Data domain

A data domain defines the type of data value that is held by an attribute in a data model. BFMDW is delivered with predefined data domains.

Properties

Name (mandatory)

A textual name that identifies the data domain.

e.g. Description
e.g. Percentage

Description (mandatory)

A complete and unambiguous description of this data domain.

Owning package (mandatory)

The owning package to which this model element belongs. All domains are owned by the Data Domain package, which is in a separate data domain model that is delivered with BFMDW.

e.g. package String owns atomic domain Description
e.g. package Number owns atomic domain Percentage

Specific atomic domain properties

Atomic domains define the type of data value that is held by an attribute in a data model such as Description or Percentage. Predefined atomic domains are used in the logical models. The Atomic Warehouse Model (AWM), for example, uses data domains to ensure a consistent approach in the use of data types for attributes that have a similar purpose in the logical model. Each atomic data domain has the following characteristics:

Name: A textual name that identifies this data domain.
Description: A complete and unambiguous description of this data domain.

Base type (mandatory)

A base type on which this data domain is defined.

e.g. DECIMAL
e.g. CHAR
e.g. DATE

Length, precision, scale

Precise information regarding the length, the precision or the scale of a base type. Each base type has its required characteristics (for example, length for a CHAR, precision and scale for a DECIMAL and none for a DATE).