Meta Data Services Programming
CollectionDef Class
Repository objects are related to each other through relationships. The set of relationships, all of the same type, that relate one object to zero or more other objects, is a relationship collection.
A collection type (also referred to as a collection definition) defines how instances of a particular collection type will behave. The characteristics 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.
- The kind of relationship that a particular collection type uses to relate objects to each other.
A collection is attached to an interface as a member of the interface. To add a new collection type to an interface definition, use the InterfaceDef class.
When to Use
Use the CollectionDef class to retrieve or modify the properties of a collection type, or to determine the kind of relationship that the collection implements.
Interfaces
| Interface | Description |
|---|---|
| IAnnotationalProps | Gets and sets annotational properties |
| ICollectionDef | Manages collection definitions |
| IInterfaceMember | Relates a member to an interface |
| IInterfaceMember2 | Creates simple, derived members as instances of the Alias class, and creates semantically rich derived members as instances of the CollectionDef class |
| INamedObject | Retrieves or sets the class name |
| IRepositoryDispatch | Provides enhanced dispatch support |
| IRepositoryItem | Manages repository objects and relationships |
| IRepositoryObject | Retrieves repository object identifiers |
| IRepositoryObjectStorage | Creates and loads repository objects |
| IVersionAdminInfo2 | Retains properties inherited from IVersionAdminInfo and sets or retrieves version comments |