The study of UDM is guided by ideas discussed in the book Data Model Resource Book by Len Silverston and our experience with it in Apache OFBiz.
Book Link: Data Model Resource Book, Volume 1
Required reading: The first five chapters of Data Model book.
Key Takeaways:
- What Is the Intent of This Book and These Models?
- Conventions and Standards Used in This Book
- Naming Conventions for an Entity
- Role of Entity with the Suffix
TYPEin their Name - Subtypes and Supertypes: Subtypes Represent Possible Classifications
- Non-Mutually Exclusive Sets of Subtypes
- Conventions Used in Attribute Naming
- Intersection or Association Entities to Handle Many-to-Many Relationships (also known as associative or cross-reference entities)
- Data Model Patterns
- General Entity Overview
- Design a Taxonomy
Prerequisite: Prepare a dataset based on the following prompts:
- What are the attributes or characteristics of the people (students and college staff) and organizations (university/college, its departments) involved in college education?
- What relationships exist between various people, between various organizations, and between people and organizations?
- What are the addresses, phone numbers, and other contact mechanisms of people and organizations, and how can they be contacted?
- What types of communication or contacts have occurred between various parties, and what is necessary to effectively follow up on these communications?
Activity:
- Read chapter 2 of the Universal Data Model book.
- Party
- Contact Mechanism
Prerequisite: Prepare a dataset based on the following prompts:
- Visit your online shopping account history.
- Prepare a list of products.
- Add pricing and category details for each product.
- Lookup product bundles on Amazon and take note of the bundle product name and the names of products included in the bundle.
- Example: Kodak Instant Camera Bundle
- Example: Remarkable Starter Bundle
Activity:
- Read chapter 3 of the Universal Data Model book.
- Product
- Product Feature
- Category
- Product Associations
Prerequisite: Prepare a dataset based on the following prompts:
- Visit your online shopping account history.
- Prepare a list of your online orders.
- Download your online orders and store them as JSON formatted file.
- If JSON download is not available from the online store then manually create JSON file of each online order.
Activity:
- Read chapter 4 of the Universal Data Model book.
- Order
- Design OMS
Prerequisite: Prepare a dataset based on the following prompts:
- Visit your online shopping account history.
- Prepare a list of your online order shipment notifications.
- You may have emails from the merchant notifing you that your order is shipped.
- Prepare JSON formatted data for each shipment you have received. Make sure you capture the key data points like items shipped in the shipment, tracking number, shipping carrier, shipping date, estimated delivery date, and shipment status
Activity:
- Read chapter 5 of the Universal Data Model book.
- Shipment