DataWorks:Logical model: Application table

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A Data Layer to place the table in. Application Tables are typically placed in the Application Data Service (ADS) Layer of the Application Layer, but you can use any layer that matches your requirements. See Define a data layer.

• A Data Mart or Subject Area that defines the business context for the statistical data. See Data Mart and Subject Area.

• A Period that defines the time range for the data. See Period.

Create an application table

1. Go to the Data Modeling page. Log on to the DataWorks console. In the top navigation bar, select the desired region. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Data Development and O\&M \> Data Modeling. On the page that appears, select the desired workspace from the drop-down list and click Go to Data Modeling.

2. On the Data Modeling page, click Dimensional Modeling in the top menu bar.

3. On the Dimensional Modeling page, hover over the icon and click Logical Model \> Create Application Table.

4. Configure the basic information for the Application Table.

   Parameter	Description
   Data layer	The Data Layer where the Application Table resides. The Application Data Service (ADS) Layer is selected by default—use this for most business reporting scenarios. See Define a data layer.
   Mart/Subject	The Data Mart or Subject Area that defines the business context. See Data Mart and Subject Area.
   Granularity	The dimension that defines the table's Granularity—for example, a product dimension or seller dimension. See Create a conceptual model: Dimension.
   Period	The time range for the statistical data, such as Last 1 Day or Last 7 Days. Select from existing Periods, or create one if none fits your requirements. See Period.
   Modifier	The business scope of the statistical data. Select from existing Modifiers, or create one if none fits your requirements. See Modifier.
   Naming rule	A checker that enforces table naming conventions. Select a checker configured for a Data Layer during data warehouse planning. See Configure a data layer checker and Use a checker.
   Name	The name of the Application Table. If a Naming Rule is configured, the name must comply with the rule.
   Display name	The display name of the table.
   Lifecycle	The retention period in days. The maximum is 36,000 days.
   Owner	The owner of the Application Table. Defaults to the user who created the table.
   Description	A description of the table.

   

5. Click Save in the upper-left corner.

Add fields to the table

Add Fields using Shortcut Mode or Script Mode:

• Shortcut Mode — a visual interface for importing fields from existing tables/views or from metrics. Use this when you want to build quickly from data that already exists in a compute engine, or when you prefer point-and-click configuration.

• Script Mode — a code editor for defining the model directly in script form. Use this for bulk configuration, reproducible workflows, or when integrating with version control.

Shortcut mode: import from Table/View

Import Fields from an existing physical table or view in a compute engine.

Note

Currently, you can only import Fields from tables or views in MaxCompute, Hologres, and E-MapReduce (EMR) Hive engines.

1. In Shortcut Mode, click Import from Table/View next to Expand.

2. In the Search for Existing Table/View box, enter a keyword to find a table or view. The search supports fuzzy matching and does not include tables in the development environment. After selecting a table, choose to import all or some of its Fields:

   • The icon imports all Fields.

   • The icon imports a selection of Fields.

3. If you choose to import a selection, select the Fields you want and click Import.

4. For any imported Field with an empty Field Display Name, populate it with the Field's description.

Shortcut mode: import from Metrics

Import Derived Metrics directly as Fields.

1. In Shortcut Mode, click Import from Metrics next to Quick Import.

2. In the window that appears, select the Derived Metrics to add as Fields. Filter by Period, Business Process, Modifier, or Atomic Metric to narrow the list.

3. Click Import.

Script mode

Click Script Mode to open an editor pre-populated with modeling code based on your current configuration. Edit as needed and click OK.

Configure field information

After adding Fields, configure the following properties for each field.

1. Review and edit Field properties. The Field list shows basic properties by default: Field Name, Data Type, Field Display Name, Description, Primary Key, Not Null, Measurement Unit, and Actions. Click Field Display Settings in the upper-right corner to show or hide additional properties.

2. Set the Associated Field Standard for Fields. A Field Standard unifies data that shares the same meaning across different Field names by defining common value ranges, units of measure, and other attributes. Associating a Field with a Field Standard normalizes its value content and range.

3. Set the Redundant Field. In a traditional star schema, dimensions are stored in dimension tables and accessed through foreign keys in the fact table to reduce storage consumption. In Intelligent Data Modeling, designate frequently used Fields—such as user IDs or common analytical dimensions—as Redundant Fields to improve downstream query efficiency, simplify data access, and reduce table joins. In the Actions column for a Field, click Redundant Field to configure its associated Fields.

   

4. Set the Associated Granularity/Metric. For Aggregate Tables and Application Tables, for each Field, set an Association Type to specify what the field's value represents: After setting the type, specify the exact object to associate with the Field in the Field Association column.

   • Statistical Granularity — associates the Field with a dimension table and its Fields, such as a product dimension or seller dimension.

   • Derived Metric — specifies the Derived Metric the Field represents, such as the total payment amount for orders placed on the Hema App in the last 7 days.

   • Atomic Metric — specifies the Atomic Metric the Field represents, such as the total payment amount.

   For Fields imported from a table or added in Script Mode, no default association type is set. Set the association type manually.

5. Click Save in the upper-left corner.

What's next

After creating the Application Table, configure field management, associations, and partition settings, then publish the table to the target environment:

• Materialize a Logical Model

• Generate ETL code based on a model

• Model management and application