Object Data Type

The Object data type is an abstract type that can hold any OutSystems supported data types as well as unsupported third party data types like, for instance, Microsoft .Net classes. It is especially useful in the latter cases where, for example, you would want to hold a transaction between executions of extension actions, in an eSpace. Thus, the Object type improves the support for connectors by holding status information between API invocations.

Only the following elements can be of data type Object:

User-defined action input parameters.
User-defined action output parameters.
Local variables.

Screen local variables or output parameters of an action executed in a screen preparation (of this type), ARE NOT present in the screen actions' scope.

Elements of the Object type are not persistent, they're disposed of when they're no longer needed.

There is no implicit casting for the Object type. Any conversion to this type must be explicit.

Default value

Null object. Use NullObject() function.

Example

Suppose you want to update a SAP invoice and the related stock and there is a SAP extension that exports methods to do so. This extension also exports methods to create and to commit a SAP transaction.

In this example you would manipulate local record variables of the type Record of Invoice and Record of Stock, and use the output parameter CreateSAPTransaction.Out_transaction of the Object data type to pass the transaction to all other methods! Thus, you would build an action that, at a particular point, would have the following action flow sequence: