I am probably pushing my luck but is there a straightforward way to lay out a form for user input and add/update a sql table.

We report out metrics monthly by dept. I was thinking the sql table key might be MetricId, Dept and Period with a Comment collected. Of course then security becomes an issue but I was curious if there was a simple way to set up something basic.

If so I'll play around in the CAR world first.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FP Mod Chuck,

Have you considered the "Maintain", an IBI product?

right now I doubt they are open to purchasing anything new, it would have to be using whatever exists in WF 8008...

Robert

2 other options are SQL passthru with Insert/Update logic or MODIFY.

MODIFY---I look that up. I can create a form and allow the user to enter data and use MODIFY to add/update a table?

MODIFY is great... It's been around forever and still works quite nicely...

Don't forget Data Validation.

Well its new to us. Are you indeed saying I can define a form and collect and update data in and out of a table using it?

Robert

It is possible, I wish I had a code sample for you. MODIFY is documented on the Technical Content folder on techsupport. Choose FOCUS (Not WebFOCUS) and drill down on the release and you will see a manual called Maintaining Databases and a chapter Modifying Data Sources with MODIFY

are you talking about the Tech Support off the main page:
https://techsupport.informationbuilders.com/

It doe snot open for us..?

We want to dig into this...

problem on our end????

Could not connect to server


Overview:

Could not connect to techsupport.informationbuilders.com


Details:

Peer suddenly disconnected


Options:



Click to return to the previous page:

Make sure the URL is correct, then try to reload the page.

and again, I have seen threads with examples of MODIFY where it can update a SQl or Focus table...ex:

TABLE FILE CAR
PRINT
WIDTH
BY COUNTRY
BY CAR
ON TABLE HOLD AS TEMP2 FORMAT FOCUS
-RUN

TABLE FILE CAR
PRINT
LENGTH AS 'WIDTH'
BY COUNTRY
BY CAR
ON TABLE SET ASNAMES ON
ON TABLE HOLD
END

MODIFY FILE TEMP2
FIXFORM FROM HOLD
MATCH COUNTRY CAR
ON NOMATCH REJECT
ON MATCH UPDATE WIDTH

DATA ON HOLD
END
-RUN

TABLE FILE TEMP2
PRINT *
END


but is there a means to ***create a FORM*** for the user to enter the data to be updated?

MODIFY is a language developed for green screen transaction processing. There are no forms associated with MODIFY in the browser based world. I've seen simple forms created using a heavily parameterized MODIFY code and WebFOCUS's Composer, where you embed the MODIFY code inside an App Studio generated Composer and prompt for the variables using an HTML document, capture the values entered and pass them to the MODIFY code to process. In reality, that's not something IB supports. MODIFY code you found is more of a Bulk Load feature that doesn't provide forms. I've seen situations where an app collects the data using a different form or maybe even Excel and passes the data to MODIFY FIXFORM to upload. The alternative to that is for you to develop a stored procedure that collects the data, create a WebFOCUS synonym for that sp and create a pass thru mechanism to send values to the sp using a Composer HTML.

All of the above require coding, deep knowledge of transaction processing rules, integration into security and account for scalability. Which brings us back to the MAINTAIN feature that does all of the above and even gives you an automatic form generation for INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE using something called Update Assist. The feature isn't that expensive and you'll find it's a damn sight cheaper than the labor involved in doing all the coding in the long run.

thanks...how does MAINTAIN work...we would be looking for something where we could set up a simple form that add/ updates a SQl table...does MAINTAIN fill that need?

Perhaps I should email our rep.

The issue here is there are factions that do not believe we need any BI tools...though none of their SAP products seem to fill the bill...

Robert

Maintain is the way as you do develop forms for data entry which can include dropdowns etc and update SQL database's as long as the ID you are using on the database connection has those permissions

thanks...is there a link or something to it...would like to take some literature or examples of what it can do the management.

You seem to be making this more complex than it needs to be?

Why not just create your HTML page (with your "form") and call a procedure written to MODIFY the data source when the "submit" button is clicked?


T

Robert
In 8.0 Maintain applications are created using an easy development environment. It is very simple to create a form to update, include and delete data to / from an SQL table. Please send me an email and I will happily set up a demo and send you some information about the product.

Thanks
Mark Derwin
Mark_Derwin@ibi.com