Location Removal Mechanism
The location removal feature is similar to tag removal and object deletion supported via assertions in SmartSpace core. Location removal allows an assertion to be made that causes the current location of the object to be removed, and the assertion will be retracted once this has been done. Location removal doesn’t require any configuration parameters – it is purely implemented using a single assertion.
Assertions for Location Removal
remove location pending flag <Object>
When this flag is asserted for an object, the object’s location will be removed, and then assertion will be retracted. Any process action that must be executed after the object has been removed can be safely executed when the assertion has been retracted. If the object is still getting located by some other means, such as via driven objects, or an associated tag, then the object might be located again (possibly immediately).
Example of Location Removal Use
One example of the use of the location removal mechanism is to clean up objects that have not been located by their tag for some process-related time interval. To implement this, specify a stale timeout for the object type, and then when the stale flag is set for an object, set the location removal pending flag. This can be can be done using external integration code, or trivially with Business Rules if they have been licensed.