A data object is the application-specific instance of an archiving object, that is, an archiving object filled with concrete application data.

The archiving object only describes the data structure, that is, it determines which data belong logically together, whereas the data object contains real data from the database, such as all table entries belonging to a Financial Accounting document.

A data object incorporates all application data that is necessary to archive a business object (master data or transaction data) completely and consistently. Examples of master data objects include material masters and bills of material. Examples of transaction data objects are Financial Accounting documents, billing documents, and deliveries.

A typical data object is composed of a:

• Header containing general information for identifying the data object, and a
• Individual items that contain the actual application data

The Archive Development Kit (ADK) ensures that data objects are written sequentially to an archive file. All data objects in an archive file have the same structure, which is described in the archiving object.