Key Concepts

Pentaho Metadata Editor (PME) is a tool that builds Pentaho metadata domains and models. A Pentaho metadata model maps the physical structure of your database into a logical business model. These mappings are stored in a centralized metadata repository and allow administrators to:

  • create business-language definitions for complex database tables

  • decrease the cost and impact associated with low level database changes

  • set security parameters limiting user's report access to data

  • drive formatting on text, date and numeric data improving report maintenance

  • localize the information depending on the user's regional settings

The domain encapsulates all of the business objects created, stored and used in the metadata layer. A domain may consist of one or more connections, one or more models, security information, business tables, business views, categories, columns and concepts.

Metadata Editor

The Physical Layer of a Pentaho domain encompasses connections, physical tables and physical columns. These objects represent the database(s) you are trying to model and enrich with metadata. The Physical Layer is not considered part of the business model, because not all connections defined in the Physical Layer will be used in every business model.

Physical Layer

Today, multiple business models can be created in one domain, but those models must have one and only one connection reference. This means that you cannot mix and match physical tables from two different connections in the same model.

This prevents the model from supporting multiple data sources, as well as severely limits the Pentaho Metadata Editor's ability to allow table changes across connections, a feature necessary for moving from dev to production databases, for example. Fortunately, you can get around the latter with a bit of hand-editing XML.

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