Introduce the capability in Mendix to create and manage Domain Model Views — virtual, joined representations of existing entities — directly within the Domain Model or in a new "View Model" section.
These Views would allow developers to define flattened, pre-joined structures across multiple associated entities, intended for read-optimized access, display, and export, possibly include the options to include parameters on the join queries.
Benefits:
Performance Optimization:
Reduce unnecessary lazy-loading and N+1 query problems by flattening data at the database query level.
Improve response times for pages, APIs, and exports that display associated information.
Simplified Development:
Eliminate the need to manually create and populate non-persistent entities just to simulate a flat view.
Simplify microflows by consuming clean, presentation-ready structures.
Architectural Clarity:
Naturally separate business entities (Domain Model) from presentation projections (View Model), introducing best practices from MVVM and MVC architectures into Mendix.
Enterprise Readiness:
Enable complex reporting, large data grids, and heavy export scenarios without manual optimizations.
Facilitate better scaling of applications in data-intensive environments.
Simple Use Cases:
Create an "OrderCustomerView" that includes Order Number, Order Date, and Customer Name without manually traversing associations at runtime.
Build a "ProductSupplierView" combining product and supplier information into a single flat record for faster list views and exports.
Prepare optimized views for OData services, where flattened structures are critical for external reporting tools like Power BI
Final Note:
This feature would make Mendix stronger for both small apps (faster builds) and enterprise-grade applications (better performance and maintenance).