Inserting New Fields Inserting New Fields
Proceed as follows to insert a new field in a table:
2. Choose Edit
An empty line appears in which you can insert an additional field definition.
Select Initial if the new field should be created on the database as NOT NULL. In this case the whole table will be scanned and filled with the initial value during activation. This could be very time-consuming for large tables! The Initial Values depend on the data type of the field.
You can append several new fields at the end of the table with Edit ® New fields.
If the table is a check table in a foreign key, new key fields can only be appended to the previous primary key. When the check table is activated, the foreign keys corresponding to the check table are defined as generic with regard to the new fields. Using the activation log you can find out which foreign keys were adjusted in this way. If necessary you can then maintain them.
Inserting a client field in a table results in a table conversion. The data is copied to all the clients listed in client table T000.
If the table is a check table, it is not possible to insert a client field. In this case you must first delete the existing foreign key.
Key fields are always defined as NOT NULL. When a new key field is inserted, the whole table is scanned and updated to include the new field. The key field is filled with the initial value. If the table contains a large number of records, this could be very time-consuming and the primary index of the table must be built up again when a new key field is inserted.