What Are Storage Parameters and Storage Parameter Tables?

The procedures and configuration described in this chapter require expert database administration knowledge.

When you create Lawson tables and indexes in the Microsoft SQL Server database, the system creates the tables and indexes using a set of storage parameters. Each one of these parameters has a default value that can be changed.

You are limited to storing all indexes on a single table in the same file group. You could generate the DDL for objects and then edit it to make changes to these parameters. However, this is a cumbersome process, and any changes you made would be lost if an object were reorganized. This chapter focuses on setting up, changing, viewing, and using those storage parameters.

All storage parameter changes may be specified and maintained in a pair of tables known as law_dba_table and law_dba_index, known collectively as the law_dba tables. The law_dba tables are an optional set of tables, created in Microsoft SQL Server and used as part of the Lawson repository. The law_dba tables are stored in the Microsoft SQL Server database, which lets you use native Microsoft SQL Server tools to monitor and populate the tables. Both tables are referenced by the msfdb2000 database driver and any other utilities that directly access Lawson tables in the Microsoft SQL Server database.

Each entry in the law_dba tables is identified by the name of the table or index for which that entry specifies parameters. You do not need to make an entry for every single table and index for the feature to work: msfdb2000 and the other utilities only check for values if an object has an entry in the table.

Almost all of the parameters in the law_dba tables are common Microsoft SQL Server parameters used during the creation of a table or index. Entering a value in these columns doesn't automatically make a direct change to the table or index; only when the table is rebuilt is the change instituted (and continue to be instituted in all future cases). The easiest way to institute a change for an object creation parameter is to rebuild the object by using the bldmsf2000ddl utility. Be careful, though―if you are dropping and recreating a table, unload the data before dropping the table and reload the data when you are done recreating the table. Because the changes involved do not affect the definition of the data, you can use either Lawson or Microsoft SQL Server tools to unload and reload data.