Deriving Views › Defining Views › Step 3: Choosing the Columns

Step 3: Choosing the Columns

The Column Definition screen is displayed, listing all the columns from the JOB and APPLICANT source tables. ASF automatically supplies these columns for the JOBS AND APPLICANTS view:

                                               CA
  CDEF   CA - Automatic System Facility            ** Column Definition **
  DC560302 ADD/MODIFY COLUMNS
  Table Name: JOBS AND APPLICANTS

      _ PF1 - Help                         _ PF3 - Extended Selection Definition
      _ PF2 - Extended Column Definition   _ PF4 - Extended Key Definition

        Page:  1  of  1
                                                 Unique  Display   Ext
           Column Name             Width   Type    Key     Seq    Screen
  JOB NUMBER                           4 TEXT                1      _
  DEPARTMENT                          20 TEXT                2      _
  TITLE                               30 TEXT                3      _
  SALARY                               7 CURRENCY            4      _
  CURRENT STATUS (FILLED OR OPEN)      6 TEXT                5      _
  NAME                                30 TEXT                6      _
  STREET                              30 TEXT                7      _
  CITY                                25 TEXT                8      _
  STATE                                2 TEXT                9      _
  ZIP CODE                             5 TEXT               10      _
  PHONE NUMBER                        13 TEXT               11      _
  POSITION APPLIED FOR                30 TEXT               12      _
  SALARY REQUIREMENT                   7 CURRENCY           13      _
  EVALUATION: STRONG,WEAK,MEDIUM       6 TEXT               14      _

You can project a table that contains some or all of the source table columns by choosing the columns you want to include in the view. You can choose from the supplied column definitions in the following two ways:

• Delete columns you do not want to include in the table definition.
• Exclude columns that you want to include in the table definition, but that you do not want displayed on the Data Display screen.

Delete Unused Columns

To continue this sample application, choose columns for the JOBS AND APPLICANTS view as follows:

• Delete the following columns from the table definition:
  • STREET
  • CITY
  • STATE
  • ZIP CODE
  • PHONE NUMBER

  Note: Even though the phone number is a unique key in the APPLICANT source table, you can delete it from the view definition.

  To delete each column:

  • Move the cursor to the name of the column being deleted.
  • Erase the column name.
  • When you have erased the names of all the columns being deleted, press [Enter].

  Erasing the column name causes the column definition to be deleted from the view (the column still exists in the source table). The Column Definition screen is rewritten to reflect the changes.

Exclude Unviewed Columns

• Exclude the following columns from the screen display:
  • POSITION APPLIED FOR
  • CURRENT STATUS (FILLED OR OPEN)

  To exclude each column from the screen display:

  • Move the cursor to the Display Seq field for the column being excluded.
  • Erase the display sequence number for the column.
  • When you have erased the display sequence numbers of the columns you want to exclude from the table display, press [Enter].

  Erasing the display sequence number of a column causes ASF to exclude the column from the screen display of the table; however, the columns remain part of the table definition.

Exclude Columns Used, not Seen

You are excluding these columns rather than deleting them because they are needed to define the view:

• The POSITION APPLIED FOR column is used to join the two source tables. Since it will always contain the same value as the TITLE column when the view is displayed, both columns do not need to be displayed.
• The CURRENT STATUS column will be used to select rows for the view as part of the definition. You are excluding the CURRENT STATUS column because, once the selection condition is defined, it will always contain the value OPEN.

Renumber Columns

When you have deleted and excluded the appropriate columns, renumber the display sequence of the remaining columns. The process of projecting columns for the JOBS AND APPLICANTS view is illustrated below.

                                        CA
  CDEF   CA - Automatic System Facility            ** Column Definition **
  DC560302 ADD/MODIFY COLUMNS
  Table Name: JOBS AND APPLICANTS

      _ PF1 - Help                         _ PF3 - Extended Selection Definition
      _ PF2 - Extended Column Definition   _ PF4 - Extended Key Definition

        Page:  1  of  1
                                                 Unique  Display   Ext
           Column Name             Width   Type    Key     Seq    Screen
  JOB NUMBER                           4 TEXT                1      _
  DEPARTMENT                          20 TEXT                2      _
  TITLE                               30 TEXT                3      _
  SALARY                               7 CURRENCY            4      _
  CURRENT STATUS (FILLED OR OPEN)      6 TEXT                5      _
  NAME                                30 TEXT                6      _
                                      30 TEXT                7      _
                                      25 TEXT                8      _
                                       2 TEXT                9      _
                                       5 TEXT               10      _
                             13 TEXT               11      _
  POSITION APPLIED FOR                30 TEXT               12      _
  SALARY REQUIREMENT                   7 CURRENCY           13      _
  EVALUATION: STRONG,WEAK,MEDIUM       6 TEXT               14      _
                      CA
  CDEF   CA - Automatic System Facility            ** Column Definition **
  DC560307 COLUMNS UPDATED
  Table Name: JOBS AND APPLICANTS

      _ PF1 - Help                         _ PF3 - Extended Selection Definition
      _ PF2 - Extended Column Definition   _ PF4 - Extended Key Definition

        Page:  1  of  1
                                                 Unique  Display   Ext
           Column Name             Width   Type    Key     Seq    Screen
  JOB NUMBER                           4 TEXT             2         _
  DEPARTMENT                          20 TEXT             4         _
  TITLE                               30 TEXT             6         _
  SALARY                               7 CURRENCY         8         _
  CURRENT STATUS (FILLED OR OPEN)      6 TEXT                       _
  NAME                                30 TEXT             10        _
  POSITION APPLIED FOR                30 TEXT                       _
  SALARY REQUIREMENT                   7 CURRENCY         12        _
  EVALUATION: STRONG,WEAK,MEDIUM       6 TEXT             14        _

                                                CA
  CDEF   CA - Automatic System Facility            ** Column Definition **
  DC560302 ADD/MODIFY COLUMNS
  Table Name: JOBS AND APPLICANTS

      _ PF1 - Help                         _ PF3 - Extended Selection Definition
      _ PF2 - Extended Column Definition   _ PF4 - Extended Key Definition

        Page:  1  of  1
                                                 Unique  Display   Ext
           Column Name             Width   Type    Key     Seq    Screen
  JOB NUMBER                           4 TEXT                2      _
  DEPARTMENT                          20 TEXT                4      _
  TITLE                               30 TEXT                6      _
  SALARY                               7 CURRENCY            8      _
  CURRENT STATUS (FILLED OR OPEN)      6 TEXT                       _
  NAME                                30 TEXT               10      _
  POSITION APPLIED FOR                30 TEXT                       _
  SALARY REQUIREMENT                   7 CURRENCY           12      _
  EVALUATION: STRONG,WEAK,MEDIUM       6 TEXT               14      _