You have to create a help view if a view with
outer join is needed as selection method of a
search help.The selection method of a search help is either a table or a view. If you have to select data from several tables for the search help, you should generally use a database view as selection method. However, a database view always implements an inner join. If you need a view with outer join for the data selection, you have to use a help view as selection method.
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 first table to be inserted in the help view is called the primary table of the help view. The tables added to this primary table with foreign keys are called secondary tables.
The functionality of a help view has 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 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).Existing help views are automatically
migrated to search helps when you upgrade to a release higher than 4.0.
A help view implements an outer join, i.e. all the contents of the primary table of the help view are always displayed. You therefore should not formulate a selection condition for fields in one of the secondary tables of the help view. If records of these secondary tables cannot be read as a result of this selection condition, the contents of the corresponding fields of the secondary table are displayed with initial value.
See also:
Creating Help Views
