The Data Model provides a logical description of the data in a particular
data source. The data source is a named connection to a specific database. ActiveGrid Applications use a
Data Model based on the XML schema standard. The
Data Model files in your application end with the
.xsd suffix.
ActiveGrid’s Data Model uses complex types to represent the tables in a relational database. A complex type is a data structure that can contain multiple elements, each with its own data type. Complex types are part of the XML Schema standard. Each element in a complex type can itself be a simple type (representing a column in the table) or a complex type (representing a relationship to another complex type).
The ActiveGrid Studio can build a Data Model for you automatically by importing schema information from a database. Alternatively, you can build a new
Data Model in the ActiveGrid Studio and then export it to create tables in a database. You can also evolve the database with changes from the
Data Model and, conversely, you can update the
Data Model with changes from the database.