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A view is a query that provides access to all or a subset of the data in a table or multiple tables connected by joins. Views do not copy the data from their underlying tables and are updated when data in those tables changes. Views can reference other views, can order or filter data as necessary, and may be indistinguishable from tables for users accessing them.


In this section:
    Creating a View
    You can create a view populated with columns from selected tables and other views via the Tools menu. Alternately, you can create an empty view from the Toolbox, Browser, or Model menu.
    View Properties
    To view or edit a view's properties, double-click its diagram symbol or Browser or list entry. The property sheet tabs and fields listed here are those available by default, before any customization of the interface by you or an administrator.
    View Queries
    You can edit queries associated with a view from the SQL Query tab of the view property sheet.
    Materialized Views
    A materialized view is a table containing the results of a query. PowerDesigner supports materialized views for the DB2, HP Neoview, Netezza, Oracle, and SQL Anywhere DBMS families.
    Showing View Dependencies using Traceability Links
    You can use traceability links to make the relationships between views and tables clearer. These links are not interpreted and checked by PowerDesigner.
    Defining a Generation Order for Views
    You can define the order of the generation of views by using traceability links with a type of DBCreateAfter. The view from which you start the traceability link is dependent on the view you link it to, and this influent view will be generated before the dependent view.