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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2024-10-04
Concept: Business Objects, Data Sources, and Fields

Concept: Business Objects, Data Sources, and Fields

Business Objects

Workday stores data in business objects . A business object has fields and instances, which are similar to rows and columns in a spreadsheet. Each row is an instance, and each column represents an attribute or field related to that instance.
Example: Logan McNeil and Teresa Serrano are each an instance of the Worker business object. The Worker business object contains fields such as
Job Title
,
Age
,
Gender
, and
Dependents
.
Worker (Self-Referencing)
Job Title (Text)
Age (Numeric)
Gender (Single Instance)
Dependents (Multi-instance)
Logan McNeil
Chief Human Resources Officer
47
Female
Megan McNeil
Pat McNeil
Teresa Serrano
Chief Financial Officer
61
Female
Juan-Carlos Serrano
Pablo Serrano
Workday links related business objects together through single instance or multi-instance fields. Related business objects enable you to access fields in a report that don’t belong to the primary business object.
Example: The Worker business object has a multi-instance field called
Dependents
.
Dependents
 has a related business object of Dependent. In a report with a primary business object of Worker, you can use the
Dependents
 field to access the fields belonging to the Dependent business object.
Run the
Business Object Details
 report to view:
  • Custom and standard reports that use the business object.
  • Data sources using the business object as the primary business object.
  • Fields associated with the business object.
  • Related business objects.

Data Sources

When you create a report, you must select a data source. Each data source contains instances of a business object, which serves as the primary business object of the data source. Multiple data sources can have the same primary business object. Example: Both the
All Workers
 and
Workers for HCM Reporting
 data sources have Worker as the primary business object.
Workday delivers many data sources. Example:
Workers for HCM Reporting
,
Journal Lines for Financial Reporting
. Consider selecting a data source with a primary business object that includes a majority of the fields you need.
Some data sources return all instances of the primary business object, such as
All Workers
. Some data sources also include:
  • Built-in filters that limit the number of business object instances. Example:
    All Active Employees
    .
  • Prompts that you can use when running the report. Example:
    Employees by Organization
    .
Workday secures data sources and data source filters by security domains. Different domains might secure a data source and its data source filters. Example: Many domains secure the
Workers for HCM Reporting
 data source, but only the
Worker Data: Headcount Reports
 and
Worker Data: Turnover Summary
 domains secure the
Workers by Role
 filter on the data source.
From the related actions menu of a data source, you can:
  • Select
    Custom Report
    Create
     to create a custom report using the data source.
  • View
    Alternate Data Source
     and
    Alternate Data Source Filter
     for a deprecated data source, if available.
Run the
Data Sources
 report to view these data source details:
  • Built-in prompts.
  • Data source filters.
  • Permitted security groups.
  • Primary business object.

Fields

Workday supports field types such as:
  • Boolean
  • Numeric
  • Text
  • Single instance
  • Multi-instance
Workday secures fields by security domains. Users must have access to the security domain to:
  • Use the field in a report definition.
  • View data in that field when running the report.
You can only use some fields in certain areas of Workday, such as
Business Rules
 or
Compensation Eligibility
. To see where you can use a field, click its related actions menu and check the
Authorized Usage
. If a field has an
Authorized Usage
 value of
Default Areas
, you can use that field in any area.
Run the
Report Fields
 report to view details such as:
  • Business object name.
  • Field description.
  • Field type.