BDC Sample

Scenario:
A Web service proxy class named SurveyWebServiceProxy contains the following method:

public Survey[] GetSurveys() { 
object[] results = this.Invoke("GetSurveys", null); 
return ((Survey[])(results[0])); 
} 

You create the following method for a Survey entity in a Business Data Catalog (BDC) application definition file:

<Method Name="GetSurveys"> 
<Parameters> 
<Parameter Name="Surveys" Direction="Return"> 
<TypeDescriptor 
TypeName="SurveyWebServiceProxy.Survey[], SurveyWebService" 
IsCollection="true" 
Name="ArrayOfSurvey"> 
<TypeDescriptors> 
<TypeDescriptor TypeName="SurveyWebServiceProxy.Survey, SurveyWebService" 
Name="Survey"> 
<TypeDescriptor TypeName="System.Int32" Name="SurveyID" 
IdentifierName="SurveyID"/> 
<TypeDescriptor TypeName="System.String" Name="Title"/> 
</TypeDescriptor> 
<TypeDescriptors> 
</TypeDescriptor> 
</Parameter> 
</Parameters> 
</Method> 

Now to return the default view of the Survey entity.

This configuration creates a Finder method. A Finder method is one that returns multiple entity instances. In this scenario, the method returns multiple instances of the Survey entity.

<MethodInstance 
Type="Finder" 
ReturnParameterName="Surveys" 
Name="GetSurveys"/> 

This configuration creates a SpecificFinder method. A SpecificFinder method is one that returns a single entity instance.

<MethodInstance 
Type="SpecificFinder" 
ReturnParameterName="Surveys" 
Name="GetSurveys"/> 

Also keep in mind that an Association element defines an association between two entities.