A business object is an object that has a set of attributes and values, operations, and relationships to other business objects. Business objects contain business data and model the business behaviour.
Unlike a business object, a database object does not model behavior. A database object is a self-contained software entity that consists of both data and functions to manipulate data. A business object might comprise of one or more database objects.
Every business object has a fixed set of properties that identify the business object type. The properties also specify how the database can use the business object.
Information about a business object, which is referred to as the metadata, is stored in the database in database tables. Business objects include the following metadata:
There are two types of business objects: persistent business objects and nonpersistent business objects. A persistent business object stores attribute values in a database. A nonpersistent business object does not store any metadata. Data in a nonpersistent business object is transient and is never stored in the database.
The metadata for a persistent business object represents the data in a database table or view.
The metadata that is associated with the business objects is used to manage the database objects. As a result, a database table or view is always required to be associated with a persistent business object.