Model projects are collections of data elements that can be referenced by other projects in a workspace. The data elements you define in a model project represent the foundational data elements of the entire data model and are product-agnostic (not specific to any one Design Studio application feature cartridge project). Although data elements in a model project are intended to be product-agnostic, you can configure OSM-specific extensions to these data elements. Doing so defines OSM-specific configuration at the root data element, which allows the configuration to be inherited into a product-related context. OSM behaviors are an example of valid extensions to schema data elements in a model project. OSM-specific extensions to schema data elements are configured in the OSM tab of the Data Schema editor. See "Data Schema Editor OSM Tab" for more information.
The main benefit of model projects is that they provide a common and centralized repository of data models across Design Studio application feature cartridge projects, which enables consistent data typing in message interactions across your Operational Support Systems (OSS) environment.
When you right-click a model project and select Select Data Structure Definition, you either select an existing data structure definition or create a new data structure definition. After you create a data structure definition entity, you open it and define its attributes. Data structure definitions allow you to model complex data types in OSM. Complex data types, which can contain child elements, allow for the generic and reusable definition of both abstract (extendable) and concrete (final) data structures. See "Defining Order Data" for information about adding data structure definitions to an order.