Configurations Available in the Shared Services Provider
After the application definition file has been authored, the administrator imports and configures the file in the Shared Services Provider (SSP). As you can see in Figure 11.3, you can use SSP to import the application definition; view applications, entities, and business data catalog permissions; and edit the profile template.
After an application has been imported, the View Application page and the View Entity page allow you to configure an individual application’s security and other settings. The options available are shown in Figure 11.4 and Figure 11.5.
Figure 11.4. View Application page.
Exercise: Importing the Application Definition File
|
The exercises in this chapter use the sample AdventureWorksDW SQL Server 2005 database provided for download by Microsoft at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143739(SQL.90).aspx and the sample application definition file provided at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms494876.aspx. The application definition file can be stored on the desktop. To complete this exercise, you’ll need to access and configure the SSP.
|
Securing the BDC
To allow users to configure the BDC and use the data access provided by the application, permissions must be set. There are two permissions levels to set for the BDC: the entire BDC and an individual application. Both levels of permissions are maintained in the SSP. The following list describes the available permissions:
Edit. The ability to import, add, edit, or delete application definition files. This permission allows the administrator to remove a field from an entity.
Execute. The ability to view an instance of an entity with finder methods. Finder methods are used to get all of the items from an entity.
Select in Clients. This permission gives the user the ability to select an entity in the business data Web Parts, columns, or any client.
Set Permissions. The ability to set the permissions for all of the objects.
Exercise: Configuring Security for the BDC
|
Exercise: Configuring the Security for an Entity
|
Actions
Actions in the BDC allow the user to do exactly what it sounds like: take some type of action on the item. The action might be searching the Internet, searching the enterprise, sending an e-mail, updating the item, and so on. Actions can be configured in two different places: the application definition file and the view entity page in the SSP as shown in Figure 11.7. This means actions are going to be created and maintained either by the SharePoint administrator or a developer.
To view the actions available on an entity, there are two different methods. When viewing an item in one of the BDC Web Parts or as a column in a list, you can display the Actions menu as shown in Figure 11.8, or you can use the Business Data Action Web Part, which will be discussed later in the chapter.
Figure 11.8. Viewing actions on the Actions drop-down list.
Exercise: Adding an Additional Action
|
This exercise uses the previously uploaded and configured application. In this exercise, to help out your partner management team, you’ll create an action that searches the Internet for information about a bike reseller. This information is important because it allows the reseller to research the partner’s business before meeting with the partner. This exercise uses Live Search (http://www.live.com) for the Internet search.
|
