Entry

An Entry enables a Model Developer to retrieve a set of data in a Model. The Entry describes what data is retrieved and how it is retrieved. An Entry definition consists minimally of a set of formal parameters (possibly empty, not exceeding 23 parameters), a set of Fields and a Data Retrieval method. If an Entry is used as a Main Entry that has formal parameters, the definition should also include a Key Retrieval method. From the point of view of a DID Developer an Entry is an output mechanism: it describes the output of the Data Retrieval method.

The sets of Fields that are retrieved by the Entry are called records.

The formal parameters describe the input parameters of the Data Retrieval. The Fields describe the output parameters. The Key Retrieval method is used when the user should be able to select a record. The Key Retrieval method results in a set of Fields that is used as the actual parameters in the Data Retrieval method.

The set of data that an Entry retrieves can conform to (a part of) a database record, for example, a table in an SQL database or a physical or logical file on the AS/400. An Entry does not have to coincide with an actual table in the database, but can present a pre-processed, simplified or summarized view of a single table or a collection of tables.