Examples of using the Model class?

[eluser]Doug Lerner[/eluser]
But with regards to the Model "representing your data structures", that's the part I'm not quite following in CI.

In Rails, for example, the Models section specifically does represent your data structures. The actual structures. The tables and fields are defined there.

But in the CI examples I've seen so far, the Models area seems to just be a collection of helper functions for doing operations on the database. In other words, it looks more controller than model.

Am I just missing something? I admit I am a complete newbie at this, so please don't hesitate to call me an idiot and point out what I am missing! But I am not see where in the CI Model area "representations of your data structures" are defined.

Thanks,

doug