|
An implicit collection is the reverse of an explicit one. Instead of the collection object listing the members, the members list the collection object. In other words, each member of the collection individually asserts "I am a member of the xxx collection". This is potentially a useful approach for a collection whose membership changes on a regular basis because it is not necessary to maintain an explicit list of the collection members. Now this may have you scratching your head and asking "So how, if I search and find the collection object, do I get from there to its members?" In general this is achieved by associating a disseminator with the collection object. The collection object's disseminator carries out a search for the objects which assert membership of the collection and renders the search result in a form useful to the end user. |