EntityType Element (CSDLBI)

Important: This document is archived. For the latest information, refer to Open Specification [MS-CSDLBI]: Conceptual Schema Definition File Format with Business Intelligence Annotations.

The EntityType element is a complex type that represents the structure of a high-level entity, such as a customer or order, in a data model. The bi:EntityType element extends the definition of EntityType used in the Entity Data Framework.

An EntityType element must be specified for each of the entities that are included in the data model. The subelements of the EntityType describe the columns and measures in the table. Relationships among tables are included in the EntityContainer.

Elements and Attributes

The following table lists the elements and attributes that define the EntityType element. Also see the attributes applicable to the EntityType element.

Name	Is Required	Description
Contents	No	A string that contains the possible types of data in a column. The value is derived from the value of DimensionAttributeTypeEnumType in the data model. If the value of DimensionAttributeTypeEnumType is "ExtendedType", the value of Contents is derived from the ExtendedType element of DimensionAttribute. The client is not required to respond to these values.
DefaultDetails	No	A list of property references that represent the set of columns in the table. See DefaultDetails Element (CSDLBI).
DefaultImage	No	A reference to a column that contains the image that illustrates the entity. In multidimensional models, this element corresponds to a binary attribute on the dimension attribute. If this attribute is present, the element must contain exactly one MemberRef element. See MemberRef Element (CSDLBI).
DefaultMeasure	No	A reference to a measure in the entity that should be used as the default when making calculations over the entity. If not specified, the default is SUM. See MemberRef Element (CSDLBI).
DisplayKey	No	A list of references to columns or to role ends that constitutes a strong identifier that uniquely identifies an entity instance. See DisplayKey Element (CSDLBI).
Hierarchy	No	A list of hierarchies in the model. See Hierarchy Element (CSDLBI).
ReferenceName	Yes	An identifier that can be used to reference this entity in a Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) query. If this attribute is not present, the fully qualified field name of the entity is used.
SortMembers	No	A list of properties on which to sort. The SortDirection attribute indicates whether the order is ascending or descending.

Contents Element

The Contents element is a simple type that describes the type of data in the entity.

The contents of the entity (column) can be any of the following values:

Value	Description
Regular	Not otherwise defined.
Time	Attributes represent time periods, such as years, semesters, quarters, months, or days.
Geography	Attributes represent geographic information, such as cities or postal codes.
Organization	Attributes represent organizational information, such as employees or subsidiaries.
BillOfMaterials	Attributes represent inventory or manufacturing information, such as a parts lists for products.
Accounts	Attributes represent a chart of accounts for financial reporting.
Customers	Attributes represent customer or contact information.
Products	Attributes represent product information.
Scenario	Attributes represent planning or strategic analysis information.
Quantitative	Attributes represent quantitative information.
Utility	Attributes represent miscellaneous information.
Currency	Contains currency data and metadata.
Rates	Attributes represent currency rate information.
Channel	Attributes represent channel information.
Promotion	Attributes represent marketing promotion information.

Example Tabular

The following sample shows part of the CSDLBI version 1.1 representation of the Geography table used in the AdventureWorks tabular model. The RowNumber column is a hidden column that is generated automatically as a row identifier in tabular models, and hence has the Contents attribute, RowNumber.

  
<EntityType   
     Name="DimGeography">  
     <Key>  
        <PropertyRef Name="RowNumber" />  
     </Key>  
     <Property   
        Name="RowNumber"   
        Type="Int64" Nullable="false">  
     <bi:Property   
        Hidden="true"   
        Contents="RowNumber"   
        Stability="RowNumber" />  
     </Property>  
....  
  

Example Multidimensional

The following sample shows the EntityType elements in CSDLBI version 1.1 that represent a portion of a time dimension from the Contoso Operations cube.

<EntityType   
       Name="CalendarQuarter">  
    <Key>  
       <PropertyRef Name="RowNumber" />  
    </Key>  
  
    <Property Name="RowNumber"   
       Type="Int64"   
       Nullable="false">  
    <bi:Property   
       Hidden="true"   
       Contents="RowNumber"   
       Stability="RowNumber"   
    />  
    </Property>  
  
    <Property Name="CalendarQuarter2"   
       Type="String"   
       MaxLength="Max"   
       Unicode="true"   
       FixedLength="false"   
       Nullable="false">  
    <bi:Property   
       Caption="CalendarQuarter"   
       ReferenceName="CalendarQuarter"   
    />  
    </Property>  
   <bi:EntityType />  
</EntityType>