External Objects (EO) allow you to access external resources from the KB as if they were just another object. These external resources can be native classes of the language, assemblies (.dll) if they are developed in NET or classes (.class) in the case of Java, they can be Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), Stored Procedures (SP), or Web Services (WS).
Creation
We can create an EO manually from the "New Object" dialog, indicating each property/method, or we can use a Wizard/Inspector to make our work easier.
The properties and/or Wizards that we can use to create the EOs vary based on the type of EO. The types of EOs are the following:
-Stored Procedure
-Native Object (assemblies and/or classes)
-WSDL (Web Service)
-Java Session Beans
To create an EO through Wizards/Inspectors, under the Tools/Application Integration menu we have the following options:
-.Net Assembly Import Wizard
-Java Class Import Wizard
-WSDL Import Wizard
Use
Once an EO has been defined based on the properties related to the external resource we wish to use, the EO will be available just as any other type of data in the Knowledge Base and we can use it from any of the objects we have. This is done in the same way as with any extended data type: by defining a variable of that type and then calling the methods and/or setting the properties we need.
Note: external objects aren't intended for the following cases:
To interact with external Data (data on tables maintained by other applications), use Data Views. That is, create a Data View object or let the Database Reverse Engineering Tool do the work for you.
To interact with external jscript, take a look at User Controls
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