Target Skill:

Describe the role of front-end objects, and how to customize them  

Ways To Customize BillerXpert

BillerXpert follows the NAS recommendation of using a single AppLogic for a single purpose. This keeps each AppLogic small and focused on a single task. BillerXpert also separates the validation and data access into separate classes from the AppLogic itself. You are not required to follow this model; but object-oriented programming lends itself well to this structure. For example, if you want to use additional data in application business objects, you can derive your own class to access the data. Likewise, if your form accepts different inputs, you can derive your own validation class to verify them. 

Front-end classes are divided into two kinds, those that are specific to the telco stencil and those that are generally useful for any kind of billing application. The latter classes include the BillerXpert common and core classes. 

To customize a BillerXpert stencil or application, you can use different approaches, depending on the level of customization required. Five different approaches are summarized in the following table, from simple changes to more sophisticated customization. 
 
 
To do this
Use this approach 
Change the appearance of a screen. Modify an HTML-based template. 
Change the data that is displayed on a screen. Modify an AppLogic.This kind of customization may require changing or replacing template data or template map objects.
Handle additional input data. Modify a validation class. This may involve adding additional error codes and messages to the common portion of the front end.
Store and retrieve data from a data repository. Modify or create a subclass of an application business class. A component business object must already support the of data you wish to access.
Handle additional processing requirements, such as asynchronous events. Create a new AppLogic.

Also, if BillerXpert does not provide support for the data that you want to access from a data repository, you can alter the schema to support the new data and implement your own component business object class to provide access to the data. 
 
 

     
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