Objects Used by DataLink
in AXIS Users Guide - Introduction to AXIS DataLink

AXIS DataLink is an object oriented application.  The various tables, files, batches and so forth that you will create and modify while developing your project are therefore referred to as DataLink objects.  Although these objects are interdependent - a table object, for example, may refer to another table to calculate a field, or be referenced by a batch object - they still remain distinct objects within the AXIS DataLink application.  The advantage to this design is the ease with which a particular object can be modified, or even replaced. If, for example, your project contains a logical file link to a source extract file, the tables, batches and other DataLink objects that reference that source file actually point to the logical file object rather than the source file itself. As a result, if you modify the logical file association to point to a different source file,  all the dependant objects will be automatically updated.  In this particular case, of course, it would be important to make sure that the new source file was stored in the same format as the old one or the tables and other objects would not reference it correctly.

These DataLink Objects fall into four main areas:

  1. Files (or logical files) are objects which may be named, saved and edited. A File is used to define the physical path to the current source file attached to that logical file name. The source file can then be used as the basis for loading a table by selecting the logical file in the process of table definition. You can examine, create, or modify a logical file association by selecting View / DataLink / Files from the menu bar.

  2. Tables are the basic building blocks of AXIS DataLink projects.  In preparing your extract data for use by AXIS, you will be defining, populating, and running batch processes on tables. AXIS DataLink Tables can be accessed by selecting View / DataLink / Tables from the menu bar. These tables are broken into the following categories:

    Primary Tables are used to hold the main inforce business data loaded from the source file and intended for export to AXIS cells. In Asset databases, the primary table is referred to as Asset Cell Assumptions and is used to directly create cells, while in insurance databases, the Primary tables are called Policy Information tables and create seriatim record files to be linked to liability module Cells. Policy Info tables are special in that they are mandatory (if you want to export) but they are also namable since you can have more than one.  Most vendor-defined tables (optional and reference) are prenamed and you can only have one. You may add additional fields to these primary tables as you need them.

    Optional tables are vendor supplied and predefined.  Which optional tables are available will depend on which module you are working in. The user must specifically add some Optional Tables (found in selection list). Others are added automatically by AXIS whenever a corresponding field is added to the Policy Info Table (e.g. the optional vectors) and these are not found in the selection list. Most Optional tables are not exported directly but contain records that may be linked to records in Policy Info by Policy ID or by another specified field in Policy Info, and which are then exported with the corresponding Policy Info records.  However, some optional tables, such as AXIS Table Values tables, may be exported separately from the Policy Info data.

    User Defined Tables are commonly used to hold supplementary data that needs to be consolidated to calculated fields in the Primary Table or to rules that help control the definition of calculated fields. There are no predefined fields in User Defined Tables, and no data is exported directly from these tables to AXIS. However, all of the other options and processes used to define the primary and predefined supplementary tables are available to them. In addition, data may be moved from these tables into the Policy Information table using either cross table actions or record collection processes. For an example of this application, refer to How to Consolidate Multiple Source Files into One Database.

    Reference Tables, like Optional tables are vendor supplied and predefined, and may be selected by the user from the selection list and created. These tables hold specific field values which are automatically accessed by reference to the numeric index value in the supplementary table. An example of these is the table type Cells. These fields may be defined as part of the mapping process in the Policy Information Table and AXIS DataLink will automatically manage the creation of entries in the corresponding reference tables and the maintenance of the index values used for references. Note that these fields are shown as numeric fields in the Policy Information table as their actual contents are the numeric index values and not the referenced text strings.

  3. Batch Objects are objects which defines a specific processing step or sequence of steps. A batch process can be created, named, saved and executed. Batch Processes include single processing actions involving single or multiple tables. They define a precise sequence of table processing steps such as initializing, loading, mapping, and exporting, and may also include other batch processes in the sequence. With the release of AXIS DataLink 10, all batch processes (both AXIS specific and DataLink specific) are now located in a common Batch Object List which is available by selecting View / Batch from the Menu bar. The DataLink batch objects - which include Formula, Cross Table, Macro, and Collect Record types - are listed in this location along with AXIS specific batch objects.  For further information on the uses of the various types of DataLink Batch Objects, see the section on Batch Processing in DataLink in this Users Guide.

  4. Queries are requests to extract, format and display selected data from one or more connected tables. In DataLink, query definitions may be created, edited and executed by selecting View / DataLink / Query from the Menu bar. For more information on constructing, editing, and running queries, see What is a Query in this help file