Entity

An entity represents something that is being referenced.

An entity is a proxy for an object. It contains necessary information to retrieve or identify the object. Entities are created and grouped logically in application folders like SAP, Oracle, and Siebel. Once created, entities are placed in relationships to form participants.

An entity represents a complete key to the object, which is composed of one or more attributes. Non-key attributes are supported. Certain non-key attributes are also nullable. If an entity has multiple attributes marked as keys, they form a composite key.

Attributes Description
Key Attribute(s) to define an entity. A key is used to retrieve and uniquely identify a set of information. A key is either a single attribute or a set of attributes (i.e. composite key), such attributes cannot be null or blank.
Primary Key The unique key to an object. The most concise way to uniquely identify an object. The primary key to an object must be one (or more) of the attributes of the entity which represents the object.
Composite Key A composite key is used when an entity needs more than one attribute for unique identification.
Foreign Key A foreign key represents an object other than the object that contains the key.