Modeled Objects

Modeling is an activity in which you create abstract development objects that can be reused to create other objects (derived objects) during development. Modeled objects are used to represent the application data, centralize business logic, and define default behavior.

By modeling the data and common business logic, it easier to construct components and to maintain the application, because changes made in the modeled development objects are inherited by the components that use them (although it is possible to override inherited definitions where necessary).

Note: Inheritance is what distinguishes modeled objects from templates. Objects created from templates inherit nothing from the template. Objects that are created from modeled objects inherit the definitions of the modeled object. For more information, see Templates and Modeled Objects.

Uniface has the following types of modeled objects:

Modeled entities describe the application data and define default behavior for retrieving and storing the data. They usually correspond to database tables and contain fields, keys, and relationships, making it possible to model the data and relationships of a relational DBMS. They can also be used to define common user interface controls. For more information, see Modeled Entities.
Note: If your application needs to access a database, you must define modeled entities to represent the data held in the database. Components that access this data use these entities in their component structure.
Modeled components define a data structure, layout, and code for components that share a common purpose or similar behavior. For example you can create a modeled component for browsing or listing data, and another modeled component for displaying data details. For more information, see Modeled Components.
Modeled properties determine how data is stored, entered, and displayed. They are defined in homogeneous libraries and are reused in entity and field properties. For more information, see Modeled Properties.