a filterable list and displays the Methods defined for the SmartObject. These methods can be executed via the Execute option.
API Configure SmartObject OData API configuration.
Security Configure SmartObject security.
Data Access Configure SmartBox SmartObject Data Access.
System Name Displays the SmartObject's System Name.
System ID Displays the unique SmartObject ID in a GUID format.
Created Displays the date that the SmartObject was created.
Versions Displays the version history of the SmartObject.
Last Deployed Displays when last the SmartObject was deployed to the server.
Created By Displays the user who created the SmartObject.
Properties Displays the Properties defined for the SmartObject, in a filterable list.
Methods Displays the Methods defined for the SmartObject. These methods can be executed via the Execute option.
See the following resources for more information:
Deleting a SmartObject may break applications that rely on that SmartObject . Do not delete a SmartObject unless you understand the impact of doing so.

To delete a SmartObject, follow the steps below:

  1. On the SmartObject properties page, click Delete.
  2. Click OK on the confirmation dialog to confirm that you want to delete the SmartObject.
Do not move SmartObjects into the System category node, since that node is reserved for internal use.

Follow these steps to move a SmartObject to another category:

  1. On the SmartObject properties page, click Move.
  2. In the dialog window that appears, navigate to another category and click on the category name to select it as the destination to move the SmartObject to. Click OK to continue.
  3. Click OK on the confirmation dialog box to move the SmartObject. The SmartObject will be moved to the new category and no longer appears in the old category. (You may need to refresh the category tree to see the change).

To make a copy of a SmartObject in another location in the Category tree, follow the steps below:

  1. On the SmartObject properties page, click Copy.
  2. The Copy SmartObject page will open. Provide a name for the new SmartObject, use the tree view to select the category where the new SmartObject should be created, and click OK.
  3. Click OK on the dialog box to confirm you want to create a copy of the SmartObject.

To design (edit) a SmartObject in the Designer, follow the steps below:

  1. On the SmartObject properties page, click Design.
  2. The the Designer will open in a new tab with the relevant SmartObject selected. From here, you can Edit the SmartObject or perform other tasks like deleting the SmartObject or creating Views and Forms for the SmartObject.

The Definition tab displays a SmartObject's properties and methods. See How To: Create a Workflow with Multiple Instances of a Sub Workflow for an example of using the Create method of a SmartObject.

To make it easier and quicker to find the SmartObject properties that you want to work with, you can use a predefined filter or the Quick Search filter.

The predefined filter allows you to create various filters that are saved for reuse when revisiting this page. Alternatively, if you want to quickly search for a SmartObject property you can use the Quick Search filter, which allows you to search by predefined fields. However, the Quick Search is a temporary search that is not saved.

Create a Predefined Filter

  1. Click the Settings icon next to the Selected Filter drop-down.
  2. The Configure User Filters page opens, and you see the existing Default filter.
  3. Click Add to create a new filter and type a Filter Name.
  4. Specify the Field, Operator, and then enter a Value for the new filter. (You can type the value in or drag fields from the Context Browser.)
  5. To specify sorting on the new filter, click Sort.
  6. Select the column you want to sort on and the sort order from the drop-down menus.
  7. Click OK to complete the configuration.
  8. The new filter is listed will display on the Configure User Filter page. If you want to set this filter as the default, select the filter and click Set as Default.
  9. Click OK.
  10. You are will now be able to select your new filter from the drop-down.
Advanced Filter Configuration

To create an advanced filter, follow the steps below:

  1. Click the Settings icon next to the Selected Filter drop-down.
  2. On the Configure User Filters page, click Advanced.
  3. On the Advanced Filter Configuration page, specify the conditions and expressions of the advanced filter. Here you can add and remove Conditions and Expressions. You can configure Conditions and Expressions by typing the values or dragging the values from the context browser.
  4. Click OK.

Use the Quick Search filter

  1. To use the Quick Search functionality, click the drop-down next to Quick Search and select the field you want to use to search on.
  2. Enter a value in the text box and click Refresh or press the Enter key on your keyboard. The value you enter could either be the full value of the field or a partial match value. Using a partial value will returns all items containing the value in the name of the field.
  3. The items containing the specified criteria display.
  4. To display the complete list of items again, clear the text box and click Refresh.

The Methods list displays all the methods defined for the specified SmartObject, which. From here, you can execute the methods by selecting a method and clicking Execute.

Executing a SmartObject Method

You can execute a SmartObject method on-demand. For example, you may want to call a List method for a SmartObject to test that the SmartObject can retrieve data from the underlying system.

Executing a SmartObject method can potentially modify data in the underlying system. Take care when executing methods, and do not execute methods that modify data (e.g. update, create, delete methods) if you do not understand the impact of doing so.
To set a field value to null, type SCNULL into the textbox.

Follow these steps to execute a SmartObject Method:

  1. On the SmartObject page, select the SmartObject Method you want to execute in the Methods list, and click Execute.
  2. On the Execute SmartObject Method page, select a SmartObject Method to execute from the drop-down. (The methods available depend on the SmartObject you've selected).
  3. Enter the values necessary to execute the SmartObject method, and click Execute.
    Required values are indicated with an asterisk.
  4. The Results tab opens and displays the results of the SmartObject method. If no results are returned, the SmartObject might not contain any data or the values you specified on the previous screen have filtered all records out.