Show data

You can show data for a table, for a set of columns, or for a business record.

You have several choices to make, to include whether you wish to view some or all columns of data, or whether to start from the meta-schema file or from DB Explorer itself. You can also view, but not edit, the data for a business record.

You cannot use DB Explorer to view or edit binary data (BLOB data type). In addition, for some databases you cannot use DB Explorer to view or edit text-based large objects, such as the CLOB data type in IBM-Informix database servers.

Show table data (start with meta-schema diagram)

Follow these steps to view data for a specific table, using the meta-schema diagram as the starting point.

  1. Open the meta-schema (.4db or .4dbx) diagram.
  2. Right-click anywhere within the table object and select Show/Edit Table Data.
    DB Explorer opens, with the table data displayed.

Show table data (start with DB Explorer)

Follow these steps to view data for a specific table, using DB Explorer as the starting point.

  1. Open DB Explorer.
  2. Click the Edit SQL query icon.
    The Query Editor opens.
  3. Select the Edit table data radio button.
  4. From the combobox, select the table.
    Tip: If you were to select Execute at this time, the table data would display in edit mode.
    The SQL query used to select the rows from the selected table displays.
  5. Select the Execute query radio button.
  6. Click Execute.
    The table data displays.

Show data for select columns

Follow these steps to view data for a subset of table columns.

  1. Open the meta-schema (.4db or .4dbx) diagram.
  2. Within in the table object (the box containing the table details), press the CTRL key and select one or more columns.
    Tip: As another options, you can do your column selection from within the Database Structure view.
    The column names of the selected columns turn red.
  3. Right-click within the table object and select Show Column(s) Data.
    DB Explorer opens, with the data displayed for the selected columns.

Show data for a business record

A business record can contain data from multiple tables, depending on how it was defined. Follow these steps to view the data for a business record.

  1. Open the business record (.4rd) diagram.
  2. Right-click in the Business Record object and select Show Data.
    Figure: Show business record data

    Figure shows a report data record object with the menu to Show Data selected
    Tip: You can also right-click on the business record node in the Structure View view.
    DB Explorer opens, with the data displayed.
    Note: If the DB Explorer has not yet been connected to the database, you must enter the database details in the Connection Information dialog before the DB Explorer opens. These details are saved and all subsequent calls to Show Data will open the DB Explorer directly.