Object Tables

The Identity Manager repository uses object tables to hold serialized data objects, such as Large Objects (LOBs). Object tables can also hold commonly queried, single-valued object attributes.

For most object types, stored attributes are hard-coded.

The User and Role object types are exceptions to this rule. The inline attributes that are stored in the object table are configurable, and you can configure additional custom attributes as queryable for User and Role.

The number of rows in an object table equals the number of objects being stored. The number of objects stored in each object table depends on which object types are being stored in the table. Some object types are numerous, while other types are few.

Generally, Identity Manager accesses an object table by object ID or name, though Identity Manager can also access the table by using one of the attributes stored in the table. Object IDs and names are unique across a single object type, but attribute values are not unique or evenly distributed. Some attributes have many values, while other attributes have relatively few values. In addition, several object types can expose the same attribute. An attribute may have many values for one object type and few values for another object type. The uneven distribution of values might cause an uneven distribution of index pages, which is a condition known as skew.

Object tables are tables that do not have ATTR or CHANGE suffixes in the table name.