3.5.11 Key Columns/Values

Mandatory.

The columns or values that should be used to form the key that will be used to access the record(s) in the 3.5.3 Accessed Table.

Up to 20 key columns or values can be specified. Key values are checked for type and length compatibility. The entire key list supplied is checked for compatibility with the actual key(s) of the Accessed Table.

Rules

Allowable values include:

• A column that is defined in the current table definition.

• An alphanumeric literal (in quotes) such as 'NSW', 'BALMAIN'

• A numeric literal such as 1, 14.23, -1.141217.

• A system variable name such as *BLANKS, *ZERO, *DATE or any other system variable defined at your installation.

Tips & Techniques

• In cases where a "1:many" relationship is being defined, the key list specified would almost always be partial key to the table. Refer to 3.5.7 Maximum Records.

• In a 1:1 relationship, it may be valid to only supply a partial key. However, if the warning message is issued, check what has just been defined.

• It should be noted that the access route facility is provided as an aid to user traversal of database structures. LANSA RDML does not use access routes in any way nor does it restrict database access to pre-defined access routes.

Also See

3.5.14 Key Position