# Asterisk Project : Objects

Added by malcolmd , edited by lmadsen on Apr 28, 2011

Some Asterisk configuration files also create objects. The syntax for objects is slightly different than for settings. To create an object, you specify the type of object, an arrow formed by the equals sign and a greater-than sign (=>), and the settings for that object.

    [section-name]
    some_object => settings

Confused by Object Syntax?
In order to make life easier for newcomers to the Asterisk configuration files, the developers have made it so that you can also create objects with an equal sign. Thus, the two lines below are functionally equivalent.

    some_object => settings
    some_object=settings

It is common to see both versions of the syntax, especially in online Asterisk documentation and examples. This book, however, will denote objects by using the arrow instead of the equals sign.

    [section-name]
    label1=value1
    label2=value2
    object1 => name1

    label1=value0
    label3=value3
    object2 => name2

In this example, object1 inherits both label1 and label2. It is important to note that object2 also inherits label2, along with label1 (with the new overridden value value0) and label3.

In short, objects inherit all the settings defined above them in the current section, and later settings override earlier settings.