TypeDefinitionNodes can be complex. A complex TypeDefinitionNode also defines References to other Nodes as part of the type definition. The ModellingRules defined in 6.4.4 specify how those Nodes are handled when creating an instance of the type definition.

A TypeDefinitionNode references instances instead of other TypeDefinitionNodes to allow unique names for several instances of the same type, to define default values and to add References for those instances that are specific to this complex TypeDefinitionNode and not to the TypeDefinitionNode of the instance. For example, in Figure 6 the ObjectType “AI_BLK_TYPE”, representing a function block, has a HasComponent Reference to a Variable “SP” of the VariableType “SetPoint”. “AI_BLK_TYPE” could have an additional setpoint Variable of the same type using a different name. It could add a Property to the Variable that was not defined by its TypeDefinitionNode “SetPoint”. And it could define a default value for “SP”, that is, each instance of “AI_BLK_TYPE” would have a Variable “SP” initially set to this value.

Figure 6 – Example of a Complex TypeDefinition

This approach is commonly used in object-oriented programming languages in which the variables of a class are defined as instances of other classes. When the class is instantiated, each variable is also instantiated, but with the default values (constructor values) defined for the containing class. That is, typically, the constructor for the component class runs first, followed by the constructor for the containing class. The constructor for the containing class may override component values set by the component class.

To distinguish instances used for the type definitions from instances that represent real data, those instances are called InstanceDeclarations. However, this term is used to simplify this specification, if an instance is an InstanceDeclaration or not is only visible in the AddressSpace by following its References. Some instances may be shared and therefore referenced by TypeDefinitionNodes, InstanceDeclarations and instances. This is similar to class variables in object-oriented programming languages.