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SAS Namespace Submodels

Foundation Submodel

The Foundation submodel contains the basic metadata types from which all other metadata types are derived and some utility metadata types.


Metadata Types

The following metadata types, relevant to the Foundation submodel, are classified as Basic, Extension, Identity, and Role. Click on a metadata type to display its attributes and associations.

AbstractExtension

Classifier

Extension

ExternalIdentity

Feature

Identity

IdentityGroup

NumericExtension

PrimaryType

Role

Root

Search

SecondaryType

TypeDefinition


Basic Metadata Types

Root is the supertype for all metadata types in the model.

PrimaryType is the supertype for all metadata types in the model that may be used as the starting point for a logical object or public component.

SecondaryType is the supertype for all metadata types in the model that are used along with primary types to help define a logical object or public component.

Classifier is the supertype for objects that contain data or reports made from transformed data.

Feature is the supertype for objects that contain data or other information and have a dependency on a Classifier. For example, Column is a Feature of DataTable, which is a Classifier; Measure is a Feature, and Dimension is a Classifier.

Subtypes of AbstractExtension are used to extend a metadata type by adding additional information that is needed for a particular deployment of an application.

The ExternalIdentity metadata type is associated with some other object and represents an ID for that object obtained from some other context. For example, a GUID or a DistinguishedName for an object can be stored in an ExternalIdentity object.

Search is used by SAS clients to store information for search definitions.

TypeDefinition describes common and shared object types that are members of the SAS type dictionary. SAS does not support object types defined by external applications in the dictionary.


Extension Metadata Types

AbstractExtension is the supertype for the extension metadata types. An extension is used to "extend" or add additional attributes to any metadata type. It would be used when an application is deployed at a particular site, and the metadata type does not contain all the information that is required by the deployment. The extension will include the name of the extension and a value. An SQL type of the extension may also be specified. The Extension metadata type is used for character values and the NumericExtension metadata type is used for numeric values.


Identity Metadata Types

The Identity and IdentityGroup metadata types are used for access control (see the Authorization Submodel).


Role Metadata Types

There is only one Role metadata type, and it identifies the various "roles" associated with an object. For example, a relational table may have a role of "Source" for SAS Data Integration Studio. This means that SAS Data Integration Studio reads data from that table; it is not a table created by SAS Data Integration Studio. Another role may be "Summary" for the OLAP product. This identifies the way the OLAP product will use the table.


Usage

The Foundation metadata types are primarily supertypes for other metadata types. Exceptions are the Extension metadata types, ExternalIdentity, Search, and TypeDefinition.

Extensions are used when an application is deployed at a particular site, and a metadata type does not contain information that is required by the deployment.

ExternalIdentity is used to maintain information about the object's identity from another context.

Search and TypeDefinition are reserved for internal use.

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