WebSphere V5.0 : Deploying to the database

Deploying to the database

You can define, generate, and apply SQL Data Definition Language (DDL) statements in the Data Definition view of the Data perspective.

Data Definition Language (DDL) is a subset of SQL. It is a language for describing data and its relationships in a database. Use the Generate SQL DDL diaog to generate SQL DDL statements used to recreate a database object.

You might want to generate SQL DDL statements for database objects for the following reasons:

* To keep a snapshot of what the database looks like.
* To set up a test system where the database acts like the production system but contains no data.

Generating an SQL DDL file

You can generate an SQL DLL file for an object. SQL DDL statements are used to change the structure of the database, such as define a new table, change the definition of a table, and remove a table.

Once you have created data definitions in your Data perspective, you can generate the SQL DDL file for the data object as follows:

1. If the file that you want to re-generate is currently open in an editor, you will be prompted to reload the changes. At this time, you need to decide whether or not you want to keep the changes.

2. From the pop-up menu of the database node, table, schema, or the view objects, click Generate DDL to open the Generate SQL DDL dialog:

3. Provide the name and target location for the generated file. By default, it is named after the currently selected data object, and placed in the same project.

4. Select whether to use fully qualified names (including the target schemas for the statements).

5. Select whether to generate delimited identifiers. Place quotation marks around the identifiers.

6. Select whether to generate the associated DROP statement for each CREATE statement contained in the resulting script.

7. Select the Open SQL DDL file for editing when done check box to immediately start editing the file once it is generated:

The SQL DDL script is now visible under the target project: