Reflection

Reflection is a system module that exposes the application's own metadata — the navigator, forms, properties, actions, and physical-model tables — as classes, properties, and forms, so that the running logic can introspect its own structure. It is pulled in via REQUIRE Reflection (System and Authentication are pulled in automatically).

The module stores one object per metadata element (one Property per property, one Form per form, one Table per table, and so on), filled by the platform at startup. Lookup properties recover an object from its canonical name or SID; statistics, storage attributes, and user column preferences hang off these objects; and the forms at the end of the module display them under the metadata navigator folder.

Property groups

Properties and actions are organized into a tree of groups.

Class / property	What it holds
PropertyGroup	one object per group of properties and actions
parent[PropertyGroup]	the parent group in the tree
level[PropertyGroup, PropertyGroup]	recursive depth: 1 for a group relative to itself, growing by 1 per step up to an ancestor
caption[PropertyGroup] / number[PropertyGroup] / SID[PropertyGroup]	display caption, sort order, and string identifier
propertyGroup[STRING]	the group with the given SID

Navigator metadata

The navigator tree is represented by NavigatorElement and its two subclasses.

Class / property	What it holds
NavigatorElement	one object per navigator element
NavigatorFolder	a navigator element that groups other elements
NavigatorAction	a navigator element that opens a form or runs an action
caption[NavigatorElement] / canonicalName[NavigatorElement] / number[NavigatorElement]	display caption, unique canonical name, and sort order
parent[NavigatorElement]	the parent element in the tree
level[NavigatorElement, NavigatorElement]	recursive depth, defined like level[PropertyGroup, PropertyGroup]
form[NavigatorElement]	the form a navigator element opens
action[NavigatorAction]	the action a navigator action runs
navigatorElementCanonicalName[STRING]	the element with the given canonical name
isNavigatorFolder[NavigatorElement] / isNavigatorAction[NavigatorElement]	flags telling a folder from an action

Forms metadata

Class / property	What it holds
Form	one object per form
caption[Form] / canonicalName[Form]	display caption and unique canonical name
form[STRING]	the form with the given canonical name
currentForm[] / activeForm[]	native properties giving the canonical name of the current and the active form

NoForm is a single dedicated subclass of Form, with the canonical name _NOFORM, used by the profiler to attribute work done outside any form.

Actions and properties metadata

ActionOrProperty is the abstract base for both properties and actions; Property and Action are its concrete subclasses.

Property	What it holds
canonicalName[Property] / canonicalName[Action]	the unique canonical name
canonicalName[ActionOrProperty]	the canonical name regardless of the concrete subclass
caption[ActionOrProperty]	display caption
annotation[ActionOrProperty]	the annotation
class[ActionOrProperty]	the implementing Java class
parent[ActionOrProperty]	the PropertyGroup the element belongs to
number[ActionOrProperty]	sort order
propertyCanonicalName[STRING] / actionCanonicalName[STRING]	the property / action with the given canonical name
actionOrPropertyCanonicalNameWithPostfix[STRING]	the element whose canonical name, with an _action / _property postfix appended, matches the argument (so a property and an action with the same name stay distinct)

Properties additionally carry storage and statistics attributes.

Property	What it holds
dbName[Property]	the database column name
tableSID[Property]	the SID of the table the property is stored in
stored[Property]	flag: the property is stored in the database
loggable[Property] / userLoggable[Property]	flags: change logging is enabled by the application / by the user
userMaterialized[Property]	flag: the user requested materialization
isSetNotNull[Property]	flag: a NOT NULL constraint is set
disableInputList[Property]	flag: the value-completion list is disabled
select[Property]	the in-cell selection control (SelectType: Button, ButtonGroup, Dropdown, List, No)
complexity[Property]	the computation complexity estimate
stats[Property]	the estimated row count
quantity[Property] / notNullQuantity[Property]	the total and the non-NULL value counts
lastRecalculate[Property]	the time the materialized value was last recalculated

maxStatsProperty[] caps the statistics for a user-loggable property: enabling user logging on a property whose stats[Property] exceeds the cap is rejected. webServerUrl[] holds the web-server address. Both are shown on the options form.

getPropertyDependencies[Property] and getPropertyDependents[Property] fill the local properties propertyDependencies[INTEGER] / propertyDependents[INTEGER] with the properties a given property reads from and the properties that read from it.

Property draws and column preferences

A PropertyDraw is a single placement of a property or action on a form (one form column or panel cell).

Property	What it holds
actionOrProperty[PropertyDraw]	the displayed ActionOrProperty
sid[PropertyDraw]	the placement identifier within the form
caption[PropertyDraw]	display caption
form[PropertyDraw]	the form the placement belongs to
groupObject[PropertyDraw]	the GroupObject the placement is drawn against
propertyDraw[Form, STRING]	the placement with the given form and SID
show[PropertyDraw] / show[PropertyDraw, CustomUser]	the visibility status (PropertyDrawShowStatus: Show, Hide), globally and per user

The display of a column can be tuned globally and overridden per user. Each preference comes in two parallel forms — [PropertyDraw] for the application-wide value and [PropertyDraw, CustomUser] for the per-user override:

Property	What it holds
columnCaption	the column caption
columnPattern	the value-formatting pattern
columnWidth	the column width
columnFlex	the column flex factor
columnOrder	the column position
columnSort	the sort priority among columns
columnAscendingSort	the sort direction
inGrid	flag: the column is shown in the grid

hasUserPreferences[GroupObject] and hasUserPreferences[GroupObject, CustomUser] flag a group object whose column layout has been customized globally or for a given user. When such preferences exist, a newly added placement is set to Hide so it does not appear until explicitly enabled, and the preferences are reset if every shown column is removed from the form.

GroupObject is one object group on a form; it carries its own display settings, again in a global and a per-user form: fontSize, isFontBold, isFontItalic, pageSize (rows per page), and headerHeight.

FormGrouping is a saved grouping over a group object's placements: name[FormGrouping], groupObject[FormGrouping], itemQuantity[FormGrouping], and per-placement groupOrder / sum / max / pivot settings.

Physical model

The physical-model classes mirror the database tables, their keys, and their columns.

Class / property	What it holds
Table	one object per table
sid[Table] / table[STRING]	the table SID and the reverse lookup
rows[Table]	the table row count
skipVacuum[Table]	flag: skip vacuuming the table
TableKey	one object per table key; class / classSID / name, and quantity / quantityTop row estimates
TableColumn	one object per stored column, joined to its property[TableColumn]
quantity / notNullQuantity / percentNotNull	total values, non-NULL values, and the non-NULL share of a column
sparseColumns[Table]	the count of columns on the table whose percentNotNull is below 50
DropColumn	one object per column scheduled for deletion; sidTable / sid / time / revision

Service actions run maintenance on a table or column.

Action	What it does
recalculateClasses[Table] / checkClasses[Table]	recalculate / verify the stored class values of the table
recalculateStats[Table]	recalculate the table statistics
pack[Table]	physically remove deleted rows
recalculateMaterializations[TableColumn]	recalculate the materialized column
recalculateMaterializationsWithDependencies[TableColumn] / recalculateMaterializationsWithDependents[TableColumn]	the same, also covering the columns it reads / the columns that read it
recalculateColumnsMaterializations[Table]	recalculate every materialized column of the table
checkMaterializations[TableColumn]	verify the materialized column against a fresh computation
drop[DropColumn] / dropAllColumns[]	physically drop one scheduled column / all scheduled columns

disableClasses, disableStatsTable / disableStatsTableColumn, and disableMaterializations are flags that exclude a table or column from the corresponding recalculation.

Forms

Form	What it shows
physicalModel	tables with their keys and columns, the deleted-column list, and the maintenance actions above
navigatorElements	the navigator tree by parent[NavigatorElement]
forms	a form's group objects, its property draws, the per-user column preferences, and the groupings
properties	properties as a flat table and as a tree under their property groups
actions	actions as a flat table and as a tree under their property groups

All five forms are placed in a metadata navigator folder under the system Administration area.

Language

• RECURSION operator — computes the level depth properties over the group and navigator trees.
• INTERNAL operator — backs the physical-model service actions implemented in Java.

See also

• System modules — the general inventory of platform modules.
• Navigator — the navigator tree that NavigatorElement mirrors.
• Forms — what a form is and how Form / PropertyDraw / GroupObject map to it.
• Tables — the physical tables that Table / TableKey / TableColumn mirror.
• Indexes — table indexes.
• Materializations — materialized columns recalculated by the service actions.
• System — the root module pulled in automatically.
• Authentication — users and contacts, pulled in via REQUIRE; per-user form preferences are keyed by CustomUser.
• Security — sets access permissions on the navigator elements, properties, and actions reflected here.
• Service — service actions over the tables and materialized columns reflected here.