PATH WebObjects 4.5 Documentation > Getting Started With Direct to Java Client

Internal Rule System Requests

When the rule system evaluates a request from the controller factory, the actual returned value is a D2WComponent, not the controller hierarchy XML. The D2WComponent identified by the fired rule is responsible for generating the controller hierarchy XML that the controller factory receives.

In the process of generating the XML, the D2WController object might require the rule system to evaluate additional requests. The most significant of which are:

controller which identifies an entity level controller for a task and entity identified in the request's specification.The entity level controller defines a part of a window or dialog's user interface for performing the specified task on the specified entity. For example, there's an EOListController that uses a table view to display a list of a particular entity's objects.
propertyKeys which identifies the property keys for a task and entity identified in the request's specification. The property keys are needed to identify the additional controllers needed to display and manipulate an object's attributes and relationships.