About name properties

This topic discusses the several name-related properties of classes and containable objects and describes what happens when a class or object is renamed.

When creating objects in Enterprise Manager, do not use spaces or numbers at the beginning of name properties. Content Engine automatically drops leading spaces when you create an object. While leading numbers appear correctly in a Display Name, they do not appear in the Symbolic Name which is used by queries. For a description of other naming-related restrictions, refer to the context-sensitive help topic that is available with the wizard that is used to create a particular class or object.

This topic includes:

Class name properties:

Containable object name properties:

Class name properties

The properties in this section belong to classes, but not to the objects based on those classes. For example, a subclass of the Document class might have the Display Name of "Current Invoices" and a Symbolic Name of "CurrentInvoices" (no space), but documents that are instances of this class would have neither of these properties. Instead, they would have the properties described in Containable object name properties.

Display Name

The Display Name is a property of all classes, but not of the objects based on those classes. This property is user-readable and is assigned at fetch time based on the current client locale settings, thus making it "locale-specific". The Display Name is the provider-specific name for a class and is usually the designated Name property for a class. In order to modify the value of this property in Enterprise Manager, you must first obtain the proper localized string for the property from the Display Names property and then edit the Display Name string value.

Symbolic Name

The Symbolic Name property is the programmatic identifier for a class, where the value must begin with a letter and can only contain the characters: 'A' to 'Z', 'a' to 'z', '0' to '9', and '_' (underscore); spaces and symbols are not allowed. All classes, as well as each object store, all utilize the Symbolic Name property. However, objects based on these classes do not have this property.

This property is normally set at creation time and is usually assigned the same value as the Display Name property (the spaces are removed from the Display Name before assigning the value to the Symbolic Name). However, the Symbolic Name property is not required to have the same value as the Display Name property. For more information, see Renaming a class.

Name

The Name property is read-only and is visible on the property sheet for a class. The value of the property is either the same as the Display Name property, the class identifier string when there is no Display Name value, or an empty string if neither value exists. The Name property is available for all classes, but not objects based on those classes, and is automatically updated when the Display Name property value is modified.

Creating name properties for a class, subclass, or object store

When you use Enterprise Manager to create a new class or object store, you can specify a locale-specific value for the Display Name property on the appropriate page of the wizard. The Symbolic Name property is then assigned the same value as the Display Name property, but any spaces are first removed. The Name property is assigned the same value as the Display Name property, or the class identifier string when there is no Display Name value, or an empty string if neither value exists. When creating a subclass of a class, the subclass inherits the values of the Display Name, Symbolic Name, and Name properties from the parent class.

Renaming a class

In Enterprise Manager, you can rename a class from the pop-up menu or the property sheet (usually on the General tab) for the class. When you rename a class, you change the value of the Display Name property which causes the value of the Name property to also be updated. However, changing the value of the Display Name property does not automatically change the value of the Symbolic Name property. This is by design, allowing administrators to change the Display Name without requiring the redesign of any custom applications that are written to find that particular class. In order to modify the value of the Symbolic Name property in Enterprise Manager, you have to use the property grid found on the class or object store property sheet, locate the Symbolic Name property, and then modify the value.

Containable object name properties

The properties in this section belong to objects which are created as instances of classes, including documents, folders, and custom objects. For example, the Document class has the Display Name and Symbolic Name properties, while a document object an instance of the Document class will not have these properties, but will instead have the Document Title and Containers properties.

Document Title

The Document Title property is the friendly name displayed for a document. Whenever you use Enterprise Manager to rename a document via the Document properties (General tab), you change the value of this property. Document Title is a custom property that is imported into every object store by the Object Store wizard, and is used by document objects in much the same way as Display Name is used for classes.

Folder Name

The Folder Name (also called Container Title) property is the friendly name displayed for a folder. Whenever you use Enterprise Manager to rename a folder via the Folder properties (General tab), you change the value of this property. Folder Name is a custom property that is imported into every object store by the Object Store wizard, and is used by folder objects in much the same way as Display Name is used for classes.

Containers (Referential Containment Relationship)

The Containers property is the unique name for the head object in a referential containment relationship, which is usually the file name of the first content element in the relationship. This property applies to folders and objects in folders, which can include documents, custom objects, and other folders. For more information about containment, see Referential containment of folders.

Creating name properties for an object

When you use Enterprise Manager to create a new instance of a class, you can specify a value for the name property for the object using the property grid. The Containers property is assigned by the Content Engine according to the settings of the referential containment relationship of the new object. For more information about this relationship, see A technical aside on referential containment.

Renaming a document, folder, or custom object

In Enterprise Manager, you can rename an object from the pop-up menu Rename option (when available) or the property sheet (usually on the General tab) for the object. Selecting Rename modifies the name used by Enterprise Manager when displaying the document, folder, or custom object. This name is actually applied to the object that represents the document, folder, or custom object within the containing folder.

The following additional name properties can be modified using the property sheet or property grid for an object. Renaming an object in this way changes the name of the referential containment relationship object that represents the object within the containing folder.