Including Columns from a Related File

Columns from related file can be added to an existing Report Source, provided that the related file has some connection or key that relates it back to the original file used to create the Report Source.

On the Sources tab, click on the Configure link for the source you want to edit and then click the Add Column from Source Dictionary link at the top of the column list.

To the left of the dictionary listing, is a gray column similar to the one pictured here. This is where the detected related files are listed and where additional file relations can be defined.

Detected Related Files
When analyzing the dictionary items on a source file, MITS Report looks for any dictionary items that include a "translation" (or reference) to another file. When one of these dictionary items is located, the file is added to the Detected Related Files list, which is a list of the files that MITS Report has identified as “related” to the source file. This means that the dictionary item includes the logic required to retrieve and/or formulate the file’s key, so we are able to add dictionary items from that file to the Report Source as columns. In the example above, the source file for the Report Source is INVOICES, and the detected related files are SAMPLE.PEOPLE.MASTER, SAMPLE.PRODUCT.LINES, SAMPLE.PRODUCT.MASTER, and
SAMPLE.CUSTOMER.MASTER.

To add a column from one of these related files, click on the file name in the Detected Related Files list. In the example below, we have selected the SAMPLE.PEOPLE.MASTER file, which includes three dictionary items: @ID, NAME, and TYPE.

To add one of these dictionary items to your Report Source, select the check box as you
would when selecting a dictionary item in the source file dictionary listing.

To return to the source file dictionary listing, click the source file name under Selected File in the
file listing on the left.

Adding a Custom File Relationship
If you know of file relationships that were not detected automatically by MITS Report, you can
manually add the relationship by clicking Add Related File under Additional Related Files to the
left of the dictionary list.

The process of adding a related source file requires two pieces of information:

• A dictionary item on the source database file that returns the key to the related source file
• The name of the related source file

The related file must be accessible from within the database account where the source file resides.

To create a file relationship, click Add Related File under Additional Related Files to the left of
the dictionary list.

1. Select the column name from the first drop-down list and the related file from the second dropdown
   list.
2. If you would like to save this file relationship for use in other Report Sources created from the
   same source file, select the Save file relationship check box.
3. Click Add to establish the relationship and return to the Column Selection screen. The related
   file will now appear in the Additional Related Files list.

To add a column from this newly related file, click on the file name in the Additional Related
Files list. In the example below, we have selected the SAMPLE.SALES.GROUPS file, which
includes two dictionary items: @ID and DESCRIPTION.