OpenEdge Development:<br />Progress Dynamics Administration Category definition structure

To define a category of data for a table, the related entity mnemonic of the category is assigned the entity mnemonic code for the table, which is the unique key to identify the table. For example, to define a category of comments from the gsm_comment table, the related entity mnemonic would be set to GSMCM, which is the unique code for the comment table. To define a category for valid value lists, the related entity mnemonic is assigned to SYSYS to indicate that it is not data related to a specific table. The SYSYS code is a system code that points to no particular entity.

Understanding category grouping levels

The category table supports the following three levels of grouping for data in a related table:

Category type

Group

Subgroup

Subgroups can be logically sequenced within a group using an integer sequence number. The number of grouping levels used for a category and their meaning is dependant on the data being categorized. Categories that are required in order for an application to function can be defined as system owned.

Using an owning entity for the categorized table

There is another entity mnemonic in the category table called an owning entity mnemonic. This is only relevant if the table to which the category applies is generically joined to a second table using an owning object field. In this case, the owning entity mnemonic defines the table referenced by the owning object field.

An example of this use can be described with status codes. Progress Dynamics supports the definition of user-defined status codes to allow users to set up customized process flows. The category table is used to define the categories of statuses that are used in the application and defined by the gsm_status table. For example, categories can be set up for the available statuses for an account, such as open or closed.

When allocating a particular status to a record, the generic table gsm_status_history is used as the related table, which records the current status for a particular record in another table. This other table is referenced by a generic join on an owning_obj field. In order to identify what table this object field references related to this particular status, the owning entity mnemonic of the category (status) is defined. In this example, the owning entity mnemonic is the entity mnemonic for the account table, as these open and closed statuses pertain to records in the account table.

Categories used in and supported by Progress Dynamics

Progress Dynamics makes use of categories to facilitate the Generic Comments feature, multi-media file types (TreeView images), Status support, user profiles, custom procedures, and language text. For more information on Status support, see the "Maintaining user-defined status information" section.

The Category Maintenance suite of programs consists of a control window and a maintenance window in typical Progress Dynamics style.