ICollectionDef Interface
A collection type (also referred to as a collection definition) defines how instances of a particular type of collection behave. The properties of the collection type determine:
- The minimum and maximum number of items in a collection.
- Whether the collection type is an origin collection type.
- Whether the collection type permits the naming of destination objects and, if so, whether those names are case-sensitive and required to be unique.
- Whether the collection type permits the explicit sequencing of items in the collection.
- What happens to related objects when objects or relationships in the collection are deleted.
- Whether origin collections of this type are automatically copied to new object versions by the CreateVersion method.
- Whether the MergeVersion method combines origin collections of this type as a whole, or item by item.
- Whether the FreezeVersion method requires destination object versions of relationships of this type to be frozen before their origin object versions can be frozen.
The kind of relationship that a particular collection type uses to relate objects to each other is determined by its CollectionItem collection. The CollectionItem collection associates a single relationship type to the collection type.
To add a new collection type, use the IInterfaceDef interface.
When to Use
Use the ICollectionDef interface to retrieve or modify the properties of a collection type or to determine the kind of relationship that the collection implements.
Methods
| IUnknown method |
Description |
| QueryInterface |
Returns pointers to supported interfaces |
| AddRef |
Increments the reference count |
| Release |
Decrements the reference count |
| IDispatch method |
Description |
| GetIDsOfNames |
Maps a single member and a set of argument names to a corresponding set of dispatch identifiers |
| GetTypeInfo |
Retrieves a type information object, which can be used to get the type information for an interface |
| GetTypeInfoCount |
Retrieves the number of type information interfaces that an object provides (either 0 or 1) |
| Invoke |
Provides access to properties and methods exposed by an Automation object |
| IRepositoryDispatch method |
Description |
| get_Properties |
Retrieves the IReposProperties interface pointer. The IReposProperties interface provides access to the Properties collection. |
Properties
| Property |
Description |
| Flags |
Flags that determine the behavior of this type of collection |
| IsOrigin |
The indicator of whether collections of this type are origin collections |
| MaxCount |
The maximum number of target objects that can be contained in a collection of this type |
| MinCount |
The minimum number of target objects that must be contained in a collection of this type |
Collections
| Collection |
Description |
| CollectionItem |
The collection of one relationship type that defines the relationship between target objects of this type of collection and a single source object |
See Also
CollectionDef Class
IInterfaceDef Interface