- FD Cross Reference Tracker

FD Cross Reference Tracker

The Field Descriptor (FD) Cross Reference Tracker feature in WOW has the ability to reference any field and where it is being used. This includes being able to cross reference a Derived field.

Sometimes you might have a lot of Operations, Associations, or other references that might be using the same field and before you add another Operation or Association you want to see where it is being used before you alter, change, or even attach an Association to it. This feature will let you see where it is being used and if those places might be affected by any new changes to be made. This feature will help you decide if you need to create another derived field instead of using the current field, even if it is a derived field already.

Note: This feature is not Application specific. This feature will work no matter what Application you are in. This feature by default is turned ON and can be turned OFF (see the section titled: Settings).

To view sample Operation, click here.

How to Access

In WOW, you can access this Cross Reference feature by clicking on the FD Manager icon in the running Application/Operation. You can also access this through the FD Manager in the Operation Manager in the WOW Builder as well as click on the FD icon for a specific field (example: clicking on the LASTNAME FD icon in the running Operation).

example: 1 - choose the FD Manager icon or specific field (LASTNAME) FD icon

example: Accessing References through the Field Descriptor Manager in the WOW Builder

example: References button when in the FD Manager Table view

Note: In the example above, the Refs: 2 button displays the number of references for that specific FD. It is also highlighted in yellow if there is more than one cross reference for that FD.

When you click on the Refs: button, it will give you the display, as shown below. You can also see the Operation Name of where the field is cross referenced as well as the Application you are currently in at that moment. Also, at the top left section in the Field Descriptor Manager, after you click the Refs: button, WOW displays what field descriptor you are referencing.

example: displays which field descriptor is being referenced (in UPPERCASE)

When you click the Edit link (on the left), it will open a new window that displays the Operation that this reference is pointing to. This gives you immediate access to visibly inspect the Operation to see how this reference may be affected.

To the far right of the reference page, there is a column that is called, When Used and this displays at what point in runtime you may have this field being referenced.

The Where Used column displays the following:

• • Details: when in the running Application/Operation and you click on the Edit icon to edit the details of that specific row.

  • Results: results being displayed on the running Application/Operation

  • Search: when using the LIKE operator in the SQL code.

These values for the Where Used column displays how the FD is being used for its Operation. This helps determine if this Operation will be affected by making any new changes.