You can define custom user attributes so you can associate data with the region or entry and retrieve it later. Unlike the other configuration settings, these attributes are used only by your application.

1. Create a Java Object with your attribute definitions.
2. Attach the object to the region or to an entry:
   • Region.setUserAttribute(userAttributeObject)
   • Region.getEntry(key).setUserAttribute(userAttributeObject)
3. Get the attribute value:
   • Region.getUserAttribute()
   • Region.getEntry(key).getUserAttribute()

This example stores attributes for later retrieval by a cache writer.

// Attach a user attribute to a Region with database info for table portfolio
Object myAttribute = "portfolio"; 
final Region portfolios = 
      new RegionFactory().setCacheWriter(new PortfolioDBWriter()).create("Portfolios"); 
Portfolios.setUserAttribute(myAttribute);

//Implement a cache writer that reads the user attribute setting
public class PortfolioDBWriter extends CacheWriterAdapter {
  public void beforeCreate(RegionEvent event) {
    table = (String)event.getRegion().getUserAttribute();
    // update database table using name from attribute
        . . .
  }
}