23. Associations: 1-1 and 1-Many

Associations

Associative programming is one of the key features of WOW. An association links data from two different

tables by using fields that are common for both tables. An association may also link data from a table to

some other functionality. There are SQL, HTML, and Java associations.

In the example below, we will the EMPLOYEE table with the DEPARTMENT table which can both be found in

the PJDATA schema. Any two tables can be linked together as long as they have data that is similar or

linkable, and the tables are accessible through a previously created database connection. There are two

types of SQL associations that can be used with WOW; they are 1-1 Association and 1-Many Association.

After an association is created a hyperlink will be available for the user to click on. The screenshot below is

an example of this:

Below is a brief explanation of the different kinds of association, such as 1-1 Associations and 1-Many Associations.

A 1-1 Association links a specific field in a table to a single entry. The format is similar to viewing an entry using the

view button described in the introduction. Below is an example of what to expect after creating a 1-1 Association

and following the hyperlink that was created.

A 1-Many association is the same as a 1-1 association except the 1-Many association will link you to more than

a single row of data. 1-Many associations are useful when there is more than one row of data you would like

displayed. Below is an example of what to expect from a 1-Many association (notice that it links you to more

than one data record as opposed to the 1-1 Association linking to a single view only entry).