Generic data storage principles

This article provides guidelines for choosing optimal metadata object types for storing data in your configuration.  

1. At the solution design stage, the proper selection of metadata object types that will store business data is very important. Incorrect choices might impact the applied solution efficiency and future development options, and hinder adaptation to possible changes in business tasks covered by the applied solution.

2. We recommend that you choose metadata object types based on the following diagram:

* The arrows represent data dependencies (cross-references).

The diagram contains the following blocks:

1. Conventionally static data. This includes data that is normally entered once, rarely changed, and regularly accessed. Examples: classifiers, settings, lists, registers, and regulations.

2. Business process-related events, which have time stamps and can generate or modify data when registered. Examples: enterprise document flow, accounting, registering orders or calls.

3. Collected data and commercial indicators, which describe the current state of the application area and the current processes. Unlike data described in paragraphs 1 and 2, this data does not have object nature and it does not describe independent entities belonging to the application area. Examples: item sales history, warehouse balances, current account balances, currency exchange rate history. 

The last block represents data analysis, processing, and reporting tools. They utilize data from the other blocks but do not store data themselves.

2.1. Therefore, you have to assign each business area entity to one of these blocks based on the following algorithm:

• If you need to store data that is rarely changed and does not have time stamps, use the conventionally static data block (1).
• If you need to register documented events that have time stamps, use the busines process-related events block (2).
• Otherwise use the collected data and commercial indicators block (3).

Detailed block selection criteria:

Criterion / block	Conventionally static data	Business process-related events	Collected data and commercial indicators
Main purpose	Store registers and regulations	Register events that are part of business processes, provide documentary proof for various data	Store data that describes current processes and current state of the application area
Monitoring state changes	Not required	Post and unpost documents, record start and end times, modify task states, and generate records	Not required
Hierarchy and grouping	Use hierarchy and groupings, possibly involving entities of different types	Not required	Not required
Key properties	Code and description	Event date and number.	Not required
Storing additional entity attributes	Store rarely changed attributes of custom data	Store references to other objects and parameters that describe the event	Store only attribute values of other database objects
Numbering	Generate code series for items of a given type or within a hierarchy	Generate number series for all items of a given type or for items within a given period, continuous numbering for objects of different types.	Not required

2.2. Then select a specific metadata object type inside the selected block:

2.2.1. For conventionally static data:

1. To store a chart of accounts for double-entry bookkeeping, use the Chart of accounts metadata object.
2. To store a chart of calculation types for calculating accruals and retentions, use the Chart of calculation types metadata object.
3. To store a single value that can be edited by users (usually by the administrator who performs the system setup) and does not require references from other data, use the Constant metadata object.
4. To define a fixed list of values that cannot be edited by users and does not have additional attributes, use the Enumeration metadata object.
5. To store the list of characteristics (properties) where both the characteristic types and their content are defined by users, use the Chart of characteristic types metadata object.
6. In most other cases, you can use the Catalog metadata object.

Detailed criteria for metadata object selection:

Критерий / тип объекта Criterion / object type	Constant	Enumeration	Chart of characteristic types	Catalog
Main purpose	Store a single predefined value	Store a list of aliases that are never changed and do not have additional attributes	Store a list of entities and values of characteristics of each entity	Store a list of objects and their attribute values
Users can add and edit items	Edit the value only	Not required	Add, edit, or delete items, edit the content and values of entity characteristics	Add, edit, or delete items
Hierarchy and grouping	Not required	Not required	Required within a single entity	Required within a single entity or between different entities
Storing values of additional entity attributes	Not required	Not required	Store custom data in entity attributes	Store custom data in entity attributes
Storing lists of additional attribute values	Not required	Not required	Store lists of entity attribute value sets	Store lists of entity attribute value sets
Generation based on other objects	Not required	Not required	Enter new items based on other objects	Enter new items based on other objects
Numbering	Not required	Not required	Code series for items of a given type or within a grouping	Code series for items of a given type, or within a grouping, or for a set of subordinate items

2.2.2. For business process-related events:

1. To register one-time events that have performers (users, employees, groups, or roles) and do not require posting once they are completed, use the Task metadata object.
2. To register the creation and progress of a repeated process that can be divided into a set of actions (events), use the Business process metadata object. To register actions (events) that form a process, use the Task metadata object.
3. In most other cases, you can use the Document metadata object.

Detailed criteria for metadata object selection:

Criterion / object type	Task	Business process (with tasks)	Document
Main purpose	Register one-time events that have performers	Register a sequence of events that have performers	Register events with time stamps and generate data based on these events
Subordinate items	Not required	Register nested processes (task hierarchy)	Not required
Combining items into journals	Not required	Not required	Combine documents of different types in a single journal
Object state	Required states: new, completed	Required states: new, in progress, completed	Required states: posted, unposted
Numbering	Number series for all tasks of a specific type or within a specific period	Number series for all processes of a specific type or within a specific period; numbering events within a process	Number series for various document types, continuous or within a specific period

2.2.3. For collected data and commercial indicators:

1. To store accounting data for double-entry bookkeeping, use the Accounting register metadata object.
2. To store calculated accruals and retentions, use the Calculation register metadata object.
3. To store the history of indicator changes (incomes and expenses, turnovers and balances for a specific period), use the Accumulation register metadata object.
4. In most other cases, you can use the Information register metadata object.

Detailed criteria for metadata object selection: 

Criterion / object type	Accumulation register	Information register
Main purpose	Store data changes (incomes and expenses, indicator changes)	Store data as record sets; register some values.
Retrieving data	Retrieve balances and turnovers	Retrieve data slice for a specific moment, or retrieve current indicator values.
Referencing data sources	Reference to the recorder document	Referencing is not mandatory

3. Example of metadata object type selection:

A company provides survey services. Each questionnaire includes a date and a set of questions, a filled questionnaire also includes a set of answers. The "questionnaire" entity has a time stamp and generates statistical data (the answers).

Let us use the algorithm described in this article:

• Filling a questionnaire is an event that has a time stamp and generates parameter values. It belongs to the second block: business process-related events.
• According to the table describing this block, a questionnaire that generates data (the answers) is represented by a Document object.

Next page: Handling inactive objects