Schema is the metadata of a data store. It provides data about the structural information of a group of related objects in a data store, such as data store servers, tables, and columns. It defines how these objects are organized and the relationship between these objects.

In Data Exchange, schema also means a structure to logically represent a group of related objects in a data store. In SQL Server and Oracle databases, the schema resides within a database. In Enterprise Database Server for ClearPath MCP (Enterprise Database Server), the schema resides within a description file. In Enterprise Relational Database Server for ClearPath OS 2200 (RDMS), the schema resides within an Application Group. In Kafka the schema is represented by an XSD file.