Remote System Explorer filters, filter pools, and filter pool references

The Remote System Explorer is a set of local client tools you use to organize how you want to work with resources such as files and folders on your remote server. The following graphic serves as an introduction to some of the main components of the Remote System Explorer:

In the Remote System Explorer perspective, you query your server to list and perform actions upon libraries, objects, and members. You perform these tasks through the use of filters. Think of filter-use as a way to perform the same action you might be accustomed to in Program Development Manager (PDM) to: See the PDM to RSE transition guide for more information.

In the Remote System Explorer perspective, you query your server to list and perform actions upon remote resources such as folder and files. You perform these tasks by using filters to show the remote resources on your workstation.

The Remote System Explorer perspective is designed to mimic these PDM actions, and perform many additional actions not possible in PDM. When you create a filter in the Remote Systems view by expanding Work with libraries, Work with objects, or Work with members, your selections in the filtering wizard will create a filter string. For example, your selections can define a filter string to query all members of type *rpgle in your current library. After you define your filter, you can re-open it to add another filter string, for example, to also find members of type *mnucmd in the same or different library.

The Remote System Explorer perspective is designed to allow you to manipulate the resources directly on the remote system. The actions that are available depend on the type of system you are connecting to and the way the resource is recognized. For example, your selections can define a filter string to find all files that match *.c in a particular directory.

When you access the list by expanding the filter, you can see the files that match the specifications for the filter, and can perform actions (such as editing, compiling, running, and debugging) against your remote items.
Tip: You can drag and drop filters from one subsystem or filter pool to another. However, they need to be of the same subsystem type. Also, if you drag a filter into another filter, the target filter is updated with filter strings from the first filter, to combine them.

If you have been using the Remote System Explorer for some time, your workspace might contain too many filters to navigate easily. Or, you might just want to keep groups of filters separate if, for example, you need to represent two distinct environments in the Remote System Explorer, regardless of how many filters you have. In either case, you can group filters into filter pools.

For example, one filter pool could contain filters for your accounts receivable program while another contains filters for your payroll program. Or, you can define a distinct set of filters or library list for both a production environment and a test environment. To see existing filter pools, click the view menu arrow and select Show Filter Pools:

Show Filter Pools

All filters live in filter pools, but these filter pools remain hidden unless you choose to manage them explicitly. By default, the Remote System Explorer manages all of your filters for you, and they all appear together in all connections. When you create filter pools, however, that filter pool is distinct to that pool, and will not appear in any other connections by default. You need to explicitly add a reference to that new pool from other connections to use these filters. (See the related links for more information about filter pools.)

You can share filter pools among many connections through the use of a filter pool reference. A filter pool reference is a mechanism that displays a filter pool from one connection in any other connection, so that when you make a change to the original filter pool, your change is reflected in the filter pool reference.

All connections, filters, filter pools, and so on, belong to your local Remote System Explorer profile, which you define during your first connection to a remote server. You might wonder what happens to your filters or filter pools if you delete a connection, especially if you have filters shared among two or more connections. Rest assured that the filters are not deleted, since filters belong to profiles, and not connections. See the related concepts for more information.

Keep in mind that if you need an entirely new configuration for these items in the Remote System Explorer, you can create a new profile. See the related links for more information.


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