Define a logical data object model to create a unified model of data in an enterprise. The data in an enterprise might reside in multiple disparate source systems such as relational databases and flat files. A logical data object model represents the data from the perspective of the business regardless of the source systems. Create a logical data object model to study data, describe data attributes, and define the relationships among attributes.

For example, customer account data from American Bank resides in an Oracle database, and customer account data from California Banks resides in an IBM DB2 database. You want to create a unified model of customer accounts that defines the relationship between customers and accounts. Create a logical data object model to define the relationship.

You can import a logical data object model from a modeling tool. You can also import a logical data object model from an XSD file that you created in a modeling tool. Or, you can manually create a logical data object model in the Developer tool.

You add a logical data object model to a project or folder and store it in the Model repository.

To allow end users to run SQL queries against a logical data object, include it in an SQL data service. Make the logical data object the source for a virtual table. To allow end users to access a logical data object over the Web, include it in a web service. Make the logical data object the source for an operation.