Resources 

Definition

Resources lie at the heart of the repository framework. They represent the objects that are stored in distributed repositories and are exposed in the framework by repository managers. They contain content and, as framework resources, encapsulate a wide range of functions that are implemented for the framework.

Resources are hierarchically organized. Within the hierarchy, they can be individual objects or collections. If they are collections, they are special resources that have no content, but can be assigned children. The collections and resources of the repository framework are similar to the directories and files of a file system.

Use

Applications that want to process objects that are stored in distributed repositories need to connect to them with a repository manager. Once an application has connected to a repository, it can access the objects stored in the repository as resources and exploit the wide range of functions they expose.

Structure

Resources have a number of features. They:

·        Represent unified data objects that are similar to WebDAV resources

·        Can be collections that contain other resources

·        Have a unique, hierarchical name that is similar to the URI of a WebDAV resource

·        Can contain unstructured data content

·        Can contain structured data content like attributes or properties

·        Can be converted to semantic objects that are business objects with their own set of methods and data

Aspects of Resources

The large number of functions that are exposed by the resource interface (IResource) are grouped logically into so-called aspects. Each aspect represents a particular perspective or view on the resource. An aspect focuses on a group of functions that serve a specific purpose. For example the content aspect focuses on all functions that a resource exposes for content.

The aspects that are available for a resource depend on the type of backend repository and the capabilities of the implemented repository manager. In some repositories resources therefore only expose a subset of all the available aspects of a resource.

The sections that follow describe the basic and advanced aspects of resources.