Data vs object components

DataStar has two kinds of template. Before you create one, you need to know which you're after.

The difference in one line

• A data component template describes how to extract and deploy rows in a table: configuration, reference data, lookup values.
• An object component template describes how to extract and deploy database objects: tables, views, stored procedures, functions, triggers.

What each one generates

Data component

A re-runnable script that reconciles the source rows with the target table using a MERGE (or equivalent) statement, wrapped in a transaction with a metadata header and a change-summary output. Environment-agnostic and re-runnable; identity keys are resolved at deploy time via alternative keys and lookups, so you never ship transient IDs between environments.

Object component

A single-object DDL script (SQL Server: CREATE OR ALTER; Oracle: CREATE OR REPLACE) extracted straight from the live database and versioned in your workspace. DataStar wraps the raw DDL with a small header comment and, on SQL Server, GO separators and an optional IF EXISTS guarded DROP for table types.

How to choose

You're working with…	Pick
Rows in a configuration, reference, or lookup table	Data component
A table structure (columns, constraints, indexes)	Object component (type Table)
A view, stored procedure, function, or trigger	Object component
A hand-written script that runs once (DDL migration, data fix)	Neither; use a static script

Most workspaces use both: object components for the schema, data components for the rows, and a handful of static scripts for one-off fixes.

Template files

Both kinds are XML files. They differ by the root element:

data-component.xml

<DataComponent Name="..." Category="..." DeleteEnabled="true">
  <Table Id="1" Name="...">
    ...
  </Table>
</DataComponent>

object-component.xml

<ObjectComponent Name="..." Category="..." Schema="...">
  <SchemaObject Name="..." Type="View"/>
</ObjectComponent>

Each has its own XSD, so a text editor with schema support will autocomplete the right elements for you. DataStar's built-in template editor uses these XSDs directly: open a template from Workspace ▸ Data Templates / Object Templates, then press Ctrl+Space in any attribute value (or just type " after an attribute name) for a list of allowed values.

Starting a new template

You can either author the XML directly in your favourite editor, or seed one from DataStar:

• Workspace ▸ New Data Template opens a fresh editor tab pre-filled with a usable <DataComponent> scaffold.
• Workspace ▸ New Object Template does the same for <ObjectComponent>.

Either menu item names the new file tentatively (DataComponent1.xml, ObjectComponent1.xml); use Save As to commit it to your workspace's templates/ folder under whatever name you want.

Where to next

• Creating your first data component: Create a data component template.
• Creating your first object component: Create an object component template.
• Generating many components from one template: Generate components in bulk.