Object Data Manager (ODM)

Object Data Manager (ODM) is a data manager intended for storing system information.
Information is stored and maintained as objects with associated characteristics. You can also
use ODM to manage data for application programs.
System data managed by ODM includes:

Device configuration information

Display information for SMIT (menus, selectors, and dialogs)

Vital product data for installation and uPdAte procedures

Communications configuration information

System resource information

You can create, add, lock, store, change, get, show, delete, and drop objects and object classes
with ODM. ODM commands provide a command-line interface to these functions.ODM
data is stored in binary format. You cannot modify ODM files with a text editor.

The basic components of the ODM :

Object classes:Each file of the database is an object class. Each object class consists of
objects having similar definitions.
Objects : Each object is one record in an object class. It is a stand-alone entity and has one or
more descriptors.
Descriptors :The descriptors describe the layout of the objects. They determine the name and
data type of the fields that are part of the object class. The descriptors of an object and their
associated values can be located and changed using ODM commands.
Information contained in the ODM :

Predefined device information: PdDv, PdAt, and PdCn

Customized device information: CuDv, CuAt, and CuDep

Software vital product data: history, inventory, lpp, and product

Error log, alog and dump information: SwservAt System Resource

Controller: SRCsubsys and SRCsubsvr

Network Installation Manager: nim_attr, nim_object, and nim_PdAttr

Where ODM Object Class files are stored?

This can be defined in /etc/environment file. The ODM object clases are held in three
repositories
1. /etc/objrepos
Contains the customized devices object classes I.e CuDv, CuAt, and CuDep and the four
object classes used by SWVPD for the / part of the installable software product. To access
information in the other directories, this directory contains symbolic links to the predefined
devices object classes. These links are needed because the ODMDIR variable points to
only /etc/objrepos. It contains the part of the product that cannot be shared with other
systems.
2. /usr/lib/objrepos
Contains the predefined objects classes i.e.PdDv, PdAt, and PdCn.SMIT menu object
classes and the four object classes used by SWVPD for the /usr part of the installable
software product. The object classes in this repository can be shared across the network by
/usr clients, dataless and diskless workstations. Software installed in the /usr part can be
shared among several machines with compatible hardware architecture.
3. /usr/share/lib/objrepos
Contains the four object classes used by the SWVPD for the /usr/share part of the installable
software product. The /usr/share part of a software product contains files that are not
hardware dependent. They can be shared among several systems, even if these have a
different hardware architecture.
Using ODM Commands :
Both SMIT and command-line commands are designed in such manner to keep ODM and
system status synchronized at all times, so ideally you might never have to use ODM
commands.

The ODM commands are:

#ODMadd :Adds objects to an object class. ODMadd command takes an ASCII stanza file
as input.
#dmchange :Changes specific objects in a specified object class.
#ODMcreate :Creates empty object classes.

#ODMdelete : Removes objects from an object class.

#ODMdrop : Removes an entire object class
#ODMget : Retrieves objects from object classes and puts the object information into
ODMadd command format.
#ODMshow : Displays the description of an object class. The ODMshow command takes an
object class name as input and puts the object class information into the ODMcreate
command format.
Because ODM is a database, ODM queries can accept parameters linked with operators that
are common when interrogating databases.
When they execute, ODM commands use the value of the ODMDIR variable. Its
default value is /etc/objrepos, but it can be changed.
Some ODM Command examples
To list all records with an Object Class CuDv
# ODMget CuDv
To find out an object within CuAt with condition name=sys0 and attibute=maxuproc
# ODMget -q name=sys0 and attribute=maxuproc CuAt
CuAt:
name = sys0
attribute = maxuproc
value = 2000
type = R
generic = DU
rep = nr
nls_index = 20
ODMgetcommand to interrogate the ODM class lpp about all the software installed on the
system and we selected the first 30 lines of the output.
# ODMget lpp|head -30
# echo $ODMDIR
O/P /etc/objrepos
ODMgetcommand to interrogate the CuAt class(LVM)
# ODMget -q name=hdisk0 CuAt
To delete the above object:-

# ODMget -q name=sys0 and attribute=maxuproc CuAt > file.1

# ODMdelete -q name=sys0 and attribute=maxuproc -o CuAt
(To add the deleted object again to the above object class
# ODMadd file.1 (add the file content to appropriate Object class)