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User's Guide

Selecting output fields

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Adding and removing fields and expressions

To add a field to the list of query output fields you can check the box at the left of a field name in the datasource field list at the Query Building Area. To include all the fields of the specific object you can check the box at the left of the asterisk item in the datasource field list. You can also drag the fields from the Query Building Area to the Columns pane to get the same result.

Another way to add a field is to select a field name from the drop-down list of the Expression column in the Columns Pane. And, of course, you can type any valid expression in the Expression column in the Columns Pane. To add an empty line to the Columns pane, press the Alt(Ctrl*)+Insert key.

To remove a field from the Columns Pane you should uncheck the checkbox at the left of the field name in the Query Building Area or press the Alt(Ctrl*)+Delete key in the Columns Pane.

To move a line in the Columns Pane up and down, you can press the Alt(Ctrl*)+Up/Down keys.

In addition you can add, remove, and reorder lines at the Columns Pane using the context popup menu.

(*) The Ctrl key is used instead of Alt key for shortcuts in the VCL and ActiveX versions of Active Query Builder.

Working with expressions in the Columns Pane

The Output column determines the presence of an expression in the SELECT list of the query.

The Alias column allows you to set aliases for your expressions. Aliases become the headings of columns in the result dataset.

The Asterisk Item

Even if you don't select any fields from query datasources, an asterisk item will be added to the select list of the result query ("Select * From ..."). This is done because a SELECT query without any columns will produce an error for most of database servers, thus it's useless for end-users.

By selecting any fields or by adding any output expressions to the query, an asterisk item will be removed from result query (you can add it manually at any time). The asterisk items placed first at the datasource field's list are intended to add all fields from a specific datasource, not from all of the datasources ("Select datasource.* From ..."). These asterisk items do not affect the rest of the datasource field check boxes, but rather act independently. If you want to check all the datasource field check boxes, and not the asterisk item, use the appropriate items of the datasource context popup menu.

See also:

• Sorting output fields
• Defining criteria
• Grouping output fields

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