What are Reference Entities?

Reference entities contain information on a context that is not part of the business and it could be possible it comes from an external source e.g. currency codes.
It is also possible to store the history of the information with attached Satellites.

How to create Reference Entities in 3D?

  1. Define a separate entity; for example, Currency.
  2. Assign the standard code (the primary key) with the attribute type "Reference attribute".
  3. Assign the attribute type "Reference attribute" to any attributes that do not require history tracking.
  4. Assign the attribute type "Reference history attribute" to any attributes that do require history tracking (uses same functionality as Satellite creation).
  5. Ensure all attributes are defined with the correct source mappings.

The load and stage model currently has a workaround in place for integrating with WhereScape RED. That is the Business key attributes on Reference Satellites will be assigned as Hub hash key. However, it does introduce an issue if there exists a composite primary key on the Reference entity.

Changes to be made in RED?

If the Reference entity is defined as a composite primary key...

  1. Duplicate the target connection.
  2. Turn the "Enable automatic creation of indexes" setting off.
  3. Create the target location.
  4. Assign the target location to the Reference Satellite.
  5. Create the general indexes for a unique index over the primary key and start date attributes, and a unique index over primary key, change hash and start date attributes.

Example