Data items

A type itself has a name; for example “INT”, “STRING”, or “MyEmployeeList”. For each type, you can define aliases so that the names used in your applications are meaningful in a business sense.

For example, you might define the NumberOfCars alias and use it in place of INT. Here is the alias definition:

DataItem
   NumberOfCars INT
End

Here is a second type, which defines the NumberOfDrivers alias:

DataItem 
   NumberOfDrivers INT 
End

As suggested by the examples, each alias is called a data item. A data item is an EGL part.

Your logic can include variables and constants that are based on a data item. Here are examples:

myCarCount NumberOfCars;
const myAntiqueCarCount NumberOfCars = 5;

A data item is not only for simple types, but for other native types and for the parts that you define.