To set bindings

Bindings establish the selection criteria submitted by a method based on values submitted by the calling component and/or incoming URL. Often, you will establish many more bindings than you expect to actually use for any given query.

  1. Double-click on the target method to open the properties window for that attribute.
  2. Select Method Attributes.
  3. Select Bindings...
  4. To add a new entry, click Add.
  5. Set the following:

    Group

    Bindings can be assigned into one of three possible groups: static, dynamic or security. Groups function as the highest-ranking clause, with all clauses in each group evaluated first and then combined with the results from all other groups using an "and" operator. The group names do not have any further effects; you can use each group for whatever purpose you wish. The intention is that you use them to group static (parameter-based) dynamic (based on values received via the URL at runtime) and security (user-access control) bindings.

    Clause

    Use this setting to group bindings together into clauses, thereby establishing complex logical expressions. Bindings belonging to the same group and clause will be combined using an "and" operator; once all clauses within a group have been resolved, the results will be combined using an "or" operator. Groups are then combined, as described above, using an "and" operator.

    Type

    All bindings can be set as either static or dynamic. Dynamic bindings are set based on field parameters received in the URL for a page that requests the current method; these may or may not be present in the URL and establish a binding only when present. Static bindings are set against parameters established for the method; these might be assigned to a dynamic value (such as the current user ID), but they must always be defined in order for the method to run.

    Attribute

    This is the name of the attribute against which the binding will be made. All bindings apply to the primary set or to the subset selected when you opened the Bindings window; the drop-down list includes all of the attributes for the selected set from your current business object.

    Operator

    This is the logical operator applied when evaluating the binding. See the Operators table for a description of each selection available from this drop-down list. This setting is only active for static bindings; for dynamic bindings, the operator specified in the URL is used.

    Value

    This is the value against which the binding will test the specified attribute using the specified operator. This setting is only active for static bindings, which require that you select one of the parameters defined for the method; for dynamic bindings, the value specified in the URL is used. If the parameter you need is not listed in the drop-down list, select <Add Parameter...> to open the Parameters window.

    Condition

    This value establishes the conditions under which the binding will be applied. This setting is only active for static bindings, which require that you select a boolean parameter defined for the method; for dynamic bindings, the presence or absence of a value in the URL essentially establishes the condition. For example, users might be able to set a preference that ensures that only products that can be delivered in under a week will be listed; a parameter could fetch this preference from the session object so the method could apply a binding against delivery time whenever this preference was found set to true.

    Is Local

    This setting only affects bindings set on subsets. If set to true, the binding will be applied globally (that is, only those main-set records that include subsets that meet the binding criterion will be included in the result set). If set to false, the binding will apply only within the local subset (that is, records in the main set will be included regardless of whether their subsets are empty or not).

  6. Click OK.
Operator Setting Meaning
eq Equal to
lt Less than
le Less than or equal to
gt Greater than
ge Greater than or equal to
ne Not equal to
contains Contains
fulltextsearch Full-text indexing support
prefix Starts with
suffix Ends with
null Attribute has no value (the Value setting is disabled when this is selected)
ncontains Does not contain
nprefix Does not start with
nsuffix Does not end with
nnull Attribute not null (the Value setting is disabled when this is selected)

To change an existing binding's settings, select the target binding entry in the Bindinsg window. That entry's current settings then load into the controls at the top of the window. Use the controls as described above to make changes and then click OK to apply your new settings.

To remove a binding, select the target entry in the Bindings window and click Delete.