4.3 Physical View

The basis of a data model is the physical view, which specifies a set of database tables and the joins that relate them. The physical view does not represent a particular query that retrieves specific fields, but rather outlines the full join structure that will enable arbitrary queries to be generated on an ad hoc basis. When an end-user or report developer accesses a set of attributes in a data model, the joins that you have pre-specified in the physical view will permit the necessary query to be constructed automatically.

 

A physical view is not directly accessed by report designers or end users. Designers and users have access only to the logical models defined from the physical view. The goal in creating a physical view is therefore to transform the generic database schema into a business-friendly schema, a set of tables and joins to provide the information desired by report designers and end users.

If you make a change to the structure of the database schema, press the 'Refresh Metadata' button on the toolbar to update the physical view.

Physical views are independent of one another; that is, relationships in one physical view do not impact relationships defined in a different physical view. You can create multiple physical views from a given data source, and it is common practice to model a single schema with multiple overlapping physical views. However, a given data model relies on just a single physical view.

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