Subject Area
Go Up to Conceptual Model Elements
Conceptual Modeling allows Business Users to create high-level designs of the core “concepts” and subject areas that drive the business, which can be passed onto data and process modelers to drive more detailed logical and physical design. A Subject Area can reference a collection of entities. You can embed the entities in the Subject Area, or you can have the Subject Area reference a diagram with multiple entities.
- A Subject Area can be Create Mapping/Edit Mapping to other Conceptual Model diagrams.
- The Subject Area presentation element in the Diagram View can be shown as an oval or a rectangle. You can set this as a global preference. You can also set the shape for each individual Subject Area in its Property View. Double-click on a Subject Area, select the Appearance tab in the Property View and then make your selection under the Shape option.
- Subject Areas can be expanded or collapsed. You can then view or hide Business Entities or other Subject Areas within the parent Subject Area. Right-click in a Subject Area in the Diagram View and select Show as Expanded. This is a toggle command.
- You can also elect to hide or show the expansion control in the Subject Area in the Diagram View. Right-click the Subject Area and select Show Expansion Control. Depending on the state of the element (expanded or contracted), a plus or minus symbol is placed in the bottom center of the Subject Area. This is a toggle command. You can also choose to show or hide the expansion control as a global preference.
- When a Subject Area is placed in the Diagram View, the label appears vertically centered. Once you add a child element the label is then relocated to the top center of the Subject Area.
- Once other Subject Areas have been placed within a Subject Area, these child items appear on the Impact Analysis tab under the “Heritage” (
) heading. You can view this Impact Analysis Report in the Property View for the Subject Area.
- Note: When a Business Entity is placed within a Subject Area, this is a mapping action and appears under the Mappings (
) heading in the Impact Analysis Report.
- The following example shows a simple, expanded Subject Area with three Business Entities. Business Entities contain Business Attributes which are properties of that entity.
- Note: To select multiple elements in the Subject Area, hold down the ALT key to invoke the marquee cursor.