Forum OpenACS Q&A: Object Model & acs_attributes

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1: Object Model & acs_attributes
Posted by James Thornton on 05/12/04 01:03 AM
I haven't been using the object system lately for custom apps, but I am considering it for a project. If you create a new object type in acs_object_types, must you create entries in acs_attributes? If not, what do you lose by not using acs_attributes?
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2: Re: Object Model & acs_attributes (response to 1)
Posted by Don Baccus on 05/13/04 12:42 AM
Currently the object metadata is not used by much of anything useful but we're talking actively about merging in the capabilities of the CR/CMS (automatic form generation from object attributes, for instance) into base acs_objects, along with high-level declarative TCL API for generating objects and attributes without having to write so much RDBMS-specific SQL.
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3: Re: Object Model & acs_attributes (response to 2)
Posted by James Thornton on 05/13/04 01:08 AM
Thanks Don. Also, why does the acs_object_types package_name column have a unique constraint? Why can't you have more than one object_type per package?
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4: Re: Object Model & acs_attributes (response to 2)
Posted by Malte Sussdorff on 05/13/04 08:26 AM
Hi Don, which version of CR/CMS are you talking about (so I can have a look and steal in advance....). After all one challange of the assessment system is to create a form out of cr_items with special attributes that define how the entry widget is displayed.
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5: Re: Object Model & acs_attributes (response to 3)
Posted by Tom Ayles on 05/13/04 12:21 PM
Hi James,

I believe the package_name column in acs_object_types refers to the PL/SQL package name rather than the APM package name. I think it might be used to optionally drop the PL/SQL for an object type when you delete the type, and so you'd want it to be constrained unique to prevent automatically dropping the PL/SQL for another type that isn't being deleted.

HTH,
Tom

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6: Re: Object Model & acs_attributes (response to 5)
Posted by James Thornton on 05/13/04 08:13 PM
Ahh, thanks Tom. I couldn't find that documented -- was the package_name column recently added?