Objects are the foundations of your application, they are used to define something, like a person or a building. The ReadiNow platform comes with built-in (out of the box) Objects. You can build on top of these and/or create your own Objects. The following table explains differences between these Objects:
Object | Description |
|---|---|
Out of the box Object | Any object included as part of an 'out of box' application. Note: An 'out of box' object cannot be ‘repurposed’ if not utilised as it may subsequently cause issues for future upgrades or compromise the design of the out of the box application. Licence Fees associated with Out of Box Objects are included with the application licence. |
Abstract Object | An object that acts only for the purpose of schema modelling and acts as a parent for other derived objects. Abstract objects do not hold any records themselves. Abstract objects are defined in the object properties where 'abstract property' is set to 'true'. Abstract Objects are not chargeable |
| Reporting Object | An object that is used to summarise existing records for displaying existing Objects data, usually in the form of reports or dashboards etc. Reporting Objects are not chargeable. |
Custom Object/Expansion Block | An object created to hold business data (eg applications) and typically used for new use cases or expansion of out of the box applications. These objects are separately chargeable. Also known an Expansion Object or Application Building block. |
For instructions on creating and Object, visit Creating an Object.
When creating objects, by default they are tagged as 'Custom Objects' and will be counted in your license metrics if the object is created in or moved to your production tenant. If you believe the object you create should not be chargeable as it falls within the definitions of Abstract or Reporting object, please contact your account manager.
You add fields to Objects to specify the details that you are interested in. When adding a new field, you select the type of field that is most appropriate for your data. Some examples to field types include:
- boolean (yes/no)
- choice
- numeric
- text
You might, for example, have an object called Library with fields called Address and Collection. And you might have an object called Book. Fields for Book might include Type, Cost and Location.
Objects are linked to each other through relationships. For example, a relationship between Library (Address) and Book (Location) would allow you to specify which books were located in which libraries.
If we add another object called Member, we could add more relationships to show which library a member belonged to and which books the member had borrowed.
There are three types of relationships:
- one to one (one book can be on loan to one member)
- one to many (one library can have many members)
- many to many (many libraries can have many books)