Data Tab 

Use

You use the Data tab to select data from internal tables for a table node or a loop node or a complex paragraph.

If you mark the radiobutton in the left upper edge of the tab page, you deactivate the entire tab. In this case, you do not select any data and use the node similar to a template node (with the one difference that you create the table using line types).

Selecting Data

  1. If you want to use a loop to read and process the lines of the internal table one after the other, mark the checkbox in front of internal table.
  2. Enter at least the name of one internal table.
  3. If the table has a header line, the system automaticall uses it. If not, enter the assignment type ( INTO or ASSIGNING ) and a work area (structure of the table line type or field symbol).
  4. If desired, use the input fields Line and to to determine the part of the internal table you want to read.
  5. Use the WHERE condition box to select only part of the data from the internal table. Describe the conditions as you did on the Conditions tab.

The system selects the data at runtime according to your settings. After processing the loop, the output area contains the last entry selected (or the field symbol points to this entry).

Sorting and Control Levels

You can use the second table control of the Data tab to sort the table output by fields of the internal table. The sequence in which you enter the field names into the table control determines the sorting sequence. To change it later, you can use the black arrows above the control. Use the rediobuttons to specify whether to sort the field in ascending or in descending order.

For technical reasons Smart Forms cannot see whether the internal table was sorted before (for example, in the data retrieval program). If yes, you must still enter the sort sequence into the table control and mark already sorted.

A control break results from the sort process whenever the value of a sorted field changes from one line to the other. The blocks in which the value of the field remains constant are control levels.

If you want to display output before or after a control break, mark Event on sort begin or Event on sort end. Then in the tree structure an event node appears for which you can create successor nodes to display output at these events (for example, subtotals).