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Extended Key Definition Screen—XKEY

Description

The Extended Key Definition screen allows you to establish indexes on a table to sort rows for storage or retrieval. Additionally, indexes can be established to increase access efficiency. Note that this screen displays information on any unique key defined on the Column Definition screen. You can override the key information supplied from the Column Definition screen.

The Extended Key Definition screen is intended to be used by personnel with a clear understanding of how data is to be accessed. Refer to CA IDMS Database Administration Guide for a detailed discussion of indexing in the CA IDMS/DB environment.

Access

You can access the Extended Key Definition screen in one of the following ways:

Sample Screen

                                            CA   XKEY   CA - Automatic System Facility          *Extended Key Definition*   DC560906 ADD/MODIFY KEYS   Table Name: JOB                                                    _ PF1 - Help  Page:  1  of  1   Storage Sequence: 00001  Next/Prior/First/Last/Key Number   Display Sequence: 00001  Same/Key Number                 Additional Keys                                          Key Number: 01   02   03   04   05   06                                   Fast   Duplicates: NO   LAS  LAS  LAS  LAS  LAS                                  Access  Ascending.: YES  YES  YES  YES  YES  YES            Column Name            Keys                       Column Order   JOB NUMBER                       _                  1   DEPARTMENT                       _                      2   TITLE                            x   SALARY                           _                      1   CURRENT STATUS (FILLED OR OPEN)  x

Fields

Table Name

Displays the name of the table specified on the Activity Selection screen.

[PF1] - Help

Invokes the Help screen.

Page: __ Of __

Displays the current screen page number and the total number of pages in the page set. You can move to a particular page by specifying its page number, or page forward using [PF8] and backward using [PF7].

Storage Sequence

Specifies the criteria used to store rows. The default is NEXT if no key is defined. If a unique key was specified on the Column Definition screen, the default is the key number assigned to the unique key. You can enter NEXT, PRIOR, FIRST, LAST, or a key number to indicate the order in which rows are to be stored. Specifying a key number stores rows sorted by key, where the key number is a number between 1 and 6 that corresponds to a key in the Additional Keys section of the screen, discussed below.

Display Sequence

Specifies the sort criteria used to display rows of a table. The default, SAME, displays data in the same order in which it is stored. You can enter a key number in this field to display data according to a defined sort key that differs from the stored sequence.

Column Name

Displays the columns defined for the table.

Fast Access Keys

Creates an index on the column. Enter any character next to the desired key column. Any number of columns in a table can be designated as fast access keys. Each fast access key column is indexed in ascending order, duplicates allowed, stored last.

Additional Keys

Provides fields in which index keys are specified for the table. Up to six additional keys can be defined for the table. The additional keys can be defined as unique or as allowing duplicates, and can be sorted in ascending or descending order. Use the Duplicates, Ascending, and Column Order fields described below to define each additional key.

Key Number

Contains the numbers 01 through 06, which identify the additional key being defined. This screen allows you to define six index keys for the table. The key number is used with the Storage Sequence and Display Sequence fields above to designate which index key is to be used for storing and displaying data.

Duplicates

Specifies whether duplicates are allowed. Enter one of the following values to indicate the duplicates option:

Ascending

Specifies the index order:

Column Order

Specifies which columns are included in the index key. To designate a single column as the key, enter any numeric value in the Column Order field for the selected column name. To designate a key column made up of multiple columns, enter numbers in their response fields to indicate the order in which to concatenate the columns.