Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Getting Started:
OpenEdge Reference Architecture

Properties

The properties of a Data Access Object are typically used to hold relevant context information such as:

Connection types.
Table or filenames.
Query filters.
Batch-specific information (the number of records to retrieve).

When an instance of a Data Access Object is created at run time of the application, the properties can be populated with information. The routines of the component can then use these properties to retrieve and/or interact with data correctly.