Object type hierarchy

This topic describes the object type hierarchy for the Delphix Engine command-line interface.

All Delphix objects have an associated type. This type determines what properties are available for a particular object, the format of those properties, and controls how the system interprets objects and commands. The type hierarchy uses polymorphic inheritance to allow for common properties and behavior to be defined at a single point while permitting dramatically different types of objects to co-exist without requiring a completely separate API for each. For example, the SourceConfig object is the base type for all external database configurations, but it has children that include OracleSIConfig and OracleRACConfig types that refer to a single instance and RAC databases, respectively.

When specifying input types, the system will attempt to determine types appropriate for the current operation, but there are times when the type must be explicitly set, either because the operation supports multiple possible inputs, or the object can embed an abstract type. In these cases, it may be necessary to explicitly set the type property. Setting the type may change the set of visible properties and the resulting validation that is performed, but it will not affect any properties that are already set.