3
Defining Object Types

This chapter provides an example of starting with a schema for a data cartridge. Object types are crucial to building data cartridges in that they enable domain-level abstractions to be captured in the database.

Topics include:

• Objects and Object Types

• Assigning an OID to an Object Type

• Constructor Methods

• Object Comparison

For information about creating and using object types, following manuals also contain relevant information:

• Oracle8i Concepts

• Oracle8i Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals

• PL/SQL User's Guide and Reference.

For example, the Oracle8i Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals describes the creation of types as columns in relational tables, the use of types as rows in object tables, forward type declarations, object type dependencies, and object type references.