Skip to main content
Version: On prem: 15.0.2

Reference paths

A central concept of Omada Identity is the data object model. This feature allows you to build arbitrary data object types and assign a number of properties to them. You can use such properties to, for example, add text or a number, but you can also use properties to create references to other data objects. This type of property is known as a reference property.

When you use the data object model, you can have a resource that belongs to a system that has an owner. The system is referenced in the property Resource.SYSTEMREF and the owner is referenced in the System.OWNERREF.

The reference path helps you to obtain the owner of the system to which a resource belongs by using /SYSTEMREF/OWNERREF.

Reference paths always have an implicit starting point which is a data object type. It is called implicit because you cannot read the starting point from the path itself. For this reason, in the example above, the starting point is the Resource data object type.

From the given starting point, the above-mentioned reference path expresses that you want to obtain the data object(s) that are specified in the SYSTEMREF property. From these data objects, you want to obtain the data object(s) that are specified in the OWNERREF property. The starting point for a reference path is always an explicit data object which is of the implicit data object type.

Reference paths are used in the following places:

  • Survey step and assignee filters.
  • View filter expressions.
  • Display fields in list view.
  • Email variables.
  • Role and Policy Engine attribute mappings.
info

It can be a resource-exhaustive task for the system to evaluate reference paths. You should always consider the potential negative performance impacts of using reference paths.

This is especially relevant for places in the system where the system must evaluate many reference paths, for example, in views in which there are many reference path columns.

Take into consideration that the cost of evaluating a reference path increases with the number of fragments of which it is comprised.