# What Is an Entity? An **Entity** in the ONEWEB platform represents a **logical group of business attributes** that together form a single business object.\ Common examples of entities include **Customer**, **Order**, **Product**, or **Invoice**. In ONEWEB, an Entity acts as the **foundation of Smart Forms**.\ The first step in creating any Smart Form is defining the appropriate Entity, as it determines: * What data is captured * How data is structured * How the form interacts with processes and backend systems Carefully defining the scope of an Entity before designing a Smart Form helps ensure clarity, reusability, and long‑term maintainability. In most business scenarios, an Entity in ONEWEB maps closely to: * Use‑case models, or * Entity‑Relationship (ER) diagrams *** #### Entities in App Designer On the ONEWEB platform, **App Designer** is used to create and manage Entities. Using App Designer, users can: * Define business attributes and data structures * Generate Smart Forms directly from Entities * Review how Entities translate into UI components An Entity can be used by: * A single Smart Form, or * Multiple Smart Forms across different applications depending on the complexity and design of the solution. *** #### Entity Relationships and Composition Entities in ONEWEB are not limited to standalone objects.\ They can be linked together to represent more complex business models. Supported relationship patterns include: * **Parent–Child relationships** * **Popup‑based entity references** These relationships allow Smart Forms to capture structured and related data efficiently while keeping the UI manageable. *** #### Process and Integration Support Entities can be directly integrated with **business processes** designed in Process Designer. Using **process button configurations**, user actions on a Smart Form can: * Trigger workflows * Pass entity data into business processes * Drive end‑to‑end automation This makes Entities a central bridge between **UX/UI**, **process logic**, and **integration services**. *** #### Entity Reusability and Lifecycle ONEWEB Entities are designed for reuse and evolution. Key capabilities include: * **Import and export** of Entities as portable JSON files * **Cloning** existing Entities to accelerate development * **Versioning**, allowing Entities to evolve as business requirements change These features significantly reduce development time and support continuous improvement. *** #### Discoverability and Preview App Designer provides built‑in tools to help users work efficiently with Entities: * **Search functionality** to quickly locate existing Entities * **Search Screen and Add/Edit Screen previews** to visualize the UI generated from an Entity * **Console access** for viewing real‑time server logs and identifying configuration issues These tools help validate Entity design early and reduce errors during form creation. *** #### Design Perspective Within **UI / Page Designer best practices**: * Define Entities carefully before designing Smart Forms * Keep Entities focused on a clear business concept * Reuse and version Entities rather than duplicating them * Align Entity structure with processes and integrations A well‑designed Entity leads to cleaner Smart Forms, simpler processes, and more maintainable applications. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.onewebstack.com/oneweb-platform-th/building-apps/ui-page-designer/ux-ui-components/smart-forms/what-is-an-entity.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.