Using the Editor

Use the Relationship Editor to create and maintain Optim™ relationships and browse database relationships.

You can edit an Optim relationship in any of the following ways:

Parent

Fully qualified name of the parent table in the relationship. You cannot modify the name of the table.

Base Creator ID

Creator ID of the child table used to create the generic relationship. If the relationship is explicit, the Base Creator ID is blank and grayed.

Type

Type of relationship: Optim (explicit), Generic, or a specific DBMS, such as Oracle.

Child

Fully qualified name of the child table in the relationship. You cannot modify the name of the table.

Description

Text that describes or explains the purpose of the relationship (1 to 40 characters). You can modify this description for Optim and generic relationships.

Relationship List

The relationship list includes the pairs of parent and child table column entries that form the relationship. You cannot create a Relationship using an SQL Variant column.

Parent Expression
List of parent table entries that relate to corresponding entries for the child table. You may use column names automatically inserted into the Relationship Editor, or you can edit the entries. For details, see Specify Column Values in a Relationship.
Data Type
Data type for each column entry. The data types for any pair of parent and child columns may differ, but must be compatible. You cannot modify this value.

If the data types are invalid, a notation is displayed:

Required
Only one table in a pair has a column entry. You must provide a column entry for the other table.
Inconsistent
A substring uses a value that is not CHAR or an expression references a column that is not CHAR or VARCHAR. You must use character data in an expression that includes concatenated values or substrings.
Nonexistent
The named column does not exist in either the parent or child table. Verify the column name.
Not Supported
The data type or float constant is not supported. Numeric constants are valid only when the column is DECIMAL, INTEGER, or SMALLINT.
Too Large
A column entry exceeds 254 characters.
Too Many
The number of columns in the relationship exceeds 64.
Child Expression
A list of child table entries that relate to corresponding entries for the parent table. You may use column names automatically inserted into the Relationship Editor, or you can edit the entries. For details, see Specify Column Values in a Relationship.
Data Type
Data type for each column in the child table. The data types for any pair of parent and child column entries may differ, but they must be compatible. You cannot modify this value.

If the data types are invalid, a notation is displayed. Refer to the description of Data Type for the parent table for details.

Status
The validity of the entries for the corresponding parent and child table columns. If valid, the status is OK. If one or both entries are invalid, the status is *ERROR* and a corresponding message explains the error.

Menu Commands

In addition to the standard File, Edit, and Tools menu commands, you can select the following commands from the Tools menu:

Parent Columns
Open the Parent Table Columns dialog. You can select columns from the parent table to define a relationship.
Child Columns
Open the Child Table Columns dialog. You can select columns from the child table to define a relationship.
Reverse Parent /Child Tables
Switch the names of tables from parent to child and child to parent when you define a new relationship.
Generic
Convert a database relationship or explicit Optim relationship to a generic Optim relationship.
Modify Base Tables
Open the Respecify Base Table Creator ID dialog. You can select a different Creator ID for the base table associated with a generic relationship.

You must respecify the Creator ID for the base table when the base table used to create the generic relationship is no longer identical to other tables that use the generic relationship.