Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Development:
ADM and SmartObjects

Displaying and browsing data sets

The SmartDataObject accesses data. SmartDataViewers and SmartDataBrowsers provide various display and browse capabilities for the data sets accessed by the SmartDataObjects to which they are linked:

A SmartDataObject manages a database query on one or more tables that can be distributed across the AppServer. It defines and retrieves a set of database records.
A SmartDataViewer views column values it receives from another object, like a SmartDataObject, that is accessing the database. A SmartDataObject and SmartDataViewer, together with a SmartPanel, can retrieve, display, navigate, and update records.
A SmartDataBrowser allows an application user to browse column values it receives from another object, like a SmartDataObject, that is accessing the database. A SmartDataBrowser also may allow updates to data.

A SmartDataObject has its own database query. A SmartDataObject can pass a key value from one query object to a subordinate object, so the second object can open a query dependent on that key value; for example, Orders OF a particular Customer. For more information, see the "Initializing the foreign key fields" section.

All database queries can be modified dynamically so a given SmartDataObject can be used in various application contexts. For example, a SmartDataObject whose query definition is FOR EACH Order might be used in one application context to display and manage all Orders, but in another context, it might be made into a dependent query object that receives a Cust-Num key from another Customer SmartDataObject and opens its query as FOR EACH Order WHERE Cust-Num = key value.