Help views can be used as selection method in search helps. This is necessary especially if a view with outer join is required for the value selection in the search help. Since database views always implement an inner join, a help view must be selected as selection method in such cases (see Inner and Outer Joins).

All the tables included in a help view must be linked with foreign keys. Only foreign keys that have certain attributes can be used here (see Restrictions for Maintenance and Help Views).

The functionality of a help view changed significantly between Release 3.0 and Release 4.0! In Release 3.0, a help view was automatically displayed for the input help (F4 help) for all the fields that were checked against the first table (primary table) of the help view. This is no longer the case in Release 4.0.

As of Release 4.0, you must explicitly create a search help that must be linked with the fields for which it is offered (see Linking Search Helps with Screen Fields).

Creating Help Views