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Data Model

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Conceptually each package is a collection of item IDs. There are certain ItemTypes that were introduced to support package functionality. The following represents the common set of items that defines an AML package:

  • PackageElement: it represents the ID number of the item that has been defined in the database.
  • PackageGroup: it represents the type of ItemType (Method, List, etc.) that the Package Elements are added from. This ItemType also defines the name of the folder the Package Element is exported to in the file structure.
  • PackageDefinition: it is the package itself. It represents the collection of package groups that makes up a package and allow for the grouping of one package separate from the next.
  • PackageDependsOn: it is a relationship type that establishes dependencies between packages
  • PackageReferencedElement: it is a relationship on the PackageDependsOn type that defines what exact package elements from the ‘related’ package the ‘source’ package references. This could be useful when packages are exported (checkbox ‘Export Referenced Items’ in Export tool; see section Export Tool for more details).
Note
No Package Element may belong to more than one AML package. This is to prevent conflicts when importing the packages if these two elements are not identical in each package. The import would have no way of knowing which AML the correct AML was to apply otherwise.

A newly installed Aras Innovator database contains Package Definitions of two types:

  • Core Packages: Packages that are used to define the basic structure of every Aras Innovator database, regardless of what solutions are used in the database.
  • Solution Packages: Packages that define the elements that comprise the definition and functional rules of different BRS’s data models.