A system includes first metadata defining a business object object model, and second metadata defining a first object model to define a query on the business object object model. The first object model is an instance of a business object view metadata model, and the business object object model is an instance of a business object metadata model. In some aspects, a request is received to retrieve a result element associated with a query on a business object, the business object comprising an instance of a business object object model, and the business object is instantiated based on first metadata defining the business object object model. An instance of a business object view object model is instantiated based on second metadata defining the business object view object model, the instance of the business object view object model defining the query on the business object.