External Database Display
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The External Display enables you to display information from an external SQL Server and/or Oracle database.  The information is displayed in one or more tabs in  Manufacturing Order, displays, and graphs.  You can also report on external database information in the DMS Report Viewer.


The steps to display information from another database in DMS are as follows:


  1. Define what data you want to see from the external database.  It is suggested that you create a SQL View of the data you want to display in DMS for ease of use.
  2. Define a Connection string to the third part database in DMS using the menu item Import | Import Settings | Connection String Definitions.
  3. Define the SQL required for the display.  This includes the Data Dictionary (columns) you want to display in DMS as well as optional Comparison Information to display certain columns in selected colors if the comparison is true.  To define the SQL, use Tables | External Database Display | External Database Display SQL Scripts.
  4. The final step is to define the DMS tab name for the SQL script that will be used in Manufacturing Order, graphs, displays and reports.  To define the SQL, use Tables | External Database Display | External Database Display Tabs.


Once you have defined the SQL scripts and tested them, and defined the DMS tab name, you will see the tab name automatically appear in the corresponding DMS screens.


You can define any number of Real Time Displays in DMS.  However, the more information you select to display, the slower the DMS displays may appear as the data must be retrieved from the external database before being displayed.  The time to display may be negligible depending on the speed of your network and access to the external database.


You can also choose to connect to the DMS database itself so that you can custom display DMS information on the DMS screens using selected colors and comparisons.  This method enables you to draw attention to DMS data.  If you choose to connect to a DMS database, it is recommended that you use the DMS SQL Views to display data.