SCHEMA section

Defines the database schema file to be used to compile the form.

Each form specification file can begin with a SCHEMA section identifying the database schema (if any) on which the form is based. This can be any database schema that is defined with a database schema file. Form field data types can be automatically extracted from the schema file if you specify the table and column name in the form field definition (see ATTRIBUTES section).

Syntax 1

SCHEMA { database[@dbserver] | string | FORMONLY }

database is the name of the database schema to be used for the form compilation.
dbserver identifies the Informix^® database server (INFORMIXSERVER).
string can be a string literal containing the database name.

Syntax 2: (supported for backward compatibility)

DATABASE {  database[@dbserver] | string | FORMONLY } [ WITHOUT NULL INPUT ]

The DATABASE syntax is supported for compatibility with Informix 4gl; using SCHEMA is recommended.

database is the name of the database schema to be used for the form compilation.
dbserver identifies the Informix database server (INFORMIXSERVER)
string can be a string literal containing the database name.

Usage

The SCHEMA (or DATABASE) defines the database schema to be used to resolve data types for database column-based fields.

Note: The DATABASE instruction is supported for backward compatibility, we recommend using SCHEMA instead.

The SCHEMA section must appear in the sequence described in form file structure.

The SCHEMA section is optional; if you do not specify it, database schema specification defaults to SCHEMA FORMONLY.

You can create a form that is not related to any database schema by using the FORMONLY keyword after SCHEMA/DATABASE. When using this option, you must omit the TABLES section and define field data types explicitly in the ATTRIBUTES section.

The database and dbserver specifications are supported (but ignored) for backward compatibility with Informix form specifications.

When using a specific database schema, the field data types are taken from the schema file during compilation. Make sure that the database schema file of the development database corresponds to the production database; otherwise the form fields defined in the compiled version of your forms will not match the table structures of the production database.

The use of the WITHOUT NULL INPUT option in the DATABASE syntax is supported for backward compatibility, but is ignored.

Example

SCHEMA stores
LAYOUT
 ...