JD Edwards Object Management Workbench for Dummies

Read on to learn what the Object Management Workbench is, its features, and what’s new with the latest release.

JD Edwards OMW is a management system for development projects and objects. An object is a bunch of code organized into a self-contained unit. Because they’re self-contained, changes to one don’t affect the others. This makes them similar to physical objects: If you have 10 pencils on your desk, they’re all unique objects, and if you sharpen one, the others won’t get sharpened as well.

In object-oriented development, you can create objects and use them in different elements of separate applications. In this way, you can manipulate and use objects in various applications you create within JDE EnterpriseOne.

JD Edwards OMW makes it easy to manage your different objects and the projects that use them. For example, suppose you own an automobile factory and you’re using JDE as your enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. You’re creating a system that automatically tells you how much each type of engine costs to build, based on its parts. A V8 engine would have a different cost than a V6, for instance.

You create data structures that contain a list of all the parts that go into each kind of engine. So each data structure would have parts such as the cylinder head, pistons, valves, valve cover, etc. as well as how much each one costs. You have a data structure for a V8 engine and another for a V6 engine, and each of these are objects.

You can then use these objects in other development projects as well, and JDE’s OMW makes this straightforward. For instance, you can create a vendor analysis system that compares vendors against each other, determining which ones provide the best prices. Instead of creating new data structures for your V8 and V6 engine components, you can copy and paste your objects into the code you created for your new project. JD Edwards OMW makes these kinds of tasks easier to accomplish.

JDE OMW Features and Benefits

With JD Edwards OMW, you get a range of features that make it easier to create and manage your objects, such as:

• A central window that shows project information
• Intuitive action buttons
• Views that include information about objects, as well as FAQs and other resources to help you work through issues
• Filters you can use to easily search through objects, using parameters such as the project status
• Design and build views, tools, and testing capabilities, resulting in an all-in-one project creation workspace

What’s New in the Latest Release?

In the latest release of the Object Management Workbench, the web version has gotten some key enhancements. For example, processes for applications, business functions, and other development objects, such as Universal Batch Engines (UBEs), have all been streamlined. A UBE runs batches, which refer to a series of functions that are performed automatically.

The update eliminates the need to access the development client during the project life cycle. In other words, all of the development can happen within an online environment—without the program needing to access resources on the developer’s workstation. The process is similar to writing a document in Google Docs—there’s no need to access your computer’s word processing resources, such as fonts or formatting options.

The new release also enables web-based package build and deployment. A package organizes a collection of code, enabling it to be reused as needed. With this feature, package assembly, building, and deployment can all be run through EnterpriseOne’s E1 web interface. The ability to use a web interface allows for more flexibility in the development process and a more convenient experience for developers.