Database Tab (Default Settings)
Use the Database tab to set SQL/ODBC database options, the method you want to use to sort and display table and field names, and other advanced options.
Explorer Options
Show
- Tables
- When you select this check box, the program allows reporting on database tables in your SQL/ODBC data sources. This option is selected by default.
- Views
- When you select this check box, the program allows reporting on virtual tables in your SQL/ODBC data sources. This option is selected by default.
- System Tables
- When you select this check box, the program allows reporting on system tables. These tables are typically used by the system administrator only but are available for use if you have the appropriate permissions. This option is not selected by default.
- Synonyms
- When you select this check box, the program allows reporting on virtual tables that are available on some hosts. This option is not selected by default.
- Stored Procedures
- When you select this check box, the program will allow reporting on the result sets from stored procedures if you are using SQL systems that support stored procedures. This option is not selected by default.
- Table name LIKE
- This box allows you to enter the SQL LIKE function to specify the kinds of table names you want to appear in the Database Expert. You can use the underscore character (_) and the percent sign character (%) as wildcards with this function. The underscore character specifies any single character, and while the percent sign signifies any character string. For example, DAV_ matches DAVE only, while DAV% matches both DAVE and DAVID. Table name Like C% would display only those tables that have a table name beginning with the letter C.
- Owner LIKE
- This box works exactly like the Table name Like box except that the LIKE function here is used to select the Owner (or Creator or Alias) of the table, not the table name itself. For example, Owner Like C% would display only those tables that have an owner beginning with the letter C.
List Tables and Fields by
By setting the options in this section of the Database tab, you can specify the text that you want the program to use for tables and fields.
- Name
- If you select this option, the program identifies tables and fields using the actual name, for example, "Customer" table and "Customer Name" field. This option is selected by default.
- Description
- If you select this option, the program identifies tables and fields using the description you have specified, for example, "Our Clients" table and "The names of all our customers" field.
- Both
- If you select this option, the program identifies tables and fields using both the name and the description you have assigned, for example, "Customer - Our Clients" table and "Customer Name - The names of all our customers" field.
Sorting
- Sort Tables Alphabetically
- When you select this check box, tables are displayed throughout the program sorted in alphabetical order (instead of the order they appear in the database). This option is selected by default.
- Sort Fields Alphabetically
- When you select this check box, fields are displayed throughout the program sorted in alphabetical order (instead of the order they appear in the database table). This option is not selected by default.
Advanced Options
- Use Indexes or Server for Speed
- Select this check box to use the available indexes/servers to speed the record selection process. If this check box is cleared, the record section process may be much slower. This option is selected by default.
Note If an index has a name that is different from the database it indexes, you need to identify the index for the program. You do this using the Link Options dialog box.
- Perform Grouping on Server
- Select this check box to have the program perform grouping on the server (server-side processing). Server-side processing allows you to set up a report that performs the majority of its processing on the server and pushes only relevant details to your computer. Server-side processing provides you with a number of benefits:
- less time connected to the server
- less memory needed to process the report on your computer
- lower transfer time from the server to the client
Server-side processing works only for reports based on SQL data sources (you cannot, for example, use server-side processing for a report based on a query, since a query is not an SQL data source).
This option is not selected by default
- Database Server is Case-Insensitive
- Select this check box if you want to search for strings in your SQL data without checking the case. For example, if your report contains SQL data and the data is of mixed case (red, RED, Red), a case-sensitive search for "red" returns only "red." If you select this check box, the same query will return red, RED, and Red when using red as a record selection value. This option is selected by default.
- Select Distinct Data for Browsing
- When Select Distinct Data for Browsing is selected, you can see the first 500 distinct (unique) records when you browse the contents of a database field.
When Select Distinct Data for Browsing is not selected, browsing returns the unique values in the first 500 records.
Note Since most SQL servers do not support selecting distinct records for long data types such as memo and blob fields, selecting and browsing distinct records are not supported for such fields.
- Verify On First Refresh
- When this check box is selected, the report refreshes with the current version of the active database and resets its record buffers to the current record size the first time you refresh it per session. This option is selected by default.
- Verify Stored Procedures On First Refresh
- When this check box is selected, the report refreshes with the current version of the stored procedure and resets its record buffers to the current record size the first time you refresh it per session. This option is not selected by default.
- Verify When Database Driver Upgraded
- When this check box is selected, the report refreshes with the current version of the active database and resets its record buffers to the current record size when the database driver is changed. This option is selected by default.
See Also
Link Options Dialog Box | Default Settings Dialog Box | Optimizing Report Performance