With any of the relational adapters installed, you can use the FOCUS language to request access to RDBMS tables and views. There is no need for specialized subroutines or embedded SQL commands, although with the Direct SQL Passthru facility you can include all SQL commands in report requests.

To make a table intelligible to FOCUS, describe each table or view once in FOCUS terminology. FOCUS stores this description as a Master File and an associated Access File. Once you create Master and Access Files for an RDBMS table, you can refer to the individual columns of the table using the Master File field name or the RDBMS column name. The AUTODB2 and AUTODBC facilities can create Master and Access Files for you automatically. (Issuing requests through the Direct SQL Passthru facility eliminates the need for Master and Access Files but retains all FOCUS reporting capabilities.)

Once you have a Master and Access File for a table, you can use all FOCUS facilities available at your site, such as the Report Writer, the database maintenance language, graphics, and statistics. You do not need to know SQL.