To access relational data using the Select bean:
- Add the Select bean to the Visual Composition Editor surface.
- Edit the Select bean properties. The query property allows you to
define the following things:
- Connection alias. This identifies the characteristics of
the database connection for the Select bean. These include
characteristics such as the URL for the connection, and the user ID and
password to be passed with the connection request.
- SQL specification. This specifies the SQL statement for
the Select bean. You can use the SQL editor that is provided to enter
the SQL statement manually, or you can use the SQL Assist SmartGuide to
compose the SQL statement visually. You can select one or more tables,
join tables, specify search conditions, identify columns for display, sort the
results, map the data types of the result columns into Java classes, and view
the resulting SQL statement. You can even do a test run of the
query.

- Connect the Select bean to a visual component of your applet or
application, such as a button bean. When a user uses the application or
applet, and selects the visual component, for example clicks the button, the
SQL statement for the Select bean retrieves a result set.
You can also use the Select bean to apply changes that users make to a
result row, even deletion of a row, and commit the changes to the
database. In these cases, you use update and delete methods provided by
the Select bean.
