Concatenating Data Sources

How to:

If several FOCUS data sources are described by the same Master File, you can read all of the data sources in one TABLE or GRAPH request by issuing a USE command that concatenates all of the data sources.

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Syntax: How to Concatenate Data Sources
USE 
fileid1 AS mastername
fileid2 AS mastername 
.
. 
fileidn AS mastername 
END

where:

fileid1...

Are any valid file specifications, for the operating system, for the data sources being concatenated.

mastername

Is the name of the Master File that describes the data sources.
Example: Concatenating Data Sources to One Master File

For example, to read three FOCUS data sources: EMP024, EMP025, and EMP026, all described by the Master File EMPLOYEE, issue the following USE command: 

USE
EMP024 AS EMPLOYEE
EMP025 AS EMPLOYEE
EMP026 AS EMPLOYEE
END

You can then read all three data sources with the command TABLE FILE EMPLOYEE.
Example: Concatenating Multiple Master Files

You can concatenate data sources to several Master Files in one USE command. For example, the following USE command concatenates the EMP01 and EMP02 data sources to the Master File EMPLOYEE, and concatenates the SALES01 and SALES02 data sources to the Master File SALES: 

USE
EMP01 AS EMPLOYEE
EMP02 AS EMPLOYEE
SALES01 AS SALES
SALES02 AS SALES
END

To read the EMP01 and EMP02 data sources, begin by entering

TABLE FILE EMPLOYEE

and to read the SALES01 and SALES02 data sources, begin by entering

TABLE FILE SALES
Example: Concatenating Multiple Data Sources and a Single Cross-Reference Data Source

To read multiple data sources with a cross-reference data source as one data source, specify the host data sources in the USE command and then the cross-reference data source.

For example, the data source EMPLOYEE is made up of two data sources EMP01 and EMP02 that reference a common cross-reference data source EDUCFILE. To read the two data sources together, enter the following USE command:

USE
EMP01 AS EMPLOYEE
EMP02 AS EMPLOYEE
EDUCFILE
END
Example: Concatenating Multiple Data Sources and Multiple Cross-Reference Data Sources

If the EMPLOYEE data source consisted of two data sources, EMP01 and EMP02, and each had its own cross-reference data source, ED01 and ED02, you can read all four data sources in one command by entering this USE command where each host data source is followed by its cross-reference.

You cannot specify a concatenated data source as the cross-referenced data source in a JOIN command.

Take an indexed view olf a concatenated data source by creating an external index data source and using the TABLE FILE filename.indexed_fieldname command. For more information about indexed views, see the instructions for creating an external index data source in the Maintaining Databases manual.

USE
EMP01 AS EMPLOYEE
ED01  AS EDUCFILE
EMP02 AS EMPLOYEE
ED02  AS EDUCFILE
END
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