4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the set of logical fields are specified by an abstract record, wherein the abstract record identifies all of the logical fields defined by the database abstraction model that map to data related to the model entity and specifies the relationships between logical fields included in the abstract record.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the set of logical fields are specified by an abstract record, wherein the abstract record identifies all of the logical fields defined by the database abstraction model that map to data related to the model entity and specifies the relationships between logical fields included in the abstract record. 5. The method of claim 4 , wherein retrieving data corresponding to the set of logical fields comprises, retrieving data for fewer than all of the logical fields specified in the abstract record.