System Views (SV) [Physical, Specification or Solution Views]

SV-11 Physical Schema v1.2

The SV-11 View defines the structure of the various kinds of system data that are utilised by the systems in the Architecture.

Background:

The Physical Schema is one of the Architectural Products closest to actual system design in the Framework. SV-11 is used to describe how the information represented in the Information Model (OV-7) is actually implemented.

While the mapping between the logical and physical data models is relatively straightforward, the relationship between the components of each model (e.g. entity types in the logical model versus relational tables in the physical model) is frequently one-to-many or many-to-many.

Usage:

Data objects:

The data in an SV-11 can include:

Representation:

Use of XML is to be considered in future versions of MODAF.

Detailed Product Description:

SV-11 is the View that allows implementation-level detail of data structures to be modelled.

The View serves several purposes, including

Note that MODAF talks about ‘information’ in the Operational Viewpoint and ‘data’ in the System Viewpoint. The intention of this is that OV-7 describes information of importance to the business (e.g. information products that might be referred to in doctrine, SOPs etc.) whereas SV-11 describes data relevant at the system level.

SV-11 is an implementation-oriented Data Model that is used in the System Viewpoint to describe how the information requirements represented in Information Model (OV-7) are actually implemented. Entities represent


Example SV-11 (Source: DCSA)

There should be a mapping from a given Information Model to the Physical Data Model if both models are used.

For some purposes, an Entity relationship style diagram of the physical database design will suffice. References to message format standards (which identify message types and options to be used) may suffice for message oriented implementations.

Descriptions of file formats may be used when file passing is the mode used to exchange information. A Data Definition Language (e.g. Structured Query Language, SQL) may also be used in the cases where shared databases are used to integrate systems. Interoperating systems may use a variety of techniques to exchange system data and have several distinct partitions in their SV-11 with each partition using a different form.

Standards associated with entities are also often identified in the development of the SV-11 View Product; these should be recorded in the TV-1 Standards Profile.

Structural Assertions – these involve static aspects of business rules – are best captured in the Physical Data Model (SV-11)

UML provides a natural language for developing physical schema (via class diagrams).


Example SV-11 (UML)

Note that an SV-11 View Product may simply be a text schema.

Page version 1.2, dated 1st July 2008

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