IBM WebSphere Adapters - Manual (Page 114)

Command Manager Delete
Delta objects
Delta processing is only relevant for service data objects (SDO).
The Command Manager functions in a similar way when processing delta objects.
Instead of retrieving and comparing, the command manager reads the change
summary for the intended changes. Note that since a child object might be
changed without any change to the parent object, and since many EIS systems
require a parent pointer in order to process children, the command manager
generates NO_OPERATION commands for the untouched parents of changed child
objects.
108 WebSphere Adapters: WebSphere Adapter Toolkit User Guide