Database hierarchy

The IEE database hierarchy organizes the configuration data objects (or entities), their attribute values, and the relationships of each object to other objects.

Configuration data includes organizational structure and the logical and physical devices within the IEE database. Organizational entities include Customer and Account. Logical and physical entities include Route A route or route element is a collection of service points that is read by mobile, handheld or fixed network collection systems on a specific schedule., Service Point The physical location (or locations) on a premise, where the utility company considers the commodity that it supplies (water, gas, energy, and so on), to be delivered to the customer. The service point(s) is not necessarily the same location on the premise where the commodity is metered. Service points are unaffected by meter and account changes. Some utilities and utility software refer to a service point alternatively as a point of delivery., and Meter.

The hierarchy reflects a data model where an object's unique configuration manages the database object. Each object configuration is the result of assigning values to each of the object's attributes. IEE supports the data model of customer, account, premise, service point, service point channel, meter channel, meter recording device, recording device, and communication parameters.

The database handles object configurations as independent entities and presents them as independent views in the hierarchical tree.

IEE does not retain the configuration change history to all entities. IEE stores only the current value. Entities that can change over time, such as Accounts, are called Temporal entities. Static entities, such as Customers, are called Non-Temporal entities. The hierarchical structure accommodates both object types:

  • Temporal entities have an effective start date and time, and an end date and time. The effective start date and end date time-stamps indicate the period that the entity was assigned a specific value.

    For example, the Account entity has the following values:

    Table 5 Entities
    Entity Start Date Start Date Time End Date End Date Time Value

    Account ABC

    11-01-2011

    midnight

    10/31/2011

    11:59 p.m.

    123

    Account ABC

    11-01-2012

    midnight

    11/30/13

    11:59 p.m.

    456

  • Changes in values do not affect the associations (links) between entities. Navigate to Advanced Configuration > Move In / Move Out for instructions on changing ownership of a meter.

  • Configuration values for non-temporal entities remain the same from beginning-of-time (BOT) to end-of-time (EOT). If the utility changes the values, IEE does not retain the change history. IEE retains only the current value.