Service Types

Service types are connectors/adapters that allow the product to interact with some underlying system and expose objects in that system as SmartObjects. A service type allows the product to integrate with a technology, while Service Instances of a service type to connect to specific instances of that system. Service instances are configured instances for a particular service type that point to an actual system, and you can have multiple service instances for the same service type that are configured to connect to different systems. For example, one instance of the SQL Server service type is configured to connect to your HR database while another service instance is configured to connect to your Finance database. You must configure service instances before developers and designers are able to create or use SmartObjects for that particular data store.

For more background on Service Types, Services instances, and SmartObjects please see the topic SmartObject Terminology and Architecture

Clicking on Service Types returns a list of all the available Service Types and number of instances per Service Type in your environment. From the Service Types page, you create a new instance for that Service Type.

If you expect to see a specific service type in the list and it does not show, you may not have the sufficient rights to do so. See Authorization Framework Overview for information about rights and permissions.

Service Types