Hello,

I'm new to WebFOCUS. I was working on Business Objects before. We had something called "Universe" which acts as a semantic layer. Is there a similar semantic layer in webFOCUS? If so, how is it created.

If there's no facility of a semantic layer, then I have a query. Suppose I have the first name, middle initial and the last name in the database as three different columns. I need to display all the three columns as 1 column. So, how can I concatenate the three columns?

Cheers,
Mohan

You would define a new field that was the name and use a combination of concatenation characters IS ONE WAY.

FULLNAME/A100 = FIRST || (' ' | MIDDLE ) || (' ' | LAST;
THE /A100 SAYS THE FIELD IS 100 CHARACTERS.
The /A100 length must be equal to the lengths of FIRST, MIDDLE AND LAST plus 2 for the blanks.

Mohan,

WebFOCUS uses the word synonym which is nothing but the metadata. You can define one column in the synoym like what Leah suggested. WebFOCUS does the work for you and gives you a single field.

sathyanveshi;

I currently support WebFOCUS and Business Objects at my agency. A SYNONYM also refered to as an MFD or Master File Description would be your Metadata. To report from a relational database, WebFOCUS would have a companion file called an ACX or Access File Description for each MFD. This ACX file contains the name of the TABLE to which each segment in the MFD is related. The ACX also contains information on the unique keys in each table so WebFOCUS knows how the segments in an MFD are connected.

Let's assume for now you have a single segment MFD. A single segment MFD is the same as a TABLE or VIEW in a relational database. The MFD would have the FIELD definitions for fileds that are stored in the TABLE or VIEW. The MFD also alllows DEFINEing temporary fields that are calculated when referenced in a report request. You could DEFINE a temporary field called FULLNAME equal to the concatenation of the three name fields you mentioned. WebFOCUS also allows you to DEFINE or COMPUTE the temporary field in the report request itself as opposed to putting it in the MFD. This is your choice. If you will refernce it a lot, I suggest putting it in the MFD.

Now for creating the SYNONYMS (or MFDs) and the ACX files. The administrator of the WebFOCUS installation would need to define the connection string (user id, pass wd, database name) on the WebFOCUS server to the relational database. This would be done under the Data Adapters section of the WebFOCUS Server console. After defining the connection string, MFDs and the ACX files can be created via the Metadata section of the WebFOCUS Server console. WebFOCUS will use the connection string to talk to the relational database to get the TABLE or VIEW information and then will create an MFD and ACX for you. You can then edit these files to adjust them or add DEFINE fields.

I hope this helps.