Extending Application Database Tables
To add custom user fields to application forms by extending application database tables:
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Create a user class.
The user class definition is the highest level to extend an application database table.
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Create the user fields.
User fields are generic and can be a part of many classes. If the user changes any property of a user field, all user classes inherit the change.
See Creating User Fields.
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Associate the user fields with the user class.
The UET tools look for this association to place the user fields in the form that belongs to the user class.
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Define the index for the class.
Users who generate their own reports or browse through the classes can take advantage of using an index. This gives users the ability to define their own sorting process in reports. You do not need to define the index for a class, but if you do not, and you sort these fields in custom reports, performance is slowed.
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Create a relationship between an application database table and
the user class.
The association between a table and a class provides the information that UET needs to retrieve, arrange, and display the user fields that belong to a user class. To link the table with the class, define a rule that determines if the record accessed has a valid user class associated with it. If valid data is entered in existing fields to make the rule expression true, the new user field displays.
See Creating a Relationship Between a Database Table and a User Class.
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Impact the schema.
Use the UET Impact Schema form to apply the changes you made in the previous steps to all affected databases. This step also updates the corresponding views over multi-site tables.
See Impacting the Schema.
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Draw the user fields on forms.
Draw the user fields on the forms that have extended tables associated with them. When the user fields are placed on the form, they act as any other existing field.