The object containment hierarchy

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Objects such as Pages and Controls contain other objects. This hierarchy of objects is called the containment hierarchy. It is shown in the Object Tree.

Each object has specific properties. Examples of properties are: Alignment, Class List, Display Length, Prompt, and Label.

Some of these properties affect the organization and layout of the child objects in the hierarchy. For example, if a form object has a horizontal orientation, its columns are organized in rows across.

An object belongs to an object class. By default, it has all the properties of its class. These properties may be inherited from other classes at higher levels in the hierarchy, that the object's class is a descendant of.

Do not confuse the object containment hierarchy with the class inheritance hierarchies shown on the Pages and Controls tabs of the catalog.

The term "class" is associated with the class inheritance hierarchies.

The term "object" is associated with the object containment hierarchy.

 

See Also

The Object Tree

The Property Inspector

The Class Inheritance Hierarchy