How to Read a Business Object Model

Purpose of this Document

This document is intended to explain how to read and interpret a Business Object Model. A Business Object Model
is a structured way of representing business facts about information usage and information needs within an
organization. Specifically this guide is intended to assist State Agency representatives in their review of the pre-
session materials.

Overview of a Business Object Model

• The Business Object Model is a view of your world of objects and their associations.
• The purpose of the model is to define the information requirements, within the area of focus.
• It contains facts about the business that are considered relevant.
• The model reads like English language sentences. Therefore, the notation style supports non-modelers
navigating the model with no formal training.
• The model is independent of technology, available data, etc. It contains the natural facts of the real world, not
data or data bases (meaning it is not a data model).
• Initially, the model can be used to clarify terminology and define key business concepts. Later, the model can be
used as a guide in technology efforts.

Model Documentation
• The model is documented in two ways:
• Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD)
• Supporting text.
• The components of Business Object Modeling are explained below, along with how they are represented on the
ERD.

Business Object Model Glossary

Entities ENTITY

Representation: Entities are displayed in a rectangle with capital letters and are named with nouns or noun
phrases.
Definition: An entity represents a category of things that exist within the business. They have
independent existence.

Entity ENTITY

Hierarchies ENTITY
SUPER TYPE
SUB TYPE A

ENTITY
SUB TYPE B

Representation: Hierarchies are shown as boxes connected with thick lines.

Definition: A subset of things than can be categorized. Also referred to as supertype and subtype
entities.

Associative
Entities ENTITY 1 relates to ENTITY 2

ASSOCIATIVE
ENTITY

Representation: A box connected to a diamond with a thick line.

Definition: A relationship (see below) that is useful to consider as a ‘thing’ (i.e. an entity).
Simple
Relationships ENTITY 1 relates to ENTITY 2

Representation: Relationships are named with verbs or verb phrases and are displayed in a diamond with
lower case letters. Use the ‘*’ to start your sentence.
Definition: An association between two things. It cannot exist by itself, without the entities. NOTE: an
entity occurrence does not have to participate in a relationship.

Complex
Relationships ENTITY 1 relates to ENTITY 2

in ENTITY 3

Representation: To read, start with the ‘*’ and read to the blank entity link first. Then read to the entities with
the additional words on the entity links.
Definition: A relationship among more than two things.

Multi-Member
Relationship ENTITY 1 relates to ENTITY 2

Links
ENTITY 3

Representation: A large dot attached to a relationship diamond.

Definition: One of many possible entities could participate in a relationship. This is an ‘or’ condition.

Relationship
<ROLE>
Roles ENTITY 1 relates to ENTITY 2

Representation: Pointed brackets on a relationship link: < >

Definition: A name used to define an entity when it participates in a relationship.

Relationship (Specific Role)

<ROLE>
Roles in Other ENTITY 1 relates to ENTITY 2

Relationships
Representation: Parentheses on a relationship link: ( )
Definition: On some relationship links, only an entity that plays a specific role will participate in the
relationship. Although the entity participates in a role, it is not defined by its participation in the
relationship.

Cardinality for an Entity Cardinality

Entity
ENTITY 1 relates to ENTITY 2

Representation: Only values are: “1” for one or “M” for many. They are placed next to the relationship
diamond.
Definition: Indicates how many times a single entity occurrence can participate in a relationship.
Cardinality for a
ENTITY 1 relates to
Relationship ENTITY 2

Relationship Cardinality

Representation: Only values are: “1” for one or “M” for many. They are placed next to the entity.
Definition: Indicates how many entity occurrences can participate in a single relationship occurrence.

Attributes
Representation: None. They are captured and documented in the text.
Definition: A descriptive characteristic of an entity or a relationship. Can also be:
• Unique (U): one or a combination of attributes uniquely identifies an entity or relationship
occurrence.
• Repeating (R): for one entity or relationship occurrence, an attribute may have multiple
values.
• Derivable (D): the value of the attribute is calculated from other attributes.