AX1441

Managing file group aliases using Save Type 4

Using Save Type 4, you can create, edit, or delete file group aliases by using save-to-database within a spreadsheet, instead of using Axiom Explorer. This may be a more convenient approach when you want to impact many aliases at one time, or when you want to automate the process.

Save Type 4 depends on the placement of save-to-database tags within the sheet. There are three components:

• The primary SaveStructure2DB tag, which defines the locations of the save-to-database control row and control column, and specifies the system table that you want to update.
• Column tags in the save-to-database control row, to specify the columns holding the alias properties.
• Row tags in the save-to-database control column, to specify the rows to include in the save process and to determine the action to take on the alias.

Save-to-database tag summary

Tag Type	Tag Syntax
Primary tag	[SaveStructure2DB; Axiom.FileGroupAliases; CustomSaveTag=Name]
Row tags	[Save] [Delete]
Column tags	Alias FileGroupName Description

Placing the primary save-to-database tag in the sheet

To define the save-to-database process, place the following tag in any cell in the sheet, within the first 500 rows:

The row containing this tag becomes the control row for the process, and the column containing this tag becomes the control column for the process.

You can also optionally use the custom save tag parameter. For example:

Placing the alias property tags in the control row

Within the control row for the save-to-database process, specify the columns that define the variable properties. These properties can be placed in any column, to either the right or the left of the SaveStructure2DB tag.

Column Tag	Description
Alias	The name of the file group alias.
FileGroupName	The name of the file group. Use the real file group name (not the display name) with all variables resolved to their current values. For example, if the file group name is Budget {CurrentFileGroupYear}, then use Budget 2020 (where 2020 is the current file group year). The specified file group must already exist.
Description	The description of the alias.

Alias and FileGroupName are required to create or edit an alias.

Indicating the rows to save or delete

Within the control column for the save-to-database process, mark each row that you want to be processed with the appropriate row tag:

Row Tag	Description
[Save]	Creates or updates the alias with the properties specified in the spreadsheet. NOTE: If you have defined a custom save tag in the SaveStructure2DB tag, then you must mark the rows with that tag instead of the default tag. For example, if your primary tag is [SaveStructure2DB; Axiom.FileGroupAliases; CustomSaveTag=SaveAlias] then you would place the tag [SaveAlias] in the rows that you wanted to be saved.
[Delete]	Deletes the alias, based on the specified alias name.

Only rows that are marked with a valid tag are processed; all other rows are ignored, even if there is content in the property columns. If a row contains a valid tag but no content exists in the property columns, a save error will occur.

When the save-to-database occurs, delete actions are processed first, followed by save actions.

NOTE: The row tag can be placed within a formula if desired. For example, you might want to use a formula to determine whether a particular row should be saved or deleted.

Populating the alias properties in the spreadsheet

You can manually type the alias properties within the spreadsheet, or you can use an Axiom query to populate the spreadsheet with the aliases that are currently defined in the database. Once you have the current list of aliases as a starting point, you can adjust them as necessary, and then save the changes back to the database.

For example, imagine that you want to update aliases for a rollover. You can:

• Create an Axiom query to bring in the current file group aliases, by querying Axiom.FileGroupAliases.
• Set up the save-to-database tags so that the fields to be saved line up with the information brought in by the Axiom query.
• Edit the FileGroupName property for the aliases so that the aliases now point to the appropriate file groups. For example, if the Current Budget alias currently points to Budget 2019, you can update it to point to Budget 2020.
• For the aliases that you edited, place a [Save] tag in the save-to-database control column.

When you perform the save-to-database, the aliases will be updated to point to the different file groups.