Data: Objects, Property Values, and Relationships

You can think of any data as objects, property values, and relationships. When you store data with your tool, you can create objects, indicate how those objects are related to each other, and assign values to the properties of each of those objects or relationships. In the bookseller's tool, you can do the following:

• Create objects such as:
  • Moby Dick (a book)
    
    
  • Inside OLE (a book)
    
    
  • Microsoft Press (a publisher)
    
    
  • Kraig Brockschmidt (a person)
    
    
  • Herman Melville (a person)
• Indicate how those objects are related:
  • Herman Melville (a person) wrote Moby Dick (a book)
    
    
  • Kraig Brockschmidt (a person) wrote Inside OLE (a book)
    
    
  • Microsoft Press (a publisher) published Inside OLE (a book)
• Assign values for the properties of each of those objects:
  • Birthday (of Herman Melville) is November 12, 1819
    
    
  • Address (of Microsoft Press) is "One Microsoft Way"
• Assign values for the properties of each of the relationships:
  • Year of Publication (of Microsoft Press's publication of Inside OLE) is 1995

The following figure summarizes this data. The figure shows typical data about specific books, authors, and publishers. Because the data is typical, it helps you visualize the kinds of data that your tool must store.