qbf Command—Start Query-By-Forms

The qbf command invokes Query-By-Forms (QBF), a forms-based interface for manipulating data in a database.

For a complete description of QBF, see the Character-based Querying and Reporting Tools User Guide.

qbf dbname |vnode::dbname[/server_class] [-mmode] [[-t]|-f|-j|-l querytarget]
[-e] [‑s] [‑uusername] [‑Ggroupid]

Identifies the name of the database, and if required, the vnode and server_class, as described in Standard Flags and Parameters (see page Standard Flags and Parameters).

Bypasses the Join Definition phase of QBF, putting you directly into the mode function for Query Execution, where mode is retrieve, append, update or all. If you use the -m flag, you must also specify a querytarget.

Indicates that querytarget is a table. A table field format will be used to query the table. This is the default type.

Indicates that querytarget is a QBFName. This invokes Query-By-Forms with a Visual-Forms-Editor form.

Indicates that querytarget is a JoinDef.

Allows QBF to locate the querytarget type. QBF searches in the order QBFName, JoinDef, table, until it finds the querytarget specified.

Identifies the table, view, synonym, QBFName, or JoinDef you want to access in your query.

If you specify a query target, you must own all the tables that underlie the query target or have the proper permissions to access them. If you specify a JoinDef for the query target, you or the database administrator must own it.

Specifying querytarget puts you directly into the Query Execution phase. If you specify it without also specifying -mmode, you have the option of switching to the Join Definition phase.

The table, view, or synonym name can be qualified with a valid schema name in the format schema.name, as described in Schemas Qualifier (see page Schema Qualifier—Specify Ownership).

You can specify the type of querytarget to QBF by using the -t, -f, -j, or -l flag. If no flag is specified for querytarget, QBF assumes that the type is table and generates an error if it cannot find a table with that name.

Invokes the command in expert mode, causing the catalogs to be displayed empty initially. Doing this allows you to enter the name of a specific object directly, rather than select it from a list.

Suppresses status messages.

Specifies the effective user for the session, as described in Standard Flags and Parameters (see page Standard Flags and Parameters).

Specifies a group identifier, as described in Standard Flags and Parameters (see page Standard Flags and Parameters).

On VMS, enclose this parameter in double quotation marks ("-Ggroupid").