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# Accessing Entities and Other Model Data

When you reference a scalar entity or set/array element from the model, an object with two properties is returned.

- `value` - this is the raw value of the scalar or element.
- `label` - if the model entity has an associated `labels` array, this is the label that corresponds to the current value of the scalar or element. If there is no label for the current value or if there is not a label array associated with the entity, then the label is a string representation of the current value. The `label` property will always be a string type.

You must always reference either the value or label of an entity within expressions, otherwise calculations could result in error, or string concatenations might show the text `[object Object]`.

If you are in debug mode and you forget to specify the value or label, a log message is written to the browser console.

Covered Topics

- Accessing Scalar Entities
  Scalar entities have value and label properties, as well as a reference.
- VDL Set Sorting
  As of VDL 4.7, all Set entities have default sorting applied when the data is loaded into a view.
- Accessing Set Entities
  Set entities are treated as one-dimensional arrays, each element being an object with a value and a label property.
- Accessing Array Entities
  Array entities can have multiple indices, therefore they cannot be represented as plain arrays and are not accessed with the square brackets [ ] notation.
- Accessing Model Parameters
- Accessing Scenario Properties
  Scenario properties are used to access information that applies to each scenario in a view.
- Accessing Scenario Summary Data
  Scenario summary data is used to access information on the last model execution for the scenario.
- Accessing Scenario Attachments
  Scenarios used in Views can have one or more associated file attachments.
- Accessing Schema Information
  Schema information is available for any model entity.

Parent Topic Using Expressions

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