Importing Data Definitions

As discussed in Working with Data at the Project Level, there are several advantages to bringing your data file definitions (file descriptors and SELECT statements) into AcuBench. It can help to centralize maintenance of data definition and file-handling code and enable various automation tools, like the Drag and Drop interface used in screen and report design and the Data Set Designer, used to define data for use with individual programs.

The easiest way to bring existing data definitions into AcuBench is to first create COPY files corresponding to each file descriptor and SELECT statement. For each FD/SELECT pair:

• The two files should have the same base name.
• The FD file should have a .fd extension.
• The SELECT file should have a .sl extension.

When you have finished creating COPY files, open your AcuBench project and do the following:

1. In the File view, right-click the FD folder and select Add/Remove Files.
2. Use the navigation tree view in the top, right corner of the Add/Remove Files dialog to navigate to the directory containing your COPY files.
3. Select the files from the file list, then click the Add button. To add all of the files in the directory, navigate to the directory and click Add All.
4. When you have finished adding COPY files (which may reside in multiple directories), click OK.
5. Switch to the Data view, right-click the project node, and select Associate FD/SL Files.
6. In the window that opens, match the FD/SL pair and click Associate.
7. Continue this process until all FD/SL pairs have been associated and added to the list in the middle of the dialog, then click OK.

   A new data layout file (DLT) appears in the Data view for each FD/SL pair.

Once you have created data layout files from your existing file descriptors and SELECT statements, you can use the AcuBench File Designer to maintain your data descriptions and file handling code. For more information about the File Designer and its capabilities, see Working with Data at the Project Level.