Creating and Using Stored Tables › Using a Data Table

Using a Data Table

The purpose of defining a table is to use the table as a vehicle for storing data in the database. The Automatic System Facility not only provides a convenient means of defining data tables, but it also automatically provides online applications for adding, retrieving, and updating the rows of those tables. The application you created when you generated the JOB table enables you to perform the following activities through ASF:

• Loading data into the table
• Displaying data
• Changing data
• Deleting data
• Selecting data for display
• Displaying a table through OnLine Query

Define Columns, Use Rows

When you defined the JOB table, you were concerned with the column headings. When you use the JOB table, you will be concerned with the column entries, or rows, which contain the actual data you are storing in the database. When you load data, you assign values to the columns. Each row gives you all the information about a particular job.

Now that you have defined and generated a stored table, you can load data into the table and manipulate that data. Follow steps 1 through 6 outlined below to load and manipulate the rows of the JOB table.