Home > Data Modeler Dialog Boxes > Entity Properties
This dialog box displays the properties of an entity, which is part of the Logical Model.
General
Name: Name of the entity.
Short Name: Short form of the name, if any.
Synonyms: Synonyms for the entity.
Synonym to display: Synonym to display for the entity.
Preferred Abbreviation: Name that will be used for any corresponding table during forward-engineering if the Use Preferred Abbreviations option is enabled in the Engineering dialog box.
Long Name: Long name to be used in entity-name.attribute-name displays.
Based on Structured Type: If the entity is based on a structured type, select it from the list. The entity will contain the attributes as defined in the structured type.
Super Type: If the entity is a subtype, select its supertype from the list. The entity inherits all attributes from the specified supertype.
Source: Description of the source type. Examples: DDL, COBOL Copybook, IDMS Schema
Classification Type: Classification type, from the list defined in the General Options. Examples: Fact, Dimension, Logging, Summary, Temporary.
Scope: For an entity classified as Temporary, you can specify a scope, such as Session or Application.
Allow Type Substitution: For a structured type with Reference disabled, or for a structured type applied to an entity, controls whether a substitutional structured type generation in the DDL is allowed.
Create Surrogate Key: Will create a unique identifier that is not the primary key.
Attributes
Lists the attributes currently defined for the entity. The properties for each attribute include its name and data type, and whether it is the primary unique identifier (Primary UID), a relation unique identifier (Relation UID, comparable to foreign key), or a required field (M, for mandatory).
To add an attribute, click the Add (+) icon; to delete an attribute, select it and click the Remove (X) icon; to view the properties of an attribute, double-click in the cell to the left of the name.
Unique Identifiers
Lists the unique identifiers (UIDs) currently defined for the entity. The properties for each key include its name and whether it is included in the primary unique identifier (PUID).
To make the attribute a unique identifier, click the Add (+) icon; to make the attribute not a unique identifier, select it and click the Remove (X) icon; to view the properties of a unique identifier, double-click its name.
Relationships
Lists any relationships associated with the entity, To view the properties of a relationship, double-click its name.
Subtypes
Specifies options that are important when you are working with supertype and subtype entities.
Subtree Generation: Defines the strategy of engineering entities to relational model tables:
Do not preset: Does not change the engineer-to properties.
Single Table: The subtype entity metadata are included in the supertype table. There are no subtype tables.
Table per Child: The supertype entity metadata is included in the subtype tables. There is no supertype table.
Table for each Entity: A separate table is generated for each supertype and subtype entity.
Apply to Model: Lets you apply the engineer-to properties to all models or a specified model.
References: When supertypes and subtypes are implemented, defines how relationships between tables are implemented in the relational model: None, Identifying (identifying foreign keys are created from subtype tables to the supertype table), or Reverse arc (only one child table record can exist for each supertype table record; required is the subtypes hierarchy is marked as complete [see the Complete Subtypes option]).
Attributes Inheritance: Defines how attributes of a supertype are inherited in both the supertype and subtype are implemented as tables (Primary Attributes Only or All Attributes).
Generate Discriminator: If this option is enabled, a discriminator column is generated.
Use Attribute: Allows an existing attribute to be set for use as the discriminator column.
Column Name: Name of the generated discriminator column.
Discriminator Value: The value related to the current entity; can exist in the discriminator column. If this field is not specified, the entity short name or name is used.
Complete Subtypes: If this option is enabled, the list of subtypes is marked as complete, which affects generated arcs and the list of possible values for the discriminator column. If this option is not enabled, then optional arcs are generated and the value for the current entity is included in the list of possible values for the discriminator column.
Volume Properties
Volumes: Minimum: Minimum data volume for the entity.
Volumes: Expected: Expected or typical data volume for the entity.
Volumes: Maximum: Maximum data volume for the entity.
Growth Rate: Percent: Expected growth rate percentage for the entity, for each period as specified in the next field.
Growth Rate: Year/Month/Day: The period (year, month, or day) to which the expected growth rate applies.
Normal Form: The required normal form (database normalization) for the entity: None, First, Second, Third, or Fourth.
Adequately Normalized?: YES indicates that the model is sufficiently normalized. NO indicates that the model is not sufficiently normalized, and that additional normalization may be required on the relational model.
Engineer To
Enables you to specify the relational models to which this entity should be propagated in forward engineering operations.
Engineer: Controls whether the entity is propagated to the specified Relational Design (model) during forward engineering operations.
Comments in RDBMS
Comment text to be included in database objects that are generated based on this modeling object.
Comments, Notes, Impact Analysis, Measurements, Change Requests, Responsible Parties, Documents, Summary