Source Objects and Target Objects

Meta Data Services Programming

Meta Data Services Programming

Source Objects and Target Objects

A relationship collection associates a source object with one or more target objects. The objects are attached to the relationship collection through interfaces.

The words source and target convey the potential for browsing. Typically, the source object of a relationship is the object for which you retrieve a collection. The target object of a relationship is the object that can become the target of a step that proceeds from the source object, through the relationship, to the target object.

Source-and-target terminology differs from origin-and-destination terminology. The origin and destination do not change based upon which collection is being used to access a relationship. For example, suppose Table is an origin object and Column is a destination object. When navigation proceeds from Table to Column, Table is the source object. When navigation proceeds in the reverse direction, Column is the source object.

See Also

Navigating a Repository