Define a View in SQL Azure

Use the SQL Azure View Editor to define the views in a database in a SQL Azure physical model.

To define a SQL Azure view

1. Click Views on the Model menu.

   The SQL Azure View Editor opens.

2. Select the view in the Navigation Grid that you want to define and work with the following options:

   Click New on the toolbar to create a new view. Use the Enter filter text box to filter a very large list of views to quickly locate the one that you want to define.

   Name

   Specifies the name of the view. Change the name of the view in this field.

   Schema

   Specifies the schema of the database to which the view belongs. Select the schema from the drop-down list.

   Generate

   Generates SQL during forward engineering. Clear the check box if you do not want to generate SQL.

3. Click the General tab and work with the following options:

   Schema Binding

   Specifies to use schema binding on the view, which binds the view to the schema of tables upon which the view is based.

   View Metadata

   Specifies that the instance of SQL Azure returns the metadata information of the view and not the metadata of the tables upon which the view is based.

4. Work with the other tabs in the editor to access additional design features, for example:
   • Specify the tables or views to define the view column in the Select tab
   • Select the tables and views that you want to participate in the view using the From tab
   • Enter text to define a WHERE clause in the Where tab
   • View and change a user-provided DDL statement in the User Defined SQL tab
   • View the SQL code used during Forward Engineering using the SQL tab
   • Work with style sheets which are used to format the font and other graphical themes used in the display of the view in the Style tab
   • Specify the icon style to use for the view in the Icon tab
   • Define view permissions using the Permission tab
   • Specify the order of DDL generation in the Object Creation Order tab
5. (Optional) Click the Comment tab and enter any comments that you want to associate with the object.
6. (Optional) Click the UDP tab to work with user-defined properties for the object.
7. (Optional) Click the Notes tab to view and edit user notes.
8. (Optional) Click the History tab to view the history information of the object.
9. Click Close.

   The view is defined and the SQL Azure View Editor closes.

More information:

Select the Tables and Views for a SQL Azure View

Specify Properties for the WHERE Clause for a SQL Azure View

Define the SQL Code for an Object in a SQL Azure Property Editor

Define the Style for a Table, View, or Column

Specify the Icon to Display for a Table or View

Define Permissions for an Object in a SQL Azure Property Editor

Change the Object Creation Order for Tables or Views

Add a Comment in a Property Editor

Add a UDP in a Physical Property Editor