According to the SAP HANA Developer Guide, the SAP HANA Deployment Infrastructure (HDI) uses so-called containers to store design-time artifacts and the corresponding deployed run-time (catalog) objects.
The HDI makes a strict separation between design-time and run-time objects by introducing the following, distinct container types:
* Design-time container (DTC): A Git repository that stores the design-time artifacts, such as CDS files, SQL files, or HDB files, that define the database objects in the persistence model. The DTC is part of the database module of the multi-target application (MTA).
* Run-time container (RTC): A schema in the SAP HANA database that stores the run-time objects, such as tables, views, or procedures, that are created based on the design-time artifacts. The RTC is also known as the HDI container.
* Build container (BTC): A temporary schema in the SAP HANA database that is used to build the run-time objects from the design-time artifacts. The BTC is deleted after the build process is completed.
When you define a database object in the persistence model, you create a design-time artifact in the DTC.
When you deploy the database module of the MTA, the HDI creates an RTC and a BTC, and builds the corresponding run-time object in the RTC based on the design-time artifact. The BTC is then dropped, and the RTC remains as the HDI container for the database module. References: SAP HANA Developer Guide, Chapter 6, Section 6.4.2, page 2111.