3.2.2 How to Create New Fields
There are several ways to create a field definition in the repository:
1. Manually define a field
2. Copy an existing field
3. Manually define a field using an existing field as a reference
4. Load an existing externally defined file into the Repository
5. Use a Modeling tool.
Option 1. You may manually create all the details of the field definition. If you are not using the modeler or loading existing files, then all your fields will be created manually.
Option 2. You may create a new field by copying an existing field. Copying an existing field allows you to copy the basic field characteristics as well as the rules and help text.
Option 3. You may manually create the field but use a Reference Field to define the field's characteristics. Using a reference field is similar to a copy, except it permanently links two field definitions together. Changes made to the referenced field will affect any fields that reference it. (Refer to 3.2.4 Copying Versus Reference Fields.)
Option 4. If you are building from existing applications, you can load your existing file or table definitions into LANSA. The file load utilities will create field definitions for the fields in the loaded files.
Option 5. You may use the Visual LANSA Modeling tool to automatically build the fields required for the file definitions. (Refer to Using a Modeling Tool.)
Also See