When I was setting up a large Universe database for use with ODBC, it became clear to me that editing all the dictionaries with the command line editor would take very long and be a frustrating task. That's why I sat down and wrote an editor with Visual Basic. The goal was to create a tool with which I could rapidly make Universe data available for use with ODBC. You can download the editor here. Below are some screen shots.

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All the dictionary attributes are listed in order. You can choose to view either all attributes or only those that are in a PH descriptor. PH descriptors define the exposed elements of the data file and the views of multivalues for virtual child tables. For ODBC exposed attributes you have to define if they are single- or multi valued , if they belong to a group of associated multi-values and which data type they carry. ODBC needs strict data typing unlike Universe where all data are just ASCII characters. ODBC can give you errors or fail if the typing of data is wrong. Be aware of that.

Editing PH descriptors is editing your views. The primary PH descriptor is "@SELECT". This descriptor needs to have every element that is exposed, single or multivalued alike. If you have associated multivalues, create a PH descriptor with a name for this association and list all the elements in their desired order here. This will create a virtual table for ODBC.

Use the power of I-descriptors for Correllations and operations. Write stored procedures. Save and compile I-descriptors right in the editor.