Create an Entity

You can create an additional entity, which is a semantic object, for your project. For example, do this when you want to define a new entity that is represented by a table or field.

1. On the Microsoft English Query Insert menu, click Entity.
2. In the Words/phrases identifying entity box, type the words or phrases that identify the entity.
3. For example, for an entity that is represented by an Employee table, you could type: employee, worker, associate (with a comma after each entry). Note that the entries should appear in their singular forms, not in the plural. The Add Synonym button gives you another way to add these words.
4. In the Entity type box, select a type.
5. If the entity is not represented by a database object, select Entity is not associated with a database object. If the entity is represented by a database object (a table or field), you can continue to specify database properties, which reflect what type of data is in the table or field.
6. If the entity is represented by a table in your database, select Entire table is associated with this entity. Otherwise, for entities represented by fields, select a table and the specific field that represent the entity.

The following steps apply only when the entity is represented by one or more fields.

1. From the Name type box, select an option if the data represents the name of a person or thing.
2. To have English Query automatically add the values in the field or set of fields represented by the entity to the domain knowledge for this application, select Add values of this entity to the domain. Doing this ensures that specific questions about field values can be answered. The amount of time it takes to load these values when the application is tested or built depends on the number of field values in the database.

For information on the options in this dialog box, click .