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Focal Point    Focal Point Forums  Hop To Forum Categories  WebFOCUS/FOCUS Forum on Focal Point     Basic idea of master files(.mas) and access files(.acx)

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Basic idea of master files(.mas) and access files(.acx)
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Shankar
Guru
posted
Hi All,
Can anyone plz gimme basic idea about master and access files with a small descriptive example.
I've been working in WF for quite some time now. But never used .mas or .acx files.
All my previous reports are .fex files.
What is the exact difference between .fex and .mas/.acx files.
Under what circumstances we have to have .mas and .acx files.

Thanks in advance!
Shankar
WF7.1.3/Oracle8i/WinXP


WF 8.1.04,Windows 7,
DataBase: Oracle 11g,Output :Excel,PDF,HTML
 
Posts: 281 | Location: India | Registered: April 21, 2007Report This Post
Tony A
Expert
posted Hide Post
If you have used .fex files without using .mas files then you must have used passthru?

Get yourself on the basic course or read the first couple of chapters of the Creating Applications manual.

T


In FOCUS
since 1986		WebFOCUS Server 8.2.01M, thru 8.2.07 on Windows Svr 2008 R2  
WebFOCUS App Studio 8.2.06 standalone on Windows 10 
 
Posts: 5694 | Location: United Kingdom | Registered: April 08, 2004Report This Post
Leah
Virtuoso
posted Hide Post
.mas are the metadata - if you use TABLE you use .mas

.acx are the path associated to the metadata when a database of some type is involved. The only time I've not used an acx is when the .mas is for a fixed file that I do a FILEDEF to access the file.

And as Tony said, read the books, you can get pdf versions from the IB website if you have access.


Leah
 
Posts: 1317 | Location: Council Bluffs, IA | Registered: May 24, 2004Report This Post
Kamesh
Master
posted Hide Post
.Mas --> Master file --> Structure of Table

.acx --> Access file --> Shows connection

To retrieve data from database in your fex, you can follow

1. Master files
2. Sql Passthru

Based on your question, I believe you are using Sql PassThru.

You can use master file also to retrieve data from database in your fex.

When you write the sample code TABLE FILE CAR, CAR is a master file stored under ibi\apps\ibisamp directory. Take a look on that and you will get some idea.


WFConsultant

WF 8105M on Win7/Tomcat
 
Posts: 780 | Location: Florida | Registered: January 09, 2005Report This Post
cburtt
Platinum Member
posted Hide Post
If your *.acx files point to data stored in a SQL based RDBMS (Oracle, MS/SQL) then it's interesting, and perhaps valuable to know that the content of the *.mas need not be an accurate map of the RDBMS table. This is because the FOCUS query process constructs a character string containing the correctly pharased query command. The strign is passed to the RDBMS for intrepretation, execution, and return of the result. Thus, FOCUS actually askes for it's data "by name" and only expects the returned results for each named value to match the physical properties given in the *.mas.

Therefore, the *.mas need not name all the columns in the RDBMS table; it can even identify columns not existing in the RDBMS table, if that is useful (providing you never run a TABLE FILE ... that mentions them). And, the columns named need not be in the same first-to-last sequence as they are described or stored in the RDBMS.


WIN/2K running WF 7.6.4
Development via DevStudio 7.6.4, MRE, TextEditor.
Data is Oracle, MS-SQL.
 
Posts: 154 | Location: NY | Registered: October 27, 2005Report This Post
jgelona
Master
posted Hide Post
quote:
...it can even identify columns not existing in the RDBMS table,...


As long as you don't MODIFY the table, this is correct.

As for the order of the fields, we have a few tables where for some reason, the primary key is not the first fields in the table. In this case, one has to adjust the seq of the fields in the .mas if one needs to MODIFY the table.


In FOCUS since 1985. Prod WF 8.0.08 (z90/Suse Linux) DB (Oracle 11g), Self Serv, Report Caster, WebServer Intel/Linux.
 
Posts: 975 | Location: Oklahoma City | Registered: October 27, 2006Report This Post
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