Defining Table Conversion Input

Click Next on the Select Environments form to access the Select Input form.

1. Select the appropriate tab based on whether the input is a table, a business view, a foreign table, or a text file.

2. Use the query by example (QBE) line to search for the appropriate table, business view, or foreign table.

   You can select only one table or one business view per table conversion. If the input consists of multiple tables, you must create a joined table business view.

3. Enter the name of the text file on the Text File tab, or use the Browse button to locate the file.

   If you want to rename the selected file, enter the new file name, and click Rename.

   For the IBM i, input text files are stored in the Integrated File System (IFS). Enter the path to the IFS before the file name.

   If you are using a text file, or if you need to define a format for a table or business view, select the User Defined Format option.

   Note: Text files are the only type of file that you can rename.

4. If the input is a table or a business view, drag it to the Description column.

   If you change a table or business view, the system warns you that deleting tables removes all mappings from the table conversion.

5. To delete an input file, select it and press Delete.

6. Click Next.

7. On the Sequencing form, click Data Sequencing to define data sequencing for a table or business view.

   If you specify a text file for input, you cannot define data sequencing or data selection for that file.

   Note: When you define data sequencing, you create new events that are available to you in the Mapping section of the director. One new event is created for each sequence column that you define. The event is called XXXX Data Changed, where XXXX is the column alias, for example, ALPH Data Changed. Each time the value in one of these columns changes from its previous value, the Data Changed event is invoked for that column. This event is similar to a level break in report templates, except that the Data Changed events are not related to each other. Invoking one does not invoke the others.

8. Click Next.

9. On the Data Selection form, click in the Operator column, and select an appropriate operator.

   On the Data Selection form, Where is the default value in the Operator column for the first set of criteria. For subsequent statements, And and Or become the available values for the Operator column.

10. Click the Left Operand column, and select from a list of available objects.

    Note: You can define selection criteria for database table columns only. User-defined format columns are not available because they do not exist in the database.

11. Click the Comparison column, and select one of these comparison operators:

    • is equal to.

    • is equal to or empty.

    • is greater than.

    • is greater than or equal to.

    • is less than.

    • is less than or equal to.

    • is not equal to.

12. Click the Right Operand column, and select from a list of available objects, special values, or variables.

    The options in this column depend on the selection that you made in the Comparison column. Some of these options might be available:

    • Blank

      Enters a blank (space) value.

    • Literal

      Enables you to enter specific values, as described in the next step.

    • Null

      Indicates that no value is associated with the field.

    • Zero

      Enters a value of 0.

    • IC

      Indicates input table columns.

    • RI

      Indicates values passed through a report interconnect to this table conversion.

    • PO

      Indicates processing option values for this table conversion.

    • SL

      Indicates system literals.

13. If you enter a literal in the Right Operand column, you can enter values on these tabs of the Single value form:

    • Single value

      Enables you to enter a single value. An example might be a value that indicates a specific company.

    • Range of values

      Enables you to enter a range of values. An example might include companies from 00001 to 00060. When you are using a range of values, only the is equal to, is equal to or empty, and is not equal to operators are valid.

    • List of values

      Enables you to enter a list of values. Enter each value individually in the field, and click Add after each entry.

      An example list of values might include several user-defined codes for search types, such as C for customers, E for employees, and V for vendors. When you are using the list of values, only is equal to, is equal to or empty, and is not equal to are valid operators.

      To delete a value, select the value and click Delete.

14. To delete a line of criteria on the Data Selection form, select the row header and click Delete.

15. To change the order of the criteria, select the row header, and click the Up or Down button.

16. Click Next.