When defining a new object type, at a minimum you must specify the following:
After you complete the above steps, you can define additional optional properties for the object type.
When you register an object type, you must specify these six properties
in the order shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Properties required for object type registrations
| Position | Property short name | Property name1 | Description | Comments | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NAME | EXTERNAL NAME OF OBJ TYPE | 80-byte name of the object type. | You must set this value using the FLGCreateReg call.
You can modify this value using the FLGUpdateReg call. | ||
| 2 | PTNAME | PHYSICAL TYPE NAME | 30-character name of the table in the information catalog database that contains the object type. | You can only set this value using the FLGCreateReg call.
You cannot modify this value after the object type is registered. | ||
| 3 | DPNAME | DP NAME | 8-character short name for the object type. | You must set this value using the FLGCreateReg call.
You cannot modify this value after the object type is registered. | ||
| 4 | CREATOR | CREATOR | 8-character user ID of the administrator who creates the object type. | The Information Catalog Manager sets this value when the FLGCreateType
call is issued for the object type.
You cannot set or modify this value. | ||
| 5 | UPDATEBY | LAST CHANGED BY | 8-character user ID of the administrator who last modified the object type. | The Information Catalog Manager sets and modifies this value when the FLGAppendType call is issued to add optional properties to the object type. | ||
| 6 | UPDATIME | LAST CHANGED DATE AND TIME | 26-character time stamp of the last date and time the object type was modified. | The Information Catalog Manager sets and modifies this value when the FLGCreateType or FLGAppendType call is issued for the object type. | ||
| ||||||
You set the category of the object type when you register the object type using FLGCreateReg.
You can create object types belonging to the following categories:
These five categories are briefly described in Organizing objects using categories. For more detailed information, see the Information Catalog Manager Administration Guide.
The Information Catalog Manager defines both a Programs and Comments object type when you create a new information catalog database. Programs is the only object type that can belong to the Program category; you cannot create any other Program object types. Comments is the only object type that can belong to the Attachment category; you cannot create any other Attachment object types.
When you define a new object type, you must specify the five required
properties shown in Table 3 as the first five properties for the object type. The
Information Catalog Manager uses the property short names to identify the
required properties.
Table 3. Properties required for every object type
| Position | Property short name | Property name | Description | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OBJTYPID | Object type identifier | 6-character system-generated ID for the object type | The Information Catalog Manager generates a unique identifier for each
object type.
This value is the first part of the FLGID that you use with several API calls to identify object instances. You cannot modify this value. |
| 2 | INSTIDNT | Instance identifier | 10-character system-generated ID for the object instance | The Information Catalog Manager generates a unique identifier for each
object instance.
This value is the second part of the FLGID that you use with several API calls to identify object instances. You cannot modify this value. |
| 3 | NAME | Name | 80-byte user-specified name for the object. | This name is displayed by the Information Catalog Manager.
You can modify this value using the FLGUpdateInst call. |
| 4 | UPDATIME | Last Changed Date and Time | 26-character time stamp of the last date and time the object instance was modified. | The Information Catalog Manager sets this value when the object instance
is created or modified (using FLGCreateInst or FLGUpdateInst calls).
You cannot modify this value. |
| 5 | UPDATEBY | Last Changed By | 8-character user ID of the person who last modified the object instance. | The Information Catalog Manager sets and modifies this value when the object instance is created or modified (using FLGCreateInst or FLGUpdateInst calls). |
The property short names for these required properties are reserved. Do not use these names for any other property short name assignments.
When you create a new object instance, you must specify a value for NAME. The Information Catalog Manager generates the values for OBJTYPID, INSTIDNT, UPDATIME, and UPDATEBY. You cannot modify these system-generated values.
When the system generates OBJTYPID, you use this value to uniquely identify a registered and defined object type.
When the system generates INSTIDNT, you use this value with OBJTYPID to uniquely identify a single object instance.
This book refers to the combined OBJTYPID and INSTIDNT values as FLGID in Chapter 5, The Information Catalog Manager API call syntax.