The term "Business Object" is used in Microvellum to describe an object or entity that encapsulates or contains data.
The Microvellum Business Objects are used in reports. They are set up when configuring the report dataset and contain either the global variables or the product prompts.
They are objects best suited for report level global variable access. They may also be used for accessing specific prompt data, but it must be explicitly defined in the setup process. The prompts from this object can not be linked to any other data in the normal report dataset, so the value of using a business object to access the prompts is limited.
Business Objects provide an alternative data access method to the normal datasets in the report designer. They are useful when you need direct access to either Global Variables, or Prompts. For example, you may need access to specific global variables that are not linked to any other data that is populated to the work order database. Perhaps you have a global value that you need to use in setting a constant value, or a value that you need to use an expression code for calculations. The Business Objects are perfect for this because they don't require that you create a library Prompt that references that global.
In short, the Business Objects are entities to transport data from specific globals or prompts and are useful when explicit access to those globals or prompts is required. They are not useful when the desired result requires that those values be linked to other tables from either the factory or work order portions of the report dataset.
If you use this technology and find new and creative uses for it beyond this overview and related tutorials, we would love to hear from you.