The DSD ribbon appears at the top of fData whenever a DSD is loaded. It will also automatically come into view whenever the DSD Hub is clicked on.

The functions available on the ribbon are detailed below. Please see other articles within the fData section for further information on adding new User Entries, Data Groups, Global Placeholders and Conditions, as these are also part of the DSD Hub.

Save a DSD

Save your DSD to the server to continue working on later.

Validate a DSD

Check your DSD for any errors in it, including any Data Groups that are currently being worked on. Any errors will appear as a dialogue, identifying issues such as missing settings, or incorrectly entered information.

Test a DSD

In order to check that the DSD is gathering data as would expect, use the Test button. This opens a separate window.

An entry form is generated in which various values may be entered:

• If instances are in use, select the instance under which you wish to run the test.
• If an effective date is required for the DSD it will be requested.
• If any user entries are specified they will be requested.

 

Note that this is a test of the DSD, not the entry form that may be used when the DSD is used for a document template and so the entries are plain entry boxes, and some features may not appear as they would for end users, such as lists of text boxes.

Your entries will be recorded and automatically used whenever you return to the test page for the same DSD, and if you have entered a test value for a User Entry into its “Test Value” attribute it will be pre-filled.

Your entries will be cleared when you select a different DSD with which to work.

Enter the values as required and click one of the test options:

• Analyse
• Visualise

Analyse

This option generates an XML file that represents the internally gathered details (including data) for the entire DSD. This includes all data groups (even if not marked as data) but may not include all nested data or filter, group and pivot data group’s data. This file is known as a fData Structure File (FSF) file.

fData will then attempt to run the FSF file, which will automatically open fTest if it has been installed on your machine. Please refer to the fTest User Guide for more information on using fTest.

Visualise

This option opens an automatically generated fPanels presentation based on the data returned by the DSD.

This option is the most useful for actually checking the data returned, whereas the above are more to do with technical checking.

Visualise will only become enabled once the DSD has been saved to the server.

Publish a DSD

This will save the DSD to the server and publish it, making it available for live use by template designers and in fPanels presentations.

If the DSD has already been previously published, it will be overwritten by the new version.

Unpublish a DSD

Unpublishing a DSD removes it from live use. It will still be available within fData, but will no longer be available elsewhere.

Any templates that refer to the DSD or fPanels presentations that rely on it will stop working. Therefore it is only advisable to unpublish a DSD if you are absolutely sure of what you are doing.

Selecting this option will bring a confirmation dialogue on screen which must be confirmed to unpublish a DSD.

Revert a DSD

Clicking the Revert button will overwrite the unpublished version of a DSD with the current published (live) version.

This is useful if you want to wind back to the last published version of a DSD, in case a Data Group or another part of a DSD has been accidentally deleted.

Export a DSD

It may be useful at times to save an external backup copy of a DSD, or you may wish to take a DSD from one server and copy it to another installation of fSeries.

To do this, click the Export button and select a location on your computer to save the DSD.

The unpublished copy of the DSD (the one on screen in fData) will be exported as an XML file and can then be imported to another server using a separate copy of fData.

Copy a DSD

Click the Copy button to make a new DSD that is a duplicate of the existing one.

A dialogue will appear allowing you to enter the identity and description for the new DSD. The existing Id and description will be pre-filled into the entry boxes.

Once the DSD has been copied, the current DSD will be closed and the new DSD will be opened in its place. The DSD Hub for the new DSD will then be loaded on screen.

Delete a DSD

To fully remove a DSD, use the Delete button.

This will delete all copies of the DSD, including the published and unpublished versions. Any templates or fPanels presentations that use the DSD will stop working, so it is advisable to only delete the DSD if you are absolutely sure.

A confirmation dialogue will appear before fData removes the DSD from the server.

Show the DSD Hub

This brings the DSD Hub to the foreground of fData. If it has been closed, it will be reopened.

Close Data Groups

This closes all Data Group windows. If a Data Group has any errors in it, the errors will need to be corrected before the window can be closed.

Show the DSD Definition

The DSD Definition button will become available if your system administrator has enabled it; this allows you to receive a printed report detailing your DSD, such as the Data Groups, User Entries, Global Placeholders, and further information.

For System Administrators: This function requires that the “fDataDocumentation” setting in the system configuration has been specified, and contains a relative path from the published templates folder to the definition template sitting on the server.