Creating Attributes from Custom Domains

When building large models optimising the processes used in the model construction can significantly speed up the build. Utilising custom domains to build up entities is one method to introduce optimisation through a common domain as an attribute template, reducing the need to set many properties on individual objects.

Domains can be made for both logical and physical models, for combined models start with a logical domain, for which physical properties can then be adjusted later.

Create a new domain by right clicking on any domain from the model explorer and select ‘New’.

Right click on the new domain, this time selecting properties.

At the top of the editor, we find a list of all the domains, including our newly added domain, whilst the lower half provides detailed properties for our selected domain. From here we can change the name, parent domain and datatype. The lower editor has a larger variety of property tabs, such as the Where Used tab, allowing the user to see which columns were created using the domain.

To aid in identifying the attributes, modify the Attribute Name to include the owning entity name. Click ‘Close’ to save any changes.

To use the domain to create a new attribute, select the source domain from the Model explorer as before, then holding left-click drag and drop the domain to the target entity.