View vs ViewDef

Could somebody briefly explain the View and ViewDef architecture.

Is a View unique to a module?
Is a ViewDef unique to a View?
Does a View define the Columns?
...And a ViewDef define the view attributes?

It seems you can get a View from a specific Item, but save it to the 'current' module.
It seems you can get a ViewDef from a specific View, and set it to a different view.
It seems like everything except the Name is in the ViewDef - so what's the point of a View?

I don't get it!
SystemAdmin - Mon Oct 24 09:15:21 EDT 2011

Re: View vs ViewDef
OurGuest - Mon Oct 24 15:06:56 EDT 2011

From help:

--ViewDef data type, holds all the settings from the Advanced tab of the Views dialog box.

--View data type, is a handle created for use by other functions.

Re: View vs ViewDef
Mathias Mamsch - Mon Oct 24 16:42:37 EDT 2011

You need to differentiate between the View itself, which contains: Columns, Display Settings, Filters, etc. and the View Definition which defines what actually will be saved with your view.

So on the advanced tab in the view settings, you define, what your View will save. E.g. you can define if the view shall save your current object. That is the View Definition. The View itself is the actual contents, i.e. your current Object, your current Filter, etc.

Then there is that weird View Definition inheritance thing. That means, that one view will inherit its settings from another view. So you can have one view definition for several views. But i really never saw anyone really use that, It even doubt it works ;-)

Maybe that helps, regards, Mathias
Mathias Mamsch, IT-QBase GmbH, Consultant for Requirement Engineering and D00RS

Re: View vs ViewDef
llandale - Mon Oct 24 17:09:34 EDT 2011

Mathias Mamsch - Mon Oct 24 16:42:37 EDT 2011
You need to differentiate between the View itself, which contains: Columns, Display Settings, Filters, etc. and the View Definition which defines what actually will be saved with your view.

So on the advanced tab in the view settings, you define, what your View will save. E.g. you can define if the view shall save your current object. That is the View Definition. The View itself is the actual contents, i.e. your current Object, your current Filter, etc.

Then there is that weird View Definition inheritance thing. That means, that one view will inherit its settings from another view. So you can have one view definition for several views. But i really never saw anyone really use that, It even doubt it works ;-)

Maybe that helps, regards, Mathias

Mathias Mamsch, IT-QBase GmbH, Consultant for Requirement Engineering and D00RS

I played with it a little. Defined a 'standard' set of columnns in a view and then encouraged the various engineers to create their own view that filtered for thier sections, but inherited the standard columns. Then when I inserted a new standard column they all saw it. But you are right it didn't seem very useful.

Actually, this came to my attention when a distance cousin was accessing some other distant cousin's database in our national company, and it took a half hour to load her single view in the module across the network. Those views had a huge labrynth of cross dependant views. I demonstrated to Telelogic that those other dependant view's layout code was being interpreted and at times run, even when that view's columns were not being inherited; and those layouts tended to have #include statments bla bla bla.

That cousin called me when the database cousins refused to listen to her <disallowed content detected>.

  • Louie

Re: View vs ViewDef
SystemAdmin - Fri Oct 28 05:13:19 EDT 2011

Mathias Mamsch - Mon Oct 24 16:42:37 EDT 2011
You need to differentiate between the View itself, which contains: Columns, Display Settings, Filters, etc. and the View Definition which defines what actually will be saved with your view.

So on the advanced tab in the view settings, you define, what your View will save. E.g. you can define if the view shall save your current object. That is the View Definition. The View itself is the actual contents, i.e. your current Object, your current Filter, etc.

Then there is that weird View Definition inheritance thing. That means, that one view will inherit its settings from another view. So you can have one view definition for several views. But i really never saw anyone really use that, It even doubt it works ;-)

Maybe that helps, regards, Mathias

Mathias Mamsch, IT-QBase GmbH, Consultant for Requirement Engineering and D00RS

That makes a bit more sense now - except saving one modules view to another. I guess that may just save the Views ViewDef.

Thanks