Custom tables

Custom tables are created from other tables in the data module. These tables exist only in the data module. They are not added to the data sources that the module is based on.

By adding custom tables, you create a more abstract, business-oriented view of data in your data module. For more information, see Creating custom tables.

Custom tables function in the same way as other tables in the data module. You can use them to create relationships, calculations, filters, and other custom tables.

The Custom tables tab is used for creating, viewing, and managing custom tables in a data module. The tab is displayed even if the module doesn't contain any custom tables. To start creating a new table, click Create custom table.

If the data module already contains custom tables, the table names are listed when you open the tab. In the following example, the data module contains two custom tables: Product Sales and Product Returns.

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The different types of custom tables are identified by different icons, as shown in the following table:

View table view type of table
Alias table Alias type of table
Shortcut table Shortcut type of table
Join table join type of table
Union table union type of table
Except table view type of table
Intersect table Intersect type of table

From the custom table context menu Vertical actions menu icon, you can access the standard table options for creating a relationship, calculation, filter, and so on. Clicking the View definition option or the table name opens the table query flow diagram where you can view the data module tables that the custom table is built from. For example, the following diagram of a custom table named Branch returns shows that the table is a view of three tables: Branches, Returns, and Products.

diagram of a custom table

The diagram is synchronized with the data tree. You can perform the same actions from the table context menu in the diagram and in the data tree.