Type Annotation override

Applies To: # OData core lib v7 supportedOData core lib v7 supported OData Core Lib V7

All OData items (ODataResource, ODataResourceSet, etc.) read from the payload are inherited from ODataAnnotatable. In ODataAnnotatable, there is a property called TypeAnnotation whose type is ODataTypeAnnotation. It is used to store the @odata.type annotation read from or written to the payload. The reasons why we don't merge it into the instance annotations in ODataAnnotatable are that:

  1. for performance improvement;
  2. in ATOM format, we also have OData type annotation.

During deserialization, the TypeAnnotation property will be set by the OData readers into each OData item read from the payload. During serialization, the TypeAnnotation property itself and its TypeName property together will control how OData type annotation will be written to the payload.

The control policies are:

  • If the TypeAnnotation property itself is null, then we will rely on the underlying logic in ODataLib and Web API OData to determine what OData type annotation to be written to the payload.
  • If the TypeAnnotation property is not null but the TypeName property is null, then absolutely NO OData type annotation will be written to the payload.
  • If the TypeAnnotation property is not null and the TypeNameproperty is notnull` as well, then the string value specified will be written to the payload.

That said, if you specify a value for the TypeAnnotation property, its TypeName property will override the underlying logic anyway. So please pay attention to the value of the TypeName property.