Portus DataViews

1. Open a "local" file, contained in an Eclipse project within the active workspace...

   • by double-clicking on it's name in the Package Explorer or Navigator

     

   • by right-clicking the DataView (.xrd) file, Open With -> Portus Resource Definition Editor

     

2. Open a "remote" DataView file, directly on the server, without importing it into a workspace / project first, by right-clicking the DataView name in the Configuration View to bring up the context menu, then select "edit DataView"

   

1. For the purpose we will open an empty DataView file and populate it with all information required to be able to start issuing requests against an Adabas Resource (= Adabas file on an Adabas database). This tutorial will be based on the Adabas "Employees" demo file.

   DataViews are not tied to a specific "resource type", the same mapping can be used to access an Adabas file or a SQL table. There are, however, elements of a DataView which are only meaningful in the context of a specific resource type, for example "special descriptors" (super-, sub-, ...) for Adabas.

   

2. The display areas relevant for editing the DataView file are

   • the actual editing area tab, showing the DataView file name in it's tab header
   • the Properties area

   In case the "Properties" view somehow got hidden, right-click into the edit window and select "Show Properties View" from the context menu.

   The result should look like this:

   

3. First of all, enter the Root element name: The (XML) "structure" or "set" name under which items (records) for a Resource linked to this DataView will be referred to. E.g.: AdabasEmployees

   Enter the Group element name, this is the Portus "record name". (E.g.: Employee).

   Changes applied to name fields in the Properties view are reflected in the editor's tree view immediately.

   Note: The 'Root' and 'Group' element names may NOT be identical, as this would lead to duplicate XML element names and thus 'loops' in the schema.
   
4. We can start adding the actual DataView Definition elements now, right-click on the root element in the editor window, from the context menu appearing now select add field.

5. A new element ("Field") has been added with all properties set to initial values.

   The first field we are going to add is the "personnel Id", set the properties as follows:

   

6. Add a few more fields with the following attributes:

   

   

   

   Next we are going to define the "address line" field, which is a MU (multiple value) field. MU fields are defined like a "flat" field, with the exception of the max Occurs Property being set to a value >0

   
7. Lastly, we will define a PE (periodic group), the structure of the "income" group of the "Employees" file:
   • currency Code (simple field)
   • annual Salary (simple field)
   • annual Bonus (MU field)

   So we first add the "group field" income. Only the xml Name, int. name (internal name = Adabas field name) and max Occurs properties are relevant here.

   

   To actually turn the income field to a PE group field, right-click it, select add subfield

   

   PE Sub Field properties are equivalent to those of "regular" fields. Define the three PE-fields as follows:

   

   max Occurs >0 on the PE-field level denotes a MU within a PE.

   

8. The "view" to the "Employees" file is now complete. Save the DataView by selecting the Save button or Ctrl+S.

   
9. Export the DataView to the target Portus server.

The following "special" fields can be defined for a DataView

• Adabas SuperDescriptor
• Adabas SubDescriptor
• Adabas HyperDescriptor
• Adabas Phonetic Descriptor

1. In the DataView editor window, click on the "Special fields" tab to add special fields

   

2. Right-click into the empty editor area, select "add special field"

   

3. For example we define a special field called "dept_person" with an "internal name" (the Adabas short name) of "S2", being of type "superDescriptor"

   

4. Click on the "Add subfield" button, a new field element will appear in the subfield table

   

5. Click on the field value under the "Referenced field" heading, select the field to be added from the list of fields in the dropdown-box. Here we select the "dept" field

   

   Initial "Offset" and "Length" values will be derieved from the selected field's definition

6. Select the "name" field as the second subfield just like the "dept" field, the result should look like this

   

This facility allows the conversion of a string value to an integer equivalent and vice versa. This is analogous to an enumeration i.e. for Jan substitute 1, Feb substitute 2 etc.

In the DataView editor window, select the field.

In the Properties View 2 items need to be changed

1. Open the Format dropdown list and select substitution.

2. Set the Format Mask field to the value of the enumeration string. This should be in the format strvalue1=num1, strvalue=num2, strvalue3=num3 e.g.

   Jan=1,Feb=2,Mar=3,Apr=4,May=5,Jun=6,Jul=7,Aug=8,Sep=9,Oct=10,Nov=11,Dec=12

   

   To save select Ctrl+S or close the DataView editor.

   Right-click on the Service and select 'Refresh Service'.