Create Extract-only view with fixed-width fields

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Define view
2. Specify view source
3. Add columns
4. Output destinations
5. Define a filter
6. Activate the View

Creating an Extract-Phase Output view is described here.

Define view

To create a new view:

1. Select Administration > New > View from the menu.

View information is displayed on two separate screens:

• The View Properties screen, where you can modify information that applies to the whole view.
• The View Editor screen, where you can define specific data transformations.

To toggle between the View Properties screen and the View Editor screen,

• press F9,
• or click the Show Grid / Properties button in the Editor area toolbar.

The first screen presented is the View Properties screen, which contains the sub-tab General.

1. In the Name field type a descriptive name.
2. In the Control Record field select the control record. See Date Processing Functions for an explanation of how Control Records are used.
3. Select the Default Output Format required. This will affect the other sub-tabs available to you. For this case, an Extract only view with column defined output, select Extract-Phase Output > Fixed-Width Fields.
4. You can select an output LR to pre-define columns by using Create View based on Output Logical Record. This option is only available before the first save. It could be useful if the output of this view is to become the source of another view via a pipe or a token.

1. Select the View Properties sub-tab Extract Phase. Here you have the option to limit the number of output records written with the Extract-Phase Output Limit
2. Save the view File > Save

When you save a new view, the view ID is assigned by the Workbench and is not editable.

Specify view source

Next specify the view source. You must have already defined the physical files, logical files and logical records definitions for the source you want to specify. Note that this is the same process for Extract-phase only views and summary views.

For information on how to define your own logical record, logical file and physical file definitions look at Create LR, LF, and PF metatdata in Advanced Features.

1. Toggle to the View Editor screen.
2. Select Edit > Add View Source
   Alternatively, you can Right Click on View Sources then select Add View Source
3. In the pop-up window use the drop down arrow to select the Logical Record, and the Logical File you require. Click OK.

Add columns

Next define the output layout by adding columns to the view. The columns contain the characteristics of the output such as data type, the length, and the alignment, such as left, right, or center. They can also contain constants, logic and lookup fields.

1. Select Edit > Insert Column After
   or you can insert a new column using the View Editor toolbar in the top right of the Editor Area. The arrow icons are used to insert new columns, or to move columns.
   A new column is added to the grid.
2. Click the green cell at the bottom of the new column.
   The Column Source Properties frame opens on the right.
3. From the Column Source Type list, you can select Column Logic, Constant, Lookup Field or Source File Field.
4. The following depend the Column Source Type selection
   • For Column Logic:
     To open the Extract-Phase Column Logic editor, click on the icon in Column Source Value
   • For Constant:
     Type the constant value in Column Source Value
   • For Lookup Field:
     Select the target Lookup LR from the drop down list.
     Select the Lookup Path from the drop down list.
     Select the Lookup Field from the drop down list.
     Click anywhere in the Column Source Properties panel, and the properties of the selected field will be filled in.
   • For Source File Field: Select the field from the Column Source Value drop down list.
     Click anywhere in the Column Source Properties panel, and the properties of the selected field will be filled in.

After filling in the Column Source Properties, you can select the Column Output properties. For example you can specify in the column properties the Data Type, any Date/Time formatting, data alignment etc.

For more information on the column types see Column Assignment, Data Types, Lookup Paths, and Extract-Phase Column Logic.

You can add as many columns as you want, but be aware of the output record length. Each column displays the start and end position in the output record.

1. You can add as many columns as you want, but be aware of the output record length. Each column displays the start and end position in the output record.

Output destinations

The default output destination for Extract-Phase only Views is the DD Fnnnnnnn where nnnnnnn is the view ID. For example, if the view ID is 12183 the default DD name for Extract-Phase only Views is F0012183.

You can specify your own output destination. To do this:

1. Left click on the View Sources blue cell you added earlier. This opens the View Source Properties tab in the Metadata List Area.
2. From the Extract-Phase Output > Logical File list select the LF you want to write to.
3. From the Extract-Phase Output > Physical File list select the PF you want to write to.
4. Save the view File > Save

You will see that the WRITE statement in the Record Logic field has changed.

You can also replace the WRITE statement with Extract Record Logic. For example you may want to have logic that directs some output to one file and the rest to another file, depending on some condition. See Extract-Phase Record Logic for more details.

Define a filter

The view can contain logic to filter input records at extract-phase time. See overview of record filters and create record filters.

Activate the View

The view must be activated before the Performance Engine can process it. Activation invokes the compiler which reports errors and warnings.

To activate the view, use any of these methods:

• Select Action > Activate
• Press the Activate icon on the View Editor toolbar
• Press F5

When the view is active, save it to preserve this active state. The view is now ready to be run.