Adding Columns to Types

Local attributes are attributes that can only store zero or one value for an attribute. The values of these attributes are stored in one or more modeled columns in the database table associated with the class. A class must be explicitly modeled to include these modeled columns in order for this feature to be available.

The following column data types are supported for local attributes:

To create a local attribute on a type with a data type of Real Number or Real Number with Units, two columns must be added to the database table: one of data type Long, and one of data type Double.

To create a local attribute on a type with a data type of Hyperlink, two String data type columns must be added to the database table.

The AddColumns tool allows you to add columns to types for storing local attributes. This tool generates the *TypeInfo.java and *TypeInterface.java source files for the specified types. It then compiles those source files to generate the corresponding class files (_*TypeInfo.class, _*TypeInterface.class, *TypeInfo.class) and introspection files (*TypeInfo.ClassInfo.ser, *TypeInterface.class, and *TypeInterface.ClassInfo.ser). The tool also updates the database schema and the local attribute column schema file (AddColumnsSchema.xml) to reflect the new columns. The local attribute column schema file defines the complete local attribute column configuration for all types in the system.

The local attribute column schema file (AddColumnsSchema.xml) must NEVER be manually edited, but only updated through use of the AddColumns tool.