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To view and edit synonym attributes:

1. From the Projects or Data Servers area, open a synonym by double-clicking a Master File from the Master Files folder.

   By default, the Synonym Editor opens to the last view used, the Segment and Field View tab shows a hierarchy of segments and columns on the left, with the attributes and values of the selected item on the right.

   Note: The attributes available depend on the type of synonym.

   The following image is an example of an SQL data source with a key column selected.

   

   Note: The values for Format, Expression, Description, and Nulls are viewable in the hierarchy with the columns. To edit these values, use the corresponding attribute fields on the right-hand side of the Synonym Editor.

2. You can change the attribute values by typing in new values or by using the drop-down menus and check boxes.

   Note: The Synonym Editor does not let you make any changes that would render the Master File unusable. Therefore, you cannot edit any value field that is highlighted gray. In addition, if a change does not have proper syntax or format applied, the field may appear in red text. Messages and warnings appear if you try to save a file that contains an error.

3. Save changes by clicking Save from the File menu.
4. To close the Synonym Editor, select Close from the File menu or click the control button in the upper-right corner.

Note: If you close the Synonym Editor without saving your changes, you are prompted to do so.

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The following image is an example of an SQL data source with the synonym file name selected.

Note: Information about the attribute that has focus is displayed at the bottom of the attribute list. In this case, an explanation of the SUFFIX attribute appears.

Synonyms can have the following file attributes:

General

SUFFIX

Identifies the type of synonym or data source.

FDEFCENT

Defines the default century value, specifying a century number for handling cross-century dates.

Note: Use the default setting (0) unless you wish to retrieve data from a earlier century. For example, 19xx.

FYRTHRESH

Defines the base years, to represent the lowest year to which the century value applies (FDEFCENT).

Note: Use the default setting (0) unless you wish to retrieve data from a earlier century. For example, 19xx.

REMARKS

Enables you to include descriptive information at the file level and specify multiple language descriptions for the synonym. Remarks are displayed along with the file name during reporting.

For more information about multilingual descriptions, see Setting Up Multilingual Titles and Descriptions.

DATASET

Identifies the physical location of the data source to be used in the file name, including the extension and the location of the data file.

Note: The attributes available depend on the type of synonym.

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The following image is an example of an SQL data source with a segment selected.

Note: Information about the attribute that has focus is displayed at the bottom of the attribute list. In this case, an explanation of the SEGMENT attribute appears.

Segments in a synonym can have the following attributes:

General

SEGMENT

Is the name of the segment.

ENCRYPT

Check this box to scramble field values in the current segment in order to protect it from unauthorized examination.

Note: You must assign a DBA password to the file before setting the Encrypt option on. For details, see Encrypting and Decrypting a Master File. You must then turn the Encrypt option on before adding any records. If you add a record to a segment before setting the Encrypt option on, that value will not be encrypted.

Once a segment is encrypted, you can remove encryption only if you remove the segment and recreate it without turning the Encrypt option on.

Tip: Because there is a loss of processing efficiency when data is encrypted, encryption should be used selectively.

SEGTYPE

Specifies the type or relationship that a segment has to its parent and indicates which of the segment fields are key fields, and in what order they are sorted.

Type. Identifies the segment type and sorting options from the Type drop-down list.

Keys. Records are sorted in a data source by key fields. Enter the number of key fields that you want to use for sorting. For example, no two employees can have the same employee ID number, so you can use that field as the key. A segment instance can have more than one field that makes up the key. That is, two or more field values may be used to distinguish records.

SEGSUF

SEGSUF is used when part of the data source being described by the Master File is of a different data source type than that declared for the entire structure.

Note: SEGSUF is the data source type of a segment and any descendants it might have, where that type differs from the SUFFIX value.

Miscellaneous

DESCRIPTION

Contains a description or comments about the segment.

For more information about multilingual descriptions, see Setting Up Multilingual Titles and Descriptions.

CRFILENAME

Is the name of the cross-referenced data source.

CRSEGNAME

Is the name of the cross-referenced segment.

CRKEY

Identifies the common join field for the cross-referenced segment.

Adapter Specific

Note: Adapter Specific fields are shown if an Access File component has been generated with the synonym.

CARDINALITY

Defines the number of records that were found in the original data source when the synonym was created.

TABLENAME

Identifies the table or view. It may contain the owner ID, as well as the table name. For some synonyms, it must also contain the data source name.

CONNECTION

Indicates the adapter connection name used.

KEYS

Identifies how many columns constitute the primary key.

KEYORDER

Identifies the logical sort sequence of data by the primary key.

WRITE

Specifies whether write operations are allowed against the table.

DBSPACE

Identifies the storage area in which the table resides.

PERSISTENCE

Specifies the type of table persistence and related table properties. This is optional for database management systems that support volatile tables, and required otherwise.

Note: The attributes available depend on the type of synonym.

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The following image is an example of an SQL data source with a key column selected.

Note: The attributes available depend on the type of synonym.

Note: Information about the attribute that has focus is displayed at the bottom of the attribute list. In this case, an explanation of the FIELDNAME attribute appears.

Columns in a synonym can have the following attributes:

General

FIELDNAME

Is the name of the column.

ALIAS

Assigns an alternative name for a column or the real column name for a DBMS synonym.

MISSING

Controls how null data is handled, that is, if no transaction value is supplied.

TITLE

Supplies a title to replace the column name that is normally used in reports and enables you to specify multiple language titles for the column or field.

For more information about multilingual titles, see Setting Up Multilingual Titles and Descriptions.

ACTUAL

Describes the type and length of data as it is actually stored in the data source.

USAGE

Describes the data type and format for the column for usage or display.

Note: Additional attributes, DEFCENT and YRTHRESH, are available if the Usage field is set to Date, Time, or DateTime (Timestamp) format. Use these attributes to enter the century and year threshold values for the column or field.

• Type enables you to set a value for the field as Alpha fixed, Alpha variable, Text, Integer, Float, Double, Decimal Packed, Date, Time, DateTime (Timestamp), and Binary Large Object.
• Length enables you to set the character length.
• Options enables you to set how negative integers appear, set the appearance or suppression of commas, set leading zeroes, print blank for zeroes, set percentage signs, and select currency symbols.

Miscellaneous

DESCRIPTION

Contains a description or comments about the column or field.

For more information about multilingual descriptions, see Setting Up Multilingual Titles and Descriptions.

ACCEPT

Specifies criteria for validating data.

OR enables you to specify an acceptable value.

FROM-TO enables you to specify a range of acceptable value fields.

FIND enables you to supply file and field names to instruct WebFOCUS where to search for a data source and for a list of acceptable values. You supply the field name of the data field for which the validation criteria are being assigned, the file name of the target FOCUS data source where the field can be found, and the field name of the target data field that contains the validation criteria.

Note: FIND is only available for FOCUS data sources and does not apply to OLAP-enabled Master Files. Note also that, in the Maintain environment, FIND is not supported when developing a Master File.

WITHIN

Contains the name of a field to be included in a dimension.

These WITHIN statements are added to the synonym through the Dimension Builder to OLAP-enable FOCUS files and relational tables. This enables you to perform OLAP analysis using the OLAP Control Panel, or to use it with the FML Painter.

Property

Sets the Property for the field.

Reference

Enables you to reference another data source.

FIELDTYPE

Identifies an indexed column. You can check the Index check box to index the FIELDTYPE.

Note: FIELDTYPE=R indicates a read-only column. This setting is useful for columns that are automatically assigned a value by the RDBMS.

ACCESS_PROPERTY

Specifies access options for the column data.

• INTERNAL defines a column that does not appear in sample data or in the list of available columns. Restricts the field from showing in any of the Field Lists in the reporting tools.
• NEED_VALUE defines a column that requires a value to access the data.
• Select By defines a column by value, range, or multivalues.

AUTHRESP defines a column that describes the result of an authentication operation. Correct response values must be provided in the ACCEPT attribute (using the OR predicate if more than one value is acceptable).

AUTHTOKEN defines a column that contains a response token to be passed as an input value to the operation to be executed.

HELPMESSAGE

Appends a help message to a column.

USE_STYLE

Note: The attributes available depend on the type of synonym.