Dictionary/3000 Reference Manual (32244-90001)

336 AppendixD
How HP INFORM Links Files to Generate Reports
Default File Access
Example
Assume the following files:
Suppose we wish to create a group called ACCOUNT ORDERS. The purpose of the
ACCOUNT ORDERS group is to generate reports about the orders of each account. The
group consists of the data elements:
account
address
owner
prod-no
unit-cost
By accessing the files SALESTAT and INVENTORY, we could obtain all the elements in
the group; however, it is not possible to link these two files since there is no element which
exists in both of them. The MPE file, however, also contains elements from the group and,
in particular, contains the element “account” which exists in the KSAM file and which is a
key item in the KSAM file; hence a direct link can be made from WARRANTY to
SALESTAT. In addition, the MPE file contains two elements (“prod-no” and “ship-date”)
which also exist in the IMAGE detail set and which are search items in the IMAGE detail;
hence a direct link can be made from WARRANTY to INVENTORY.
Since the MPE file allows us to directly link to the two other files and since it is preferable
to access an MPE file first, we want to make the MPE file the driving file. To accomplish
this, we need to specify the file name WARRANTY in response to the FILE prompt and a
link value of 1 in response to the VALUE AS A LINK prompt when adding an element
from the file WARRANTY to the group. We would like to pick an element which will allow
SALESTAT
(ESAM file)
WARRANTY
(MPE file)
INVENTORY
(IMAGE detail)
*prod-no
*ship-date
backorderflg
unit cost
account
owner
prod-no
descrip
total
ship-date
wrnty-mp
del-flag
account
(KEY)
address
ytd-sales
sales-rep
owner