Managing Microsoft SQL Server Metadata

The following list describes the synonym creation parameters for which you can supply values.

Restrict Object Type to

Restrict candidates for synonym creation based on the selected object type(s): Tables, Views, External SQL Scripts, and any other supported objects.

Choosing External SQL Scripts from the drop-down list enables you to represent an SQL Query as a synonym for read-only reporting. A Synonym candidate can be any file that contains one (and only one) valid SQL Query and does not contain end-of-statement delimiters (";" or "/") and comments.

Depending on the adapter, you can further restrict your search by choosing check boxes for listed objects.

Important: If you select Stored Procedures as your object type, the input parameters will be a little different from those described here. For details, refer to Creating a Report Against a Stored Procedure.

Database selection

To specify a database from which you can select a table or other object, do one of the following:

• Check Use current database to use the database that has been set as the default database.
• Select a database from the Select database drop-down list, which lists all databases in the current DBMS instance.

  Before selecting a database, if Use current database is checked, uncheck it.

To specify the intended database, choose from the Select database drop-down menu, which shows all databases on the targeted instance of Microsoft SQL Server. Selecting Default Database will retain the database set during connection configuration. If Default Database was not set during configuration, the database assigned to the active login on the SQL Server will be used as the default.

Filter by Owner/Schema and Object name

Selecting this option adds the Owner/Schema and Object Name parameters to the screen.

• Owner/Schema. Type a string for filtering the selection, inserting the wildcard character (%) as needed at the beginning and/or end of the string. For example, enter: ABC% to select tables or views whose owner/schema begin with the letters ABC; %ABC to select tables or views whose owner/schema end with the letters ABC; %ABC% to select tables or views whose owner/schema contain the letters ABC at the beginning, middle, or end.
• Object name. Type a string for filtering the object names, inserting the wildcard character (%) as needed at the beginning and/or end of the string. For example, enter: ABC% to select all objects whose names begin with the letters ABC; %ABC to select all whose names end with the letters ABC; %ABC% to select all whose names contain the letters ABC at the beginning, middle, or end.

Location of External SQL Scripts

xIf you specify External SQL Scripts in the Restrict Object type to field, these additional fields are displayed.

The following standard naming conventions apply for UNIX, IBM i IFS, and z/OS HFS:

• In the Base Location field, specify the physical directory location of the file that contains the SQL Query. You can type a directory name or click on the ellipsis. This opens the Select Base Location dialog box.
• In the Document Name field, enter the file name with or without wild card characters.
• In the Document Extension field, enter the extension of the script files to filter the list of candidates.

On IBM i, you can use alternative IFS naming conventions to access library members. The following entry illustrates this method:

• In the Base Location field, enter:

  /QSYS.LIB/MYLIBRARY.LIB/MYSRC.FILE

• The Document Extension is understood to be MBR. You can enter this value explicitly or leave the input box blank.

During synonym generation, the adapter issues native API calls to obtain a list of elements in the select list and builds the Master File with a field for each element. The generated Access File references the location of the SQL script in the DATASET attribute, which contains the full path, including the name and extension of the file containing the SQL Query. For example,

DATASET=/ul/home2/apps/report3.sql

When a WebFOCUS report is created, the SQL Query is used to access data.

Cardinality

Select the Cardinality check box to reflect the current cardinality (number of rows or tuples) in the table during metadata creation. Cardinality is used for equi-joins. The order of retrieval is based on the size (cardinality) of the table. Smaller tables are read first.

If the cardinality of the tables to be used in the application are dynamic, it may not be beneficial to choose this setting.

Build cluster using foreign keys (deprecated)

You can select the Build cluster using foreign keys check box to include within this synonym every table related to the current table by a foreign key. However, this option has been deprecated, as the recommended way to create a cluster is by using the Synonym Editor. The resulting multi-table synonym describes all of the foreign key relationships of this table.

Dynamic columns

To specify that the Master File created for the synonym should not contain column information, select the Dynamic columns check box.

If this option is selected, column data is retrieved dynamically from the data source at the time of the request.

For Subquery

Only available when External SQL Scripts is selected from the Restrict objects type to drop-down menu. When selected, a SUBQUERY keyword is added to the Access File of the generated synonym. If the corresponding SQL string has valid syntax that can be used in the FROM statement of the generated SQL (what is known as a Derived Table), then the SQL SCRIPT will be processed as a subquery embedded into a FROM clause. This usage allows for more flexibility. For example, the synonym can be used as a target for a JOIN.

If the SQL SCRIPT has parameter markers, such as ? or :, or the syntax contains constructs that are invalid for a derived table, for example ORDER BY, then this keyword should not be selected. At runtime, if SUBQUERY=Y is present and it is determined that the SQL SCRIPT cannot be used in the FROM statement, the setting will be ignored, and a FOC1782 warning message will be issued. The default is selected (SUBQUERY=Y).

Application

Select an application directory. The default value is baseapp.

Prefix/Suffix

If you have tables with identical table names, assign a prefix or a suffix to distinguish them. For example, if you have identically named human resources and payroll tables, assign the prefix HR to distinguish the synonyms for the human resources tables. Note that the resulting synonym name cannot exceed 64 characters.

If all tables and views have unique names, leave the prefix and suffix fields blank.

Customize data type mappings

To change the data type mappings from their default settings, select this check box. The customizable mappings are displayed.

For information about customizable mappings, see Data Type Support.

Update or Create Metadata

Select Create to overwrite any existing synonym with the same fully-qualified name, or Update to synchronize the metadata with an existing synonym. If you select Update, the next screen will show a list of attributes from the DBMS catalog that you can check to allow attributes from the DBMS catalog to override attributes from the existing synonym.

Overwrite Existing Synonyms

To specify that this synonym should overwrite any earlier synonym with the same fully qualified name, select the Overwrite existing synonyms check box.

Note: The connected user must have operating system write privileges in order to recreate a synonym.

Default Synonym Name

This column displays the name that will be assigned to each synonym. To assign a different name, replace the displayed value.

Table name

Is the name of the underlying object.

Select tables

Select tables for which you wish to create synonyms:

• To select all tables in the list, select the Select All check box.
• To select specific tables, select the corresponding check boxes.

When you generate a synonym for a Microsoft SQL table or view, the adapter maps comments as follows:

• MS SQL Server table/view comments (if present) are mapped to the REMARKS attribute in the Master File synonym.
• MS SQL Server column comments (if present) are mapped to the DESCRIPTION attribute in the Master File synonym.

Both Unicode and non-Unicode comments are supported.

Also, MS SQL Server column title (if present) is mapped to the TITLE attribute in the Master File synonym.

This chart describes the keywords in the Access File.

SEGNAME

TABLENAME

TABLENAME=[[database.]owner.]table

CONNECTION

CONNECTION=connection

KEYS

KEY

KEY=fld1/fld2/.../fldn

WRITE

KEYFLD IXFLD

AUTO INCREMENT

START

INCREMENT

INDEX_NAME
INDEX_UNIQUE
INDEX_COLUMNS
INDEX_ORDER

Once you have created a synonym, you can right-click the synonym name in the Adapter navigation pane of either the Web Console or the Data Management Console to access the available options.

For a list of options, see Synonym Management Options.

where:

SQLMSS

Indicates the adapter. You can omit this value if you previously issued the SET SQLENGINE command.

ON

Maps the Microsoft SQL Server data type VARCHAR as variable-length alphanumeric (AnV). This is required for Unicode environments. ON is the default value.

OFF

Maps the Microsoft SQL Server data type VARCHAR as alphanumeric (A).

The available parameters are:

ENGINE SQLMSS SET NCHAR {SBCS|DBCS|TBCS}

where:

SQLMSS

Indicates the adapter. You can omit this value if you previously issued the SET SQLENGINE command.

SBCS

Indicates a single-byte character set. SBCS is the default value.

DBCS

Indicates a double-byte character set.

TBCS

Indicates a triple-byte character set.