How to Use the SEQUEL ViewPoint Repository to Your Advantage

Posted on June 27, 2016

Looking for a user-friendly way to manage, find, and run your SEQUEL objects? The ViewPoint repository is a new feature that provides a centralized location to manage objects, automates processes (with Skybot), and shares results—all in an environment similar to Windows navigation.

Not familiar with the ViewPoint repository? It was introduced in SEQUEL 11, and it is available via SEQUEL Web Interface (through a standard connection or SEQUEL Web Server), along with your systems and libraries. The repository is mapped to the Integrated File Systems (IFS) on the IBM i, which has a structure similar to that of PCs (where objects reside in folders or subfolders based on the structure that you define), allowing you to access to both SEQUEL objects and PC files.

Within the repository, you will see:

  • Output (from users, applications, and ViewPoint queries and reports) saved as PC file types
  • ViewPoint shortcut files that reference SEQUEL host objects on the IBM i
  • Skybot job definitions

How to Save SEQUEL Objects to the Repository

When saving a SEQUEL object (i.e. a view) from within the design, click on the File option and select Save to Repository. Optionally you can select a folder (a directory) to save the SEQUEL object into (i.e. Sales). See Figure 1.

Tip: To help manage the SEQUEL objects on your IBM i, your system administrator can create subfolders within the repository as needed (maybe one for sales, customers, accounting, or different departments).

 

 

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Figure 1

 

Next, enter the name of the SEQUEL object. You are now able to name the objects as needed with a descriptive name that makes sense to you and the users—you’re not limited to ten characters without spaces anymore. Once you’ve entered the name, press Select to save.

 

 

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Figure 2

 

Note:  Weekly Customer Sales is a ‘shortcut’ that is created in the selected Sales folder. The view definition (WEEKLY0001) will be saved as a user space object into the SEQUEL repository library that is defined in the user’s defaults. The shipped default library is SEQUELREPO that can be changed within the user defaults by using the SET default command or ViewPoint Administrator.

How to Access SEQUEL Objects from the Repository

You can easily access your saved SEQUEL objects from SEQUEL Web Interface (SWI) with a SEQUEL Web Server (SWS) configured as shown below. Once you have connected to your IBM i system (i.e. WISDOM), you can navigate to the repository folder and subfolders containing the objects that you want to access. 

In the Sales folder shown below (Figure 3), the Weekly Customer Sales view is listed. To run it, simply double click on the view or perform a right click for additional options from printing, emailing, and saving the results as a PC file (like Microsoft Excel or Adobe PDF). Enhance the results by using interactive tools like Create Chart, Subtotals, and Drill Down on the result set.

 

 

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Figure 3

 

What are additional benefits of the repository?

For one, you can also access PC objects—like a Microsoft Excel or an Adobe PDF document—from the repository folder. Perhaps you have a daily or weekly job running on IBM i that is producing a few reports. Instead of emailing those reports, create the reports (the documents) in a folder within the repository. Authorized users can then access the reports from the web when needed.

For example, here are two documents opened from the Management folder: a PDF and an Excel workbook.

 

 

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Figure 4
 

Another benefit of the repository is the power of automation. If you have an enterprise job scheduler installed on your SWS called Skybot Job Scheduler (this scheduler runs on the server, not IBM i), you can easily schedule your SEQUEL objects to run on a regular basis. Simply right click on the SEQUEL object that you want to schedule, select Create Job, and fill in the job information.

 

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Figure 5

 

Summary

With the ViewPoint repository, it’s easier than ever for you to manage, find, and run your SEQUEL objects and PC files. Have further questions on how to get more out of the repository?

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