Configuring Inheritance for a Child (Branch or Leaf) Class Descriptor

Inheritance describes how a derived (child) class inherits the characteristics of its superclass (parent). When you designate a class as a child, you must also specify the descriptor that represents the child's parent in your inheritance hierarchy.

Table 28-38 summarizes which descriptors support child inheritance configuration.

Table 28-20 Descriptor Support for Child Inheritance Configuration

Descriptor	Using TopLink Workbench	Using Java
Relational Descriptors
Object-Relational Descriptors
EIS Descriptors
XML Descriptors

For more information about inheritance, see "Descriptors and Inheritance".

For more information about configuring inheritance for a parent (root) class descriptor, see "Configuring Inheritance for a Parent (Root) Descriptor".

Using TopLink Workbench

To create a child (branch or leaf class) for an inheritance, use this procedure.

1. In the Navigator, select the descriptor you wish to specify as a child.

2. Choose the Inheritance tab in the Property window.

   If the Inheritance tab is not visible, right-click the descriptor and choose Select Advanced Properties > Inheritance.

3. Select the Is Child Descriptor option to specify this descriptor is a child class. The Parent Descriptor list is now enabled and the class indicator information is disabled.

   Figure 28-32 Creating a Root Class, Inheritance Tab

   
   Description of "Figure 28-32 Creating a Root Class, Inheritance Tab"
   
   

Field	Description
Is Child Descriptor	Specify that this descriptor is a child class to be used in a branch or leaf.
Parent Descriptor	Use the list to select the parent of this descriptor. See "Descriptors and Inheritance" for more information.

Using Java

Using Java, you can configure an inheritance child descriptor using InheritancePolicy method setParentClass as Example Example 28-10 shows.

Example 28-10 Configuring an Inheritance Child Descriptor

descriptor.getInheritancePolicy().setParentClass(ChildClass.class);