A framework may include an object model and services. The framework may gather information at run-time from metadata within the object model before the framework operates on the classes. For a class within the object model, a subclass may be generated for containing pertinent metadata about the class. Through annotations of class members, the framework may determine the various types of data within the framework. This hierarchy information may specify how objects within the object model relate to one another. An annotation set within the subclass may contain information specifying how members of the class should behave, including, which services of the framework the class member should participate in and how the class member should participate. The annotations may be used for indicating how services of the framework should persist data to various storage units, such as an XML file and/or a database table.