External applications have the option to access EnterWorks data via ODBC accessible database views (snapshot tables) for each repository. The contents of these views are dictated by which attributes are identified as being relational in the Repository Attribute Properties editor. Any time the list of relational attributes changes, the corresponding views will be automatically updated.
Keep performance in mind: while you are able to make all of your repository attributes Relational (SQL Server maximum is ~1,000) it will affect your system performance. When a repository record is created or edited, the Snapshot table must be updated for all relational attributes. In addition, before insertion into or an update of the Snapshot table, each relational attribute value must be validated for data type and size restrictions.
For each repository attribute that is declared as Relational, there is the option to create a database index on the Snapshot table column. A database table index allows for significant performance improvement when users will use the attribute frequently for searches in the repository. Keep in mind: It is important to keep the number of indexed columns as minimal as possible to keep the database workload to a minimum.