--- title: Create an Entity ms.custom: "" ms.date: "03/01/2017" ms.prod: sql ms.prod_service: "mds" ms.reviewer: "" ms.technology: master-data-services ms.topic: conceptual helpviewer_keywords: - "entities [Master Data Services], creating" - "creating entities [Master Data Services]" ms.assetid: d9a6a51e-7b53-4785-a118-3baeb7ca2d48 author: lrtoyou1223 ms.author: lle --- # Create an Entity (Master Data Services) [!INCLUDE[appliesto-ss-xxxx-xxxx-xxx-md-winonly](../includes/appliesto-ss-xxxx-xxxx-xxx-md-winonly.md)] In [!INCLUDE[ssMDSshort](../includes/ssmdsshort-md.md)], create an entity to contain members and their attributes. ## Prerequisites To perform this procedure: - You must have permission to access the **System Administration** functional area. - You must be a model administrator. For more information, see [Administrators (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/administrators-master-data-services.md). - A model must exist. For more information, see [Create a Model (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/create-a-model-master-data-services.md). ### To create an entity 1. In [!INCLUDE[ssMDSmdm](../includes/ssmdsmdm-md.md)], click **System Administration**. 2. On the **Manage Model** page, from the grid, select the model that you want to create entity for and then click **Entities**. 3. On the **Manage Entity** page, click **Add**. 4. In the **Name** box, type the name of the entity. 5. Optionally, in the **Description** field, type the entity description. 6. Optionally, in the **Name for staging tables** box, type a name for the staging table. If you do not complete this field, the entity name is used. > [!TIP] > Use the model name as part of the staging table name, for example *Modelname_Entityname*. This makes the tables easier to find in the database. For more information about the staging tables, see [Overview: Importing Data from Tables (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/overview-importing-data-from-tables-master-data-services.md). > [!TIP] > If using the default naming for Staging tables, MDS will automatically append identifiers (e.g. _1, _2) to the staging table names if an entity with same name exists in another Model. 7. For the **Transaction Log Type** field, choose the transaction log type in the drop-down list. For more information, see [Change the Entity Transaction Log Type (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/change-the-entity-transaction-log-type-master-data-services.md) 8. Optional. Select the **Create Code values automatically** check box. For more information, see [Automatic Code Creation (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/automatic-code-creation-master-data-services.md). 9. Optional. Select the **Enable data Compression** checkbox. By default the row compression is turned on. For more information , see [Data Compression](../relational-databases/data-compression/data-compression.md). 10. Click **Save**. ## Grid Columns For each created entity, a row with thirteen columns is added to the grid. The following are the columns. |Name|Description| |----------|-----------------| |Status|The entity status. When you click **Save** the following image is displayed that indicates that the entity is updating.

![Icon for updating status](../master-data-services/media/mds-statusicon-updating.png "Icon for updating status")

If there are errors when creating or editing an entity, the following image is displayed.

![Icon for error status](../master-data-services/media/mds-statusicon-error.png "Icon for error status")

If the status is OK, then the following image is displayed.

![Icon for OK status](../master-data-services/media/mds-statusicon-ok.png "Icon for OK status")| |Name|The entity name.| |Description|The entity description.| |Staging Table|The prefix name of the table that is used for storing data.| |Transaction Log Type|The transaction log type of the entity.| |Automatic Code Creation|Specifies whether automatic code creation is enabled.| |Data Compression|Specifies whether data compression is enabled for the entity.| |Is Sync Target|Specifies if the entity is the target of a sync relationship.| |Is Hierarchy Enabled|Specifies if the entity is enabled for explicit hierarchies. This column shows Yes if at least one explicit hierarchy is created for the entity.| |Created By|The username of the user who created the entity.| |Created On|The date and time when the entity was created.| |Updated By|The username of the user who last updated the entity.| |Updated On|The date and time when the entity was last updated.| ## Next Steps - [Create a Text Attribute (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/create-a-text-attribute-master-data-services.md) - [Create a Domain-Based Attribute (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/create-a-domain-based-attribute-master-data-services.md) - [Create a File Attribute (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/create-a-file-attribute-master-data-services.md) ## See Also [Entities (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/entities-master-data-services.md) [Explicit Hierarchies (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/explicit-hierarchies-master-data-services.md) [Edit an Entity (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/edit-an-entity-master-data-services.md) [Delete an Entity (Master Data Services)](../master-data-services/delete-an-entity-master-data-services.md)