> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://community-test.logicnets.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://community-test.logicnets.com/release-9/getting-started/the-logicnets-designer/data-object-notation-and-usage.md).

# Data Object Notation and Usage

A data object is an item that names a particular piece of data and/or information. For example, if you want to ask a user to enter his or her name in your application, firstname is a data object and lastname is a data object. The actual name the person enters is the value of the data object.

There are different types of data objects, including text, number, date, and collection, and LogicNets offers different options depending on the data object type. For example, when you create a date data object the system allows you to select the date format you want to use.

## Common Questions

The following is a list of answers to commonly asked questions:

* Data objects cannot contain spaces (use "\_") or special characters. They CAN be verbose to better describe the variable name (e.g. number\_of\_legs)
* Data objects do not need to be initialized up front -- the LogicNets engine will assume that the variable does NOT exist unless/until the logicnet design writes a value to it, by way of a user input or a process step.
* Data objects can be placed in a "container" of one or more levels (e.g. department\_A.personnel.last\_name, department\_A.personnel, first\_name, department\_A.personnel.job\_title). Containers cannot also be data objects.
* Avoid special words used by the LogicNets codebase:

```
and, break, do, else, elseif, end, false, for, function, if, in, local, nil not ,or, repeat, return, then, true, until, while
```

* Use $(...) syntax to reference data objects in displaying text.
* Use $(...\[n]) to reference the nth item in an array.
* Use $(variable:default) construction in calculations to insure a variable not yet defined has a default (usually 0) value in the calculation.

Note: This topic has an attached PDF document that contains key points from a LogicNets training class.

## Attachments

* [LogicNets Variables.pdf](https://github.com/logicnets/community-portal/tree/release-9/docs/.gitbook/assets/36lp84-LogicNets-Variables.pdf)


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