Using the masterSource property

Topic group

By using the masterSource property to create master-detail relationships you do not need an index, although it would improve performance. You might choose to use the masterSource property when

You can improve performance, for example, in cases where large BLOB fields would be copied to temporary files

You are working with client/server databases

You are working with a one-to-many relation in a form, and you want the form to be updateable

You want the order of the "many" table to be different from that of the linked fields.

To create a master-detail relationship by using the masterSource property,

• Drag the two tables onto the design surface of the designer you’re working in.

• Select the Query object of the detail table and set its active property to false.

• Change the SQL statement in the Query object’s SQL property to use host variables. For example, in a master-detail report on CUSTOMERS and ORDERS, you might use this:

  SELECT * FROM ORDERS WHERE ORDERNO = :ORDERNO

assuming that ORDERNO is the exact field name in the table.

• Set the detail table’s Query object’s masterSource property to the name of the master table’s Query object. To do this, select the name of the Query object from the property’s drop-down list (the down-arrow button, not the tool button).

• Set the detail table’s Query object’s active property back to true.

• This creates a parameter using the key fields from the master table.