Before going any further it is important to clear up some ambiguities with the word view. When we talk about a view it could be a:

DataSplice View

This is an object that represents a set of data in the target database and meta-data that controls how the view is used.

Database View 

Most databases allow SQL statements to be pre-compiled and then queried as a simpler statement. DataSplice views can reference these database views.

User Interface View

In many contexts the word view is used to refer to a particular screen or display mode in an application, such as having a form or grid-based view.

Unless otherwise specified, the word view in this course will document to a DataSplice view.

The Structure of a DataSplice View

Views consist of several components:

• Permissions that control the actions available to the user
• Plug-in specific options depending on the data source that owns the view.
• Custom attributes that can be referenced throughout the configuration.
• Detailed settings for each field such as display settings, permissions, default values, and lookup list settings.
• Event bindings that control the actions performed when various events occur.
• Display settings and relationships that provide the user with actions that can display particular sets of data, related records, and perform tasks associated with the current data.
• Offline queries that control what data is copied to the handheld device during synchronization.

All of these are edited in the View Editor section of the Administration Client.

View Data

Remote users make queries against views, which consist of filtering and sorting details. These queries result in a set of records that are contained within the view. Records are the basic unit of data that is accessible on the Remote Client.

The data within a view is always rectilinear. This means that the view has a fixed number of columns and each column has a single value for each record. Views themselves cannot contain hierarchical information - this is represented by relationships between views.

Remote Client Work Processes

Along with attributes, the Remote Client interface is driven by the view configuration. In this sense, views are the basic objects that are visible to the remote user. The Remote Client uses the relationships defined for views to control the workflow of a remote application, and the view settings control all of the details about how the user can interact with data within a view.

This is why DataSplice can be used to quickly create and deploy mobile applications. When remote users connect, the DataSplice Server pushes out the current view configuration, which completely defines how the client will operate. There is no configuration to maintain on the handheld devices because they are driven by the centralized server configuration.