ODM processes Archive File Collections according to specific rules.
Tables with matching creator IDs and names are unioned. To be processed, a table need not exist in every Archive File. ODM is not case sensitive. ODM does not use DB Aliases; however, the Archive File Collection Editor will display an error message if an Archive File has two tables with matching creator IDs and names but different DB Aliases.
Matching tables need not have the same columns. The union will include all column names in the matching tables. Rows from a table that do not include a column found in another table will use a default value such as NULL, a default date specified in the Archive File Collection Editor, or an appropriate data type (spaces, zero, and so on).
All columns with the same name that are in tables with matching creator IDs and names must have compatible attributes. If columns have different but compatible attributes, a compatible attribute will be used for those columns. The column compatibility rules for the Compare Process apply to Archive File Collections. For information about comparison compatibility rules, refer to the Common Elements Manual .
For example, columns COLX DECIMAL(8,2) and COLX DECIMAL(10,0) will become COLX DECIMAL(10,2).
If a compatible attribute cannot be found (for example, COLX INTEGER and COLX TIMESTAMP), the Archive File Collection Editor will display an error message.