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A data dictionary is composed of data dictionary elements
(DDEs) of which there are three types: Simple, Composite, and Collection
elements. Simple DDEs are primitive elements such as strings, numbers,
dates, and Boolean values that hold information such as a city name.
A Composite DDE contains other DDEs, which can be of type primitive,
composite or collection. For example, an address, which consists
of a street address, city, province, country, and postal code. A
Collection is a list of similar Simple or Composite DDEs. For example,
a customer with multiple locations, or different billing and shipping
addresses.
Data Dictionary Elements must adhere to a few rules with respect
to the schema structure.
Only composite type is allowed as top-level DDE in a
data dictionary.
An annotated FML with multiple top-level entities, cannot
be imported
Name, reference name, and element type are mandatory fields
for a data dictionaries and DDEs.
The reference name must be unique.
A parent DDE (composite)
can't have two children with the same name.
Enums only contain primitive String types.
Computed data dictionary elementsA data dictionary can also include computed elements. A
computed data dictionary element is always associated with an expression.
This expression is evaluated to get the value of a data dictionary
element at runtime. A computed DDE value is a function of other
DDE values or literals. By default JSP Expression Language (EL)
expressions are supported. The EL expressions use the ${ } characters
and valid expressions can include literals, operators, variables
(data dictionary element references), and function calls. While
referencing a data dictionary element in the expression, the reference
name of the DDE is used. The reference name is unique for every
data dictionary element within a data dictionary.
A computed DDE PersonFullName can be associated
with an EL concatenation expression such as ${PersonFirstName} ${PersonLastName}.
Data Dictionary Building Block Class DiagramThe following diagram shows the relationships among the
above Data Dictionary classes:
The following table details the common attributes associated
with a DDE:
Attribute
|
Type
|
Description
|
|---|
name
|
String
|
Required. Name of the DDE. It must be unique.
|
reference Name
|
String
|
Required. Unique Reference name for the
DDE allowing for references to the DDE that are independent of changes
to the hierarchy or structure of the data dictionary. Text modules
are mapped using this name
|
displayname
|
String
|
An optional user-friendly name of the DDE.
|
description
|
String
|
Description of the DDE.
|
elementType
|
String
|
Required. The type of DDE: STRING, NUMBER, DATE,
BOOLEAN, COMPOSITE, COLLECTION.
|
elementSubType
|
String
|
The subtype for DDE: ENUM. Only allowed
for STRING and NUMBER elementType.
|
key
|
Boolean
|
A Boolean field to indicate if a DDE is
key element.
|
computed
|
Boolean
|
A Boolean field to indicate if a DDE is
computed. A computed DDE value is a function of other DDE values.
By default, jsp el expressions are supported.
|
expression
|
String
|
The expression for the "computed" DDE. The expression
evaluation service shipped by default supports JSP EL expressions.
You can replace the expression service with a custom implementation.
|
valueSet
|
List
|
A set of allowed values for an Enum type
DDE. For example, Accounttype can have (Saving, Current) values
only.
|
extendedProperties
|
Object
|
A Map of custom properties added to the
DDE (user interface specific or any other information).
|
required
|
Boolean
|
The flag indicates that the source of instance
data corresponding to the data dictionary must contain the value
of this particular DDE.
|
Binding
|
BindingElement
|
The XML or Java binding of the element.
|
Data type mapping between XSD, data dictionary and data modelExporting an XSD to the model’s annotated FML requires
specific data mapping, which is detailed in the following table.
The DDI column indicates the type of the DDE value as available
in the DDI.
XSD
|
Data Dictionary
|
model
|
DDI (Instance Value Data Type)
|
|---|
xs:element of type - Composite Type
|
DDE of type - COMPOSITE
|
Entity
|
java.util.Map
|
xs:element where maxOccurs > 1
|
DDE of type - COLLECTION-
A DDE node
is created next to the COLLECTION DDE which captures information
from the parent COLLECTION node. The same gets created for both
collection of simple/composite data types. Whenever you have a COLLECTION
of the type composite, the Data Dictionary tree captures the constituent
fields in the children of the DDE created for capturing type information.
-
DDE (COLLECTION)
- DDE(COMPOSITE for type info)
-
DDE(STRING) field1
- DDE(STRING) field2
|
Collection property in FML
Simple
- Mapped as a collection
Composite -Mapped as a relationship
of cardinality one-to-many with the corresponding entity.
|
java.util.List
|
Attribute of type - xs:id
|
DDE of type - STRING
|
id (property)
|
java.lang.String
|
xs:attribute /xs:element of type - xs:string
|
DDE of type - STRING
|
Property of type - string
|
java.lang.String
|
xs:attribute /xs:element of type - xs:boolean
|
DDE of type - BOOLEAN
|
Property of type - boolean
|
java.lang.Boolean
|
xs:attribute /xs:element of type - xs:date
|
DDE of type - DATE
|
Property of type - date
|
java.lang.String
|
xs:attribute /xs:element of type - xs:integer
|
DDE of type - NUMBER
|
Property of type - double
|
java.lang.Double
|
xs:attribute /xs:element of type - xs:long
|
DDE of type - NUMBER
|
Property of type - double
|
java.lang.Double
|
xs:attribute /xs:element of type - xs:double
|
DDE of type - NUMBER
|
Property of type - double
|
java.lang.Double
|
Element of enum type and baseType - xs:string
|
DDE of
type - STRING
subtype
- ENUM
valueSet - the allowed values for ENUM
|
Property of type - string
The allowed
ENUM values go to DDS category annotations.
|
java.lang.String
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