Model Designer Object Properties

A report model consists of three parts:

• Semantic Model: A semantic model contains your business model of the data, which is described in terms of familiar names such as Products or Customers.

• Physical Model: A physical model contains a physical description of the database with optional transformations, such as defined queries within the Data Source View, to more closely correspond to the business model that you want.

• Mapping: A mapping describes how the semantic model is represented within a physical model and binds semantic objects to their corresponding physical objects.

Each report model created by Report Model Designer contains exactly one semantic model, one physical model, and one mapping.

A report model is written in Semantic Model Definition Language (SMDL), which is XML-based. A SMDL file is used to create models when calling the report server Web service. The namespace URI for SMDL is https://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/YYYY/MM/semanticmodeling, where YYYY/MM indicates the date of the release of that version of SMDL. The standard file extension for SMDL files is .smdl. The MimeType to use for SMDL files is simply text/xml. All identifiers in SMDL are case-sensitive and match using Invariant culture. In this documentation, SMDL elements are discussed as objects and collections.

This section discusses the different properties associated with a model and that can be assigned within Model Designer.

In This Section

Collection/Object	Properties	Description
Semantic Model Object	ID, Description, Version, Entities, Culture, Perspectives, CustomProperties, DataSourceView	Defines the entire model.
Attribute Object	Name, DataType, Nullable, Expression, SortDirection, Width, Alignment, MimeType, DataCulture, DiscourageGrouping, EnableDrillthrough, Format, ContextualName, IsAggregate, IsFilter, OmitSecurityFilters, DefaultAggregateAttributeID, ValueSelection, Binding	Defines an attribute of an entity.
AttributeReference Object	Path, AttributeID	Contains a reference to an attribute along with an optional path that can be used to reach that attribute.
Binding Object		Contains the information about how an entity, attribute, role, or inheritance binds to a physical data source.
Column Object	TableName, Name	Defines the column to which an entity or attribute is bound.
CustomProperties Collection	CustomProperty	Allows model design tools to store implementation-specific properties.
CustomProperty Object	Name, Value	Contains application-specific data.
DefaultAggregateAttributes Collection	AttributeReference	Contains references to the aggregate attributes to be shown when a summary of multiple instances of this entity is displayed.
DefaultDetailAttributes Collection	AttributeReference	Contains references to the attributes to be shown when an instance of this entity is displayed.
DefaultSecurityFilter Object	AttributeReference	Contains the attribute that is used as a filter on the entity if no security filters are present.
Entities Collection	EntityFolderItem	Contains an ordered list of entities and entity folders in the model.
Entity Object	CollectionName, UniqueConstraints, IdentifyingAttributes, DefaultDetailAttributes, DefaultAggregateAttributes, SortAttributes, InstanceSelection, IsLookup, Inheritance, DisjoinInheritance, Fields, SecurityFilters, DefaultSecurityFilter, Binding	Defines an entity within the model.
EntityFolder Object	Entities	Defines a folder that contains entities (and entity folders).
Field Object	Variations	Defines a field (attribute or role) of an entity.
FieldFolder Object	Fields	Defines a folder that contains fields (and field folders).
Fields Collection	FieldFolderItem	Contains an ordered list of fields (attributes and roles) and field folders for the entity.
HiddenFields Collection	FieldFolderItemID	Contains references to the fields and field folders that should not be displayed for the role's target entity when the role is used to reach the entity.
IdentifyingAttributes Collection	AttributeReference	Contains references to the attributes used to identify an instance of the entity to the user.
Inheritance Object	InheritsFromEntityID, Binding	Defines how the entity inherits from another entity.
Linguistics Collection	SingularName, PluralName	Defines linguistic properties of a role.
ModelItem Object	ID, Name, Description, Hidden, CustomProperties	Defines an element of the model: an entity, entity folder, field, or field folder.
ModelItems Collection	ModelItemID	Contains a list of model items in the perspective.
Perspective Object	ID, Name, Description, ModelItems, CustomProperties	Identifies a subset of the model to provide to users as a submodel.
Perspectives Collection	Perspective	Contains a list of perspectives of the model, for example, model subsets.
Recursion Object	Recursive, IncludeSelf	Defines recursive traversal properties of a role.
Relation Object	Name, RelationEnd	Defines the relation to which a Role or Inheritance is bound.
Role Object	Name, Linguistics, RelatedRoleID, Cardinality, ContextualName, HiddenFields, ExpandInline, PromoteLookup, Preferred, Recursion, Binding	Defines a role (a related entity) of an entity.
SecurityFilters Collection	AttributeReference	Contains attributes which should be used as filters on the entity.
SortAttribute Object	AttributeReference, SortDirection	Contains a reference to an attribute on which to sort.
SortAttributes Collection	SortAttribute	Contains references to attributes on which to sort.
Table Object	Name	Defines the table to which an entity is bound.
Variations Collection	Field	Contains fields which are considered variations of the containing field.

See Also

Concepts

Designing and Implementing Reports Using Report Builder 1.0

Working with Model Designer

Model Designer How-to Topics

Model Designer F1 Help