All the symbols
displayed are taken from the Gnosis Business Rule Manager
application interface. |
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Databases. The Gnosis Business
Rule Manager is able to define multiple Databases, which
may also reside on different servers. Tables in one database
may be referenced as foreign keys from another Database
and vice versa. When more than one Database is defined,
the schema of the Gnosis Business Rule Manager must be
shared between the sql-server databases using merge replication. Databases are defined to Allow Gnosis Transactions and/or to be Auditable. |
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Logical
Database. A Logical Database is a grouping of Type, Schema, Table,
View, Key Constraint, Check Constraint and Business
Entity definitions, and is treated as one unit for generation
purposes. A Logical Database must ultimately be assigned
to one and only one server and sql database. |
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Schema. A Gnosis Schema is a grouping of Tables, Views, External Objects and Business Entities. A schema can be related to a SQL Server user. |
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Types. Gnosis Types correspond closely
to User Defined Types of SQL Server, and can
be defined with rules and defaults. |
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Objects. An Object is one of the
following kinds; Table, View or External Object. |
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Tables. Tables are the structures
that store data, as in any relational database. A Table
is composed of Columns that have Types. Columns can
define Defaults or be Computed. If a Table is defined
to perform Gnosis Transactions, then it will be able to participate in a Gnosis Transaction and have Constraints enforced on Commit. Otherwise, constraints that are not enforced on Activity will only be able to be checked rather than enforced. |
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Views. Views are similar to SQL
Server views, in that they can join many Tables together
so that Columns can be seen side by side across a join.
A Gnosis View may be a Table Restriction, which means
it is based on only one Table. If a View is not a Table
Restriction, then may be based on many Tables (and Views).
A View that is based on Tables that perform Gnosis Transactions
will be allowed to enforce constraints on commit of the Gnosis Transaction.. |
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External Objects. External Objects
are SQL-Server table or view objects that are not managed
by the Gnosis Business Rule Manager, but are referenced by a Gnosis database schema.
These would most likely be tables defined for another
system and can be in another database. |
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Constraints. A Constaint is a Data
Integrity or Business Rule that is enforced on a set
of Columns of an Object. A Constraint can be enforced
On Activity, which means as the insert, update
or delete statement is applied to the database, On
Commit (Or On Check), which means at the completion (commit) of a Gnosis Transaction or in the Object Checking processing (if the object does not perform Gnosis Transactions),
or On Rollback, which means the constraint is enforced when the Gnosis
Transaction is reversed out (rolled-back). All constraints must have
a specialised error message defined. There are two major
types of Constraints, Key Constraints and Check Constraints. |
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Key Constraints. Key Constraints define
Business Key, Data Key, Unique Key, Foreign Key and Index
definitions for Tables, Views and External Objects. A
Key Constraint may define a groupng of columns to be unique
or may require the group of columns to reference a unique
key of another object (Foreign Key). Key Constraints can be defined on Views which creates more optiosn for defining uniqueness for subsets of data on a Table. |
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Check Constraints. Check Constraints
define Business Rules that can be described as formulae
on the set of columns, such as [Birth Date] <=
[Death Date]. The Check rule can also compare previous
values with new values in its rule and can be composed
of SQL Server functions and User defined functions. User
defined functions are especially useful for complex programmed
rules. Check Constraints can be defined on Views as well as Tables, thus enabling rules between columns of different tables to be defined. |
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Business Entities. Business Entities
are composed of related Gnosis Objects that are managed
as one unit by an Application. Business Entities allow groups of tables or views to be defined together and be managed as one business grouping. For example an Invoice
Business Entity may be composed of InvoiceHeader
and InvoiceDetail Tables and may refer to the
Product table. |
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Environments and Applications. Environments
and Applications are not part of a specific database,
and relate to a Users Computer and Working Environment. |
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Environment. An Environment is a
grouping of Applications, which interact with one another.
And typically update the smae Gnosis Transaction. |
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Application. An Application manages
one or many Business Entities and is itself an Environment
on its own if it wants to be. An Application may be a
Desktop or Web Application. |
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Check Model. Check Model is an important
process that are managed from the Gnosis Business Rule
Manager. The Checking process confirms that the defined
model, for the database, comprising Types, Tables, Views,
External Objects, Key & Check Constraints and Business
Entities is internally consistent and contains all the
prerequsites for a Gnosis Database. When the Check is
successful the Generate process may proceed. Individual
definitions may be selectively checked or the database
as a whole may be checked. |
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Generate Database. The Generate process
can only proceed when the database model has been successfully
checked. The Generate process creates all the sql-server
objects, such as types, tables, views, indexes, stored
procedures and triggers that are required for a functioning
Gnosis database. In most circumstances the whole database
is generated, however, it is possible to generate individual
objects at a time. |
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Filter. Predefined Filters may be setup for a Database, that control what is displayed in the Gnosis Business Rule Manager interface. This is useful for large data models comprising dozens of objects and many constraints. A filter could be defined to display a specific grouping of related objects, for example, based on an attribute or field note (substring) that they have in common. |
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Migrate Schema. Use the Migrate Schema button to choose objects from an existing sql-database to be migrated into a Logical Database of the Gnosis Business Rule Manager. An already migrated SQL database that has been changed can be remigrated and the Migrate Schema process is able to load the changes of the SQL Schema into the Gnosis Business Rule Manager Logical Database. Thus a Gnosis database schema can be kept in step with changes to a SQL-database schema. For more details on database migration click here. |
For more details
on these topics please refer to the Gnosis Business
Rule Manager Help, available from the Evaluation Version
download. |
