In order to use the InfoSphere® MDM Workbench
effectively, you must first determine the business results you want
to achieve, and plan the extensions and additions you will need to
get those results.
Using your business requirements, determine whether you need to
create:
- A data addition, or entity addition,
is used to add a new business object, database table and associated
transactions to InfoSphere MDM.
For example, a new reminder business object may be added with associated addReminder, getReminder,
and updateReminder transactions to access data from
the new table. For more information see Data additions.
- A behavior extension is used to customize or add
new functions to an existing InfoSphere MDM transaction.
For example, sending a notification after running a particular transaction.
For more information, see Custom transactions.
- A data extension, also known as an entity type
extension, is used to add new data attributes to an existing
business object (this is called a first-level extension).
This can also be used to add new data attributes to an existing first-level data
extension to create an extension-on-extension or a second-level
extension. A data extension can be used to add a risk score
as an additional attribute to an existing business object definition.
For more information, see Data extensions.
- A query customization, which customizes the SQL that
is used to retrieve data from the database. For example, you can customize
the SQL used to retrieve the data for basic campaign information in
order to return specific information. For more information, see Query extensions.
Data
addition considerations
If you want to create (or model)
an entirely new business object, something that is not a default (out-of-the-box)
business object, with attributes and transactions that you choose
to include, then creating an addition with the MDM Workbench
model editor is likely the best choice.
If you plan to add still
more attributes to an addition that you created in the model editor
in the MDM Workbench, the recommended procedure is to use the MDM
Workbench model editor to edit the addition that you created rather
than creating an extension of it.
Data
extension considerations
If you want to extend a default
business object, one that came bundled with the application (for which
you do not have the source code), with one or more additional attributes,
then creating an extension with the MDM Workbench model
editor is likely the best choice.
If your application included
an existing extension of one of the core business objects (for example,
an extension of Party called XParty), and you want to extend this
bundled extension, you must use an extension to extend
that extension. This is known as an extension-on-extension,
or a second-level extension.
There are two types
of extensions possible:
When you are creating an extension, there are two options
in the
Development Module Model editor that
affect (1) whether a first-level extension can be extended by a second-level
extension and (2) how the first-level extension is extended by the
second-level extension.
- Add fields to base table: Select this to
create an inline extension, which modifies the base entity
database table instead of creating a separate database table. This
must be selected if you want to allow the first-level extension to
be extended by a second-level extension. The side-table extension method
is not supported for creating second-level extensions in
the MDM Workbench.
- Override base query: This option must be
the same on the first-level extension and any second-level extension
of the first-level extension. That is, if the first-level extension
overrides the base query, then its second-level extension must too.
If the first-level extension does not override the base
query, then its second-level extension also must not.