Most Odoo module definitions, such as user interfaces and security rules, are actually data records stored in specific database tables. The XML and CSV files found in modules are not used by Odoo applications at runtime. They are a means to load those definitions into the database tables.
Because of this, an important part of Odoo modules is about representing that data in files so that it can be loaded into a database upon module installation.
Modules can also have initial data and demonstration data. Data files allow us to add that to our modules. Additionally, understanding Odoo data representation formats is important in order to export and import business data within the context of a project implementation.
Before we go into practical cases, we will first explore the external identifier concept, which is the key to Odoo data representation...
