Administration Explorer and Object List overview

Use the Administration Explorer view with the Object List to connect to and browse databases and to work with your database objects.

The Administration Explorer uses an expandable navigation tree that you can use to drill down through your host systems, instances, and databases. The Object List works in conjunction with the Administration Explorer. When you select an object type folder in the Administration Explorer for a database, the objects are displayed in the Object List, where you can work with them.

The Administration Explorer

Two main folders are displayed in the Administration Explorer: All Databases and Working Sets.
All Databases
Contains user-defined connections and connections that are read from the local database catalog. Initially, instance names under the host systems are represented by the associated port number until you establish a connection, after which an instance name is determined. The databases are listed under the instances.
Each database can contain two types of folders:
Change Plans folder
Each database has one Change Plans folder, which is used to store change plans.

A Change Plans folder is displayed only if you have installed the Database Administration feature of IBM® Data Studio.

Object type folders
Each database has folders that represent the object types within the database. When you click an object type folder, the Object List opens in the editor area of the workbench. The Object List displays the objects for the object type that you selected, including various properties for each object. These folders are also called flat folders because they cannot be expanded to display the objects directly in the Administration Explorer.

You can distinguish a DB2 pureScale instance from a regular instance after a connection is made to the DB2 pureScale instance. After the connection is made, the icon for the instance changes to identify the instance as a DB2 pureScale instance. Regular instances are indicated by the Icon image for regular DB2 instance icon. DB2 pureScale instances are indicated by the Icon image for DB2 pureScale instance icon.

When you expand a DB2 pureScale database, a DB2 pureScale Members and CFs folder is displayed in addition to the Change plans folder and the Object type folders.

Working Sets
Displays the working sets that have been defined. Working sets make simplify the process of working with a group of related objects. When you expand a working set, only the databases that were defined to be included in the working set are displayed.
Use the Administration Explorer to do the following types of tasks:
  • Create and manage database connections.
  • Run utilities on instances and databases.
  • Create new database objects.
  • Open the Object List to browse database objects and work with those objects.
  • Define a working set to limit the objects that the Administration Explorer displays to only those objects that come from the databases that you specify.

Object List

When you click an object type folder in the Administration Explorer, the Object List opens in the editor area of the workbench. The Object List displays the objects for the object type that you selected, including various catalog properties for each object.

The toolbar in the Object List provides the following features:
  • Forward and back buttons to navigate through the pages that have been displayed in the Object List
  • A breadcrumb trail with icons that help identify the host, instance, and database for the objects that are being displayed
  • An icon to create an object that is the same type as the objects that are being displayed
  • A name search field to display only the objects that match a specified name pattern
  • A set of icons to change the catalog properties or create custom properties for the displayed objects, sort the displayed objects, or limit the displayed objects by creating filter conditions
You can use the context-sensitive menu for an object that is displayed in the Object List to do the following types of tasks:
  • Show the objects that are related to the selected object
  • Determine which objects would be impacted by altering or dropping the selected object
  • Alter or drop the selected object
  • Initiate actions to run utilities on the object, such as loading and unloading data for a table
  • Browse or edit the data for a table

When you use change plans to manage database object changes, a change plan toolbar is displayed in the Object List. The change plan toolbar helps you view the changes in the change plan and run the changes.


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