Best practices in Data Model

Design the Data Model using a standard naming convention for the entities and for their attributes. Follow the performance guideline for an efficient Data Model.

Use Upper Camel Case

After the prefix, use Upper Camel Case or Pascal Case for the name of the entities and their attributes. Upper Camel Case is a practice of writing compound words with the first letter capitalised and no spaces or punctuation. (e.g ThisIsAnUpperCamelCaseExample)

Entity name convention

Entities names should clearly describe the information it contains and the prefix should specify its type and scope. Don’t use short names or abbreviations. Use Pascal Case.

Use m for Master entity type or p for Parameter. Use the process abbreviation as a prefix when the entity scope is Private (the entity is used within one process). The scope of the entity can also be Public when it’s used in more than one. In this case, don’t add the prefix.

Entity	Type	Scope	Name
Order	Master	Private (used by the process Shipping Order)	mSHOOrder
Status	Parameter	Private (used by the process Shipping Order)	pSHOStatus
Country	Parameter	Public (used by several processes)	pCountry

Attribute name convention

The attribute name should have less than 15 characters (including any prefix it may have). Use singular names for them, though use plural names every time you use collections (e.g xRequests, xCustomers, xDocuments).

Attribute type	Prefix	Example
String, Extended text	s	sComment
Boolean	b	bActive, bAvailable
Integer, Big Integer, Small Integer, Tiny Integer	i	iAge,iItemCounter
Currency	c	cSalary, cDiscount, cPrice
Float	f	fRate, fDiscount
Real	r	rGreatDistance
Date – Time	d	dBirth, dCreated
File	u	uPhoto, uAttachment
Image	img	imgProfile
Entity	km, kp (km for master, kp for parametric)	kmOrder, kpStatus
Collection	x	xElements, xRequests

Design princiles

- Define the data model promoting objected-oriented design.
- Avoid connecting all entities to each other.
- Use scope attributes when applicable.
- Use Master and Parameter entities adequately.
- Use Data Virtualization or Data Replication when applicable.
- Define which information should be managed in the Production environment.

Performance guidelines

- Use an adequate size for text attributes.
- Create entities with 30 attributes or less.
- Define business keys for Entities and promote their use when searching for records.

Best practices in Data Model