This documentation supports the 20.02 version of BMC Helix Platform.To view the documentation for the current version, select 20.08 from the Product version menu.

Foundation data library and data model

BMC Helix Platform Foundation library provides a Foundation Common Data Model (CDM), also referred to as Foundation data. The Foundation data model is a way for applications in BMC Helix Innovation Studio to represent common data elements, such as person, organization, location, categorization, and geography. The Foundation library uses out-of-the-box data elements along with the extended data elements to store Foundation data. Each data element is represented by a record definition in the Foundation library.

Foundation record definitions

Foundation data is the data created within the following record definitions and their extended record definitions:

Out-of-the-box record definitions

Extended record definitions

Person

No extended record definitions

Organization

  • Primary Organization
  • Secondary Organization
    • Business Unit
    • Department
    • Support Group

Location

  • Region
  • Site
  • Site Area

Categorization

  • Operational category
  • Product category
  • Resolution category
  • Root Cause

Geography

  • Country
  • State/Province/District
  • City
  • Postal Code
  • Time Zones

Note

You cannot delete the out-of-the-box data elements, the fields provided in the out-of-the-box data elements, and the out-of-the-box association definitions.

When to use the extended Foundation record definitions

The Foundation CDM consists of out-of-the-box record definitions and the extended record definitions that you can use to build your application. 

Best practice
BMC recommends that you use the extended record definitions that are provided in Foundation library.

You should only create an extended record definition for the following situations:

  • You cannot use a type value to further classify the out-of-the-box data elements. 
    Example: The Department record definition uses the Type field to distinguish between the business and support departments.
  • The new record definition has distinct attributes that cannot be shared with any out-of-the-box data elements. 
  • The data within the extended record definitions will not have to coexist with other extended record definition from the same base record definition.

You can create new record definitions or create new extended record definitions to suit your business needs. For more information, see Defining-record-definitions-to-store-and-manage-data.

Related topic

Foundation-data-reference

 

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