Physical diagram objects

Chapter 3 Building Physical Diagrams

Physical diagram objects

You can create the following objects in a physical diagram:

Object	Tool	Symbol	Description
Table			Collection of rows (records) that have associated columns (fields). See Tables (PDM).
Column	[none]	[none]	Data structure that contains an individual data item within a row (record), model equivalent of a database field. See Columns (PDM).
Primary key	[none]	[none]	Column or columns whose values uniquely identify each row in a table, and are designated as the primary identifier of each row in the table. See Keys (PDM).
Alternate key	[none]	[none]	Column or columns whose values uniquely identify each row in a table, and which is not a primary key. See Keys (PDM).
Foreign key	[none]	[none]	Column or columns whose values depend on and migrate from a primary or alternate key in another table. See Keys (PDM).
Index	[none]	[none]	Data structure associated with one or more columns in a table, in which the column values are ordered in such a way as to speed up access to data. See Indexes (PDM).
Default	[none]	[none]	[certain DBMSs] A default value for a column. See Defaults (PDM).
Domain	[none]	[none]	Defines valid values for a column. See Domains (PDM).
Sequence	[none]	[none]	[certain DBMSs] Defines the form of incrementation for a column. See Sequences (PDM).
Abstract data type	[none]	[none]	[certain DBMSs] User-defined data type. See Abstract Data Types (PDM).
Reference			Link between a primary or an alternate key in a parent table, and a foreign key of a child table. Depending on its selected properties, a reference can also link columns that are independent of primary or alternate key columns. See References (PDM).
View			Data structure that results from a SQL query and that is built from data in one or more tables. See Views (PDM).
View Reference			Link between a table and a view. See View References (PDM).
Trigger	[none]	[none]	A segment of SQL code associated with a table or a view. See "Trigger Overview in the Building Triggers and Procedures chapter.
Procedure			Precompiled collection of SQL statements stored under a name in the database and processed as a unit. See "Stored Procedures and Functions" in the Building Triggers and Procedures chapter.
Database	[none]	[none]	The database of which the PDM is a representation. See "Creating a Database" in the Physical Data Model Basics chapter.
Storage	[none]	[none]	A partition on a storage device. See "Tables spaces and Storages" in the Generating a Database from a PDM chapter.
Tablespace	[none]	[none]	A partition in a database. See "Tables spaces and Storages" in the Generating a Database from a PDM chapter.
User	[none]	[none]	A person who can log in or connect to the database. See "Users (PDM)" in the Building a Database Access Structure chapter.
Role	[none]	[none]	A predefined user profile. See "Roles (PDM)" in the Building a Database Access Structure chapter.
Group	[none]	[none]	Defines privileges and permissions for a set of users. See "Groups (PDM)" in the Building a Database Access Structure chapter.
Synonym	[none]	[none]	An alternative name for various types of objects. See "Synonyms (PDM)" in the Building a Database Access Structure chapter.
Web service	[none]	[none]	Collection of SQL statements stored in a database to retrieve relational data in HTML, XML, WSDL or plain text format, through HTTP or SOAP requests. See "Web Services (PDM)" in the Building Web Services chapter.
Web operation	[none]	[none]	Sub-object of a Web service containing a SQL statement and displaying Web parameters and result columns. See "Web Service Operations (PDM)" in the Building Web Services chapter.