Working with validation rules

You work with validation rules in the Enterprise Explorer and DataWindow editor.

What you do in the Enterprise Explorer

In the Enterprise Explorer, you can:

Create, modify, and delete named validation rules

The validation rules are stored in the extended attribute system tables. Once you define a validation rule, it can be used by any column of the appropriate datatype in the database.
Assign validation rules to columns and remove them from columns

These rules are used by default when you place the column in a DataWindow object in the DataWindow editor.

What you do in the DataWindow editor

In the DataWindow editor, you can:

Accept the default validation rule assigned to a column in the Enterprise Explorer
Create an ad hoc, unnamed rule to use with one specific column

Validation rules and the extended attribute system tables

Once you have placed a column that has a validation rule from the extended attribute system tables in a DataWindow object, there is no longer any link to the named rule in the extended attribute system tables.

If the definition of the validation rule later changes in the extended attribute system tables, the rule for the column in a DataWindow object will not change.