The Class meta-data contains attributes used to define a class. The OLE DB Provider for Commerce Server creates the tables and links required to store the class information based on the attribute values. A class defines a set of logically related data. Classes model physical objects (user, product, server, organization) or conceptual entities (visit, Web hit, event).
For an overview of the logical grouping of these classes into primary business categories, see Dividing the Data Warehouse into Primary Business Categories.
For information about creating a new class, see Creating a New Class.
The following table shows the attributes used for the class definitions. A set of these attributes is stored in the Class table for each class defined.
The following terminology describes the attribute requirements listed in the following table.
- A value in quotes is required and must be supplied by the user.
- An unquoted value indicates the default, which can be overridden by the user.
- "Leave blank" indicates that the attribute should not be assigned.
- "Optional" indicates that the value is user-assigned but can be left blank.
- "Required" indicates that the value is user-assigned and required.
| Attribute | Data Type | Constraint | Requirement | Description |
| ClassDefID | int | NOT NULL | Leave blank | Stores the internal identifier for the class. |
| BaseClassName | nvarchar (128) | NULL | Optional | Stores the name of the base class. Used for aggregations. |
| CatalogID | int | NULL | Leave blank | Stores the identifier for the schema catalog. |
| CatalogName | nvarchar (128) | NULL | Leave blank | Stores the name of the schema catalog, "DWSchema." |
| ClassDefName | nvarchar (57) | NULL | Required | Stores the name of the class. |
| ClassGUID | varbinary (16) | NULL | Leave blank | Stores the GUID for the class. |
| ClassType | smallint | NULL | Optional | Stores the class type. Valid types are:
0 = None
1 = Dimension
2 = Fact
3 = Aggregation |
| CreatedTime | datetime | NULL | Reserved | Stores the time the class was created. |
| DefaultParentURL | nvarchar (128) | NULL | Leave blank | Stores the default parent URL for the class. |
| DefaultTableName | nvarchar (57) | NULL | Leave blank | Stores the default table name associated with the class. |
| Description | nvarchar (128) | NULL | Optional | Stores the description of the object. |
| DisplayName | nvarchar (128) | NULL | Optional | Stores the display name of the object. |
| GenerateIdentity | tinyint | NULL | Leave blank | True (1) indicates the ID for the class will be generated automatically. |
| GenerateKeyDef | tinyint | NULL | Required | Set to True (1) if this class key has a single member. Set the IsPrimaryKey attribute to True (1) for the member. If this class key has more than one key member, a key definition must be explicitly defined. |
| GeneratePartitionDef | tinyint | NULL | Leave blank | True (1) indicates the partition definition will be generated automatically. |
| GenerateTableDef | tinyint | NULL | Leave blank | True (1) indicates the table definition will be generated automatically. |
| IdSize | int | NULL | Leave blank | Stores the size of the identifier data in bytes. |
| InstExclusionExpr | nvarchar (128) | NULL | Optional | Used as a filter for aggregations. |
| IsAbstract | tinyint | NULL | Optional | Indicates if the class is abstract. Abstract classes cannot be instantiated, but can be derived from. Default value is False (0). |
| IsActive | tinyint | NULL | Optional | Indicates if the class is active (instances may be added). Default value is 1. |
| IsPersistent | tinyint | NULL | Optional | Indicates if the class is persisted in the underlying data store. Default value is 1. |
| IsReadOnly | tinyint | NULL | Optional | Indicates if the class is read-only. Default value is 0. |
| IsTransactioned | tinyint | NULL | Optional for PROFILING SYSTEM
Leave blank for Analysis | Used by the Profiling System. |
| IsUIDeletedEnabled | tinyint | NULL | Reserved | Reserved. |
| MajorVersion | int | NULL | Reserved | Stores the major version number for the class. |
| MinorVersion | int | NULL | Reserved | Stores the minor version number for the class. |
| ModifiedTime | datetime | NULL | Reserved | Stores the last time the class was modified. |
| PartCriteriaExpr | nvarchar (128) | NULL | Leave blank | Reserved. |
| PartitionID | int | NULL | Leave blank | Reserved. |
| PartitionName | nvarchar (128) | NULL | Leave blank | Stores the name of the default partition for the class. |
| PartViewName | nvarchar (128) | NULL | Leave blank | Reserved. |
| SourceDefName | nvarchar (128) | NULL | Required | Stores the name of the data source. A class definition has a SourceDef to describe where the data for a class will be stored. The SourceDef for new classes should be set to test_source. |
| SourceID | int | NULL | Leave blank | Stores the identifier for the data source. |
| Status | int | NULL | Reserved | Reserved. |