1.1 Glossary

This document uses the following terms:

annotation: Any custom, application-specific extension that is applied to an instance of a schema definition language through the use of custom attributes and elements that are not a part of that schema definition language.

association: A named independent relationship between two entity type definitions. Associations in the Entity Data Model (EDM) are first-class concepts and are always bidirectional. Indeed, the first-class nature of associations helps distinguish the EDM from the relational model. Every association includes exactly two association ends.

collection: A grouping of one or more EDM types that are type compatible.

complex type: A type that represents a set of related information. Like the entity type, it consists of one or more properties of the EDM simple type or complex types; however, unlike the entity type, the complex type does not have an EntityKey element or a NavigationProperty element.

conceptual schema definition language (CSDL): A language that is based on XML and that can be used to define conceptual models that are based on the Entity Data Model (EDM).

conceptual schema definition language with business intelligence annotations (CSDLBI): A language that is based on XML and that can be used to annotate EDM-based conceptual models with specific information that is useful in business intelligence applications.

conceptual schema definition language with business intelligence annotations (CSDLBI) document: A document that contains a conceptual model that is defined by using the CSDL and CSDLBI code.

dimension: A structural attribute of a cube, which is an organized hierarchy of categories (levels) that describe data in a fact table. These categories typically describe a similar set of members upon which the user bases an analysis.

display folder: A folder within a hierarchical folder system that is used to organize properties within an entity.

entity: An instance of an EntityType element that has a unique identity and an independent existence. An entity is an operational unit of consistency.

Entity Data Model (EDM): A set of concepts that describes the structure of data, regardless of its stored form.

hierarchy: A logical tree structure that organizes the members of a dimension such that each member has one parent member and zero or more child members.

identifier: A string value that is used to uniquely identify a component of the CSDL and that is of type SimpleIdentifier.

language code identifier (LCID): A 32-bit number that identifies the user interface human language dialect or variation that is supported by an application or a client computer.

level: The name of a set of members in a dimension hierarchy, such that all members of the set are at the same distance from the root of the hierarchy.

measure: In a cube, a set of values that are typically numeric and are based on a column in the fact table of the cube. Measures are the central values that are aggregated and analyzed.

namespace: A name that is defined on the schema and that is subsequently used to prefix identifiers to form the namespace qualified name of a structural type.

schema: A container that defines a namespace that describes the scope of EDM types. All EDM types are contained within some namespace.

simple type: An element that can contain only text and appears as <simpleType> in an XML document or any attribute of an element. Attributes are considered simple types because they contain only text. See also complex type.

XML namespace: A collection of names that is used to identify elements, types, and attributes in XML documents identified in a URI reference [RFC3986]. A combination of XML namespace and local name allows XML documents to use elements, types, and attributes that have the same names but come from different sources. For more information, see [XMLNS-2ED].

XML schema: A description of a type of XML document that is typically expressed in terms of constraints on the structure and content of documents of that type, in addition to the basic syntax constraints that are imposed by XML itself. An XML schema provides a view of a document type at a relatively high level of abstraction.

MAY, SHOULD, MUST, SHOULD NOT, MUST NOT: These terms (in all caps) are used as defined in [RFC2119]. All statements of optional behavior use either MAY, SHOULD, or SHOULD NOT.