IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management, Version 11.3
Key concepts in an InfoSphere MDM Collaboration Server system
The following key concepts must be understood in order
to use IBM® InfoSphere® Master Data Management
Collaboration Server.
Attribute collections
An attribute collection is a group of item or category
attributes that is associated or behave the same way in a context.
Attribute collections are used for workflow step validation and catalog
and hierarchy views.
Catalogs
Catalogs are IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management
Collaboration Server containers
that are used to store items. InfoSphere MDM Collaboration Server can
have zero or more catalogs; however, an item can belong only to one
catalog.
Categories
Categories are used to classify items. In the same way
as a catalog contains items; a hierarchy contains categories.
Exports
You can create an export to distribute or publish product
information.
Global Data Synchronization (GDS)
Global data synchronization (GDS) is an ongoing
business process that enables continuous exchange of data between
trading partners to ensure synchronized information.
Hierarchies
A hierarchy, sometimes referred to as category tree (particularly
within IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management
Collaboration Server scripting),
is a structured "tree" of categories.
Items
An item is a representation of a product or other object.
Items can exist in a catalog only, where they can be categorized in
one or more categories, or unassigned. Items must be unique within
a catalog and can exist in one catalog only. However, items can be
referenced from another item or a category in one or more catalogs.
Imports
An import is a feed that inputs data from an external source
into IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management
Collaboration Server.
Location attributes
Locations allow an IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management
Collaboration Server solution
to maintain item and location-specific information.
Lookup tables
You use lookup tables to perform search and replace functions
within an item or category. You can also use lookup tables to validate data
that is contained in specific item or category fields.
Specs
A specification (spec) defines the data model (meta-model)
for items, categories, locations, import or export files, and lookup
tables.
IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management, Version 11.3