Unlike components, object ownership can be nested to any level. In other words, a system can own a component and that component can own other components. In Single Point Operations level 9.2, a component belonged to a system only. Beginning with level 11.0, Operations Sentinel supports a more complex ownership tree. To enable this more complex ownership, the syntax for identifying objects was extended. This means that there is a new syntax for object identification in event reports.

The old object identification syntax still works in Operations Sentinel. If an object is owned by a system, you can still identify the object using the old syntax. However, the user must manually define the classes in the configuration to match the old component class definitions used in earlier levels. Beginning with level 11.0, Operations Sentinel does not supply the old component class definitions. Manually defining the classes is a straightforward process using the class definition wizard.

This section describes how to use the new syntax and the set of classes supplied with the starter configuration. The new syntax and class definitions are more flexible and maintainable than the old syntax. In addition, beginning with Operations Sentinel level 11.0, the old syntax is deprecated. Continuing to use the old syntax is not recommended and future product releases may not support it.