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Introducing Tools for Business Logic : Concepts : Design output : Model storage options
 
Model storage options
You must choose one of two formats for storage of your component models:
*XMI (EMF Ecore file)
*OpenEdge database
You set your own preference for your local workspace, a global setting that applies to all projects. In a typical collaborative environment, all users should select the same format. This topic explains the implications of both choices.

XMI storage

XMI is an XML-based file format that is gaining acceptance as a standard application modeling persistence and transport mechanism (see http://www.eclipse.org/emf/ for more information). Advantages of this format include:
*You can maintain multiple model files and assign each individual components to the model of your choice.
*The file format is readily usable with UML modeling tools.
Limitations of the XMI format include:
*Because the model is a flat file, only one user can have write access to it at any given time.
*Complex models result in very large files that can be relatively difficult to share.
*The Application Schema Explorer does not support the display of XMI model content. If using XMI storage, you must generate source code, and update a Meta Catalog with that code, before you can see the content in the Application Schema Explorer. (See the Meta Catalog volume in Progress Developer Studio for OpenEdge help.)

Database storage

If you use database storage, you are limited to a single model. All components that you create belong to that model. However, database storage offers the following advantages:
*Multiple users can access the model concurrently.
*The Application Schema Explorer displays the model content with no requirement to generate code.