Description of indirctn.png

This illustration shows an Order class that contains attributes orderId, lineItems, and customerId. The lineItems attribute is a reference to a collection of dependentLineItem objects. Without indirection, reading the Order object also reads the dependent collection of LineItem objects. With indirection, reading the Order object does not read the dependent collection of LineItem objects: the lineItems attribute refers to an indirection object. You can access other attributes (such ascustomerId), but EclipseLink reads the dependent LineItem objects only if and when you access the lineItems attribute.