# Ways to Create Entity Objects and Associations

Business Components for Java provides several tools that let you create entity objects and associations. The entity objects can be based on existing tables (reverse generation) or be used to create database tables (forward generation).

- Creating Default Entity Objects and Associations from a Database — You can create default entity objects, based on existing database tables, in the Business Components Project Wizard and Package Wizard or Editor.

- Creating an Entity Object — You can create an entity object in the Entity Object Wizard. How you define the entity object depends on whether you are using reverse or forward generation. You must use this wizard if you want to specify a particular entity object name or entity object to extend.

- Creating an Association or Composition — You can create an association or composition in the Association Wizard. You must use this wizard if you want to specify a particular association name or association to extend.

After creating an entity object, you can edit it in the Entity Object Editor and customize its Java source files. You can customize an association in the Association Editor.

Related topics
About the Development Process
About Generating Entity Objects, Associations, and Database Tables
What Is an Entity Object?
What Is an Entity Attribute?
Business Component Data Types