Chapter 2: iTool System Architecture 29
iTool Developer’s Guide iTool Object Identifiers
Similarly, the identifier string
OPERATIONS/FILTERS/MY FILTER
refers to an object named MY FILTER, located in a sub-container of the iTool-level
OPERATIONS container named FILTERS. Because the identifier is relative, the
MY FILTER object is visible only to the current iTool.
Note
Object identifiers are stored as upper-case strings. Spaces are allowed.
Using Identifiers
Numerous methods defined by iTools object classes accept object identifiers as
arguments to uniquely identify an object instance. This frees you as a developer from
the need to obtain and keep track of an actual object reference for each object you
wish to refer to or modify.
For example, the DoSetProperty method of the IDLitTool object class allows you to
change the value of an object property by supplying the identifier for the object
whose property is to be changed, as well as the identifier for the property itself.
Similarly, the DoAction method of the IDLitTool class allows you to initiate an
operation simply by supplying its identifier.
Retrieving Identifiers
At times, you may know the identifier of the object you wish to affect. This is the
case when your own code registers an operation, for example; you must supply the
identifier when calling the ITREGISTER routine or Register method. (See
“Registering Components” on page 38 for additional details.)
Other times, you may not know the identifier of the object you wish to affect. In these
cases, you have two options:
1. If your code has access to the actual object reference to the object whose
identifier you need, you can use the GetFullIdentifier method of the
IDLitComponent object class. See “IDLitComponent::GetFullIdentifier” (IDL
Reference Guide) for details.
2. If your code does not have access to an object reference, you can use the
FindIdentifiers method of the IDLitTool object class to retrieve a list of
identifiers that match a specified pattern. See “IDLitTool::FindIdentifiers”
(IDL Reference Guide) for details.
