Clarion Community Help

Navigation: Dictionary Editor >====== DCT Explorer ======

The DCT Explorer allows you to manage the data tables, aliases, global data and data type pools for your dictionary.

Toolbar Options

Save and Close	If the dictionary is in an unsaved state, this option will automatically save and close the dictionary.
Close	Closes the dictionary. If the dictionary is in an unsaved state, a dialog will appear that asks you to save changes.
Add Table Add Alias Add Global Add PoolImport Tables	Pops up a sub menu that lets you add a new table, alias, or import a new table from an external source.Add TableThe structure represents a FILE. The Application Generator generates a FILE declaration as well as code to read and write the FILE. You can use the columns in the FILE as the parents of derived columns. See Derived From in the Column Properties dialog. Also available from the right-click menu.Add AliasAdds a new alias to the active dictionary. An alias creates a second reference for a table without duplicating the file on disk. You can add an alias for a table only if it is already on the Dictionary list, and a Full Path Name exists for the active table. Also available from the right-click menu.Add GlobalThe structure represents a group of global data declarations. The Application Generator generates a global data declaration for each column in the structure. You can use the global columns as the parents of derived columns. See Derived From in the Column Properties dialog. This option enables the Generate Last checkbox which causes these declarations to follow declarations made for global variables defined in the .APP. Also available from the right-click menu.Add PoolThe structure represents a Column Pool. The Application Generator generates no code for this structure. You can use the columns in the pool as the parents of derived columns. See Derived From in the Column Properties dialog. Also available from the right-click menu.Add Table CategoryAdd a table category,to allow powerful grouping features to allow subset views of the tables in the Dictionary. Not implemented in this release.Import TablesFrom this option you can import a single table, multiple tables, or tables from another dictionary, dependent on the type of driver selected in the Table Import Dialog.
Change	Allows you to change the options for the selected table or alias. See Also: Edit Properties dialog.
Delete	Deletes the selected table or alias. Also available from the right-click menu.

Browse Table	Calls the Database Browser to browse the selected table or alias.
Dictionary Properties	Displays the Dictionary Properties window.
Users	Displays Users wit permission to edit the Dictionary
New Diagram	Calls the Dictionary Diagrammer and loads the active dictionary.
Synchronize	Calls the Dictionary Synchronizer
Import/Export	Allow you to import a textual representation of a dictionary into the current active dictionary. You can import from a pre-C7 text source (TXD), or from the new C7 XML based format (DCTX).You can also export the active dictionary contents to the C7 XML-based DCTX format.It is the best practice to use the new DCTX format when importing and exporting from a C7 Dictionary.

Right Click Menu

Don't forget the right click popup menu. In addition to the items already mentioned above, the following choices are available:

Generate Conversion Program	If you right-click on any table in the DCT explorer, you can create a conversion program using one of three conversion targets; a data file on disk, another file structure in the current dictionary, or another file structure in another dictionary.The next submenu determines the generated code base used for the conversion program. If you have both Clarion for Windows and Clarion.NET installed in the same IDE, this turns into a menu with 2 submenus “using Clarion for Windows” and “using Clarion#” allowing for export of compatible data types to each platforms. This menu item will not appear for SQL tables as data conversion is handled by the server and the generated program is not appropriate to run against an SQL database. The selected table that you right-click on is the target table. After optionally renaming or changing the default folder, a second dialog is presented that prompts you to select the source or original table to convert.After the program is generated, you will be presented with a dialog option to load the newly generated project into the IDE. In the Tools/Options/Clarion/Dictionary Editor Options/General tab: there is a Load Conversion Project option. After a conversion program is generated you can optionally load the project. You can set this to always load the project, never load the project or ask each time a conversion program is generated. The default is to ask.See also: How to Convert a File (Generate Source)
Cut	Copies the file representation to the clipboard, and on Paste, removes the table from the Explorer list.
Copy	Copies the file representation to the clipboard, and on Paste, does not remove the table from the Explorer list.
Copy Details	Copies the full textual FILE structure to the clipboard. Useful for pasting into custom source.If you have both Clarion.NET and Clarion for Windows in the same IDE, the “Copy Details” context menu for files and fields now turns into a menu with 2 submenus “using Clarion for Windows” and “using Clarion#”.
Paste	Retrieves the DCT information from the clipboard.