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Alexander Liberov edited this page Oct 21, 2026 · 2 revisions

ask: feeds-from

What feeds this control? The chain behind one data-aware control, hop by hop, down to the database column. One of the diagram questions of the ask verb -- see Diagrams and Charts for the model, the bundle and click-to-source.

Asking it

Answered in-process by the engine (drag-lint ask); no PowerShell is needed (see Charts and the IDE).

From RAD Studio: drag-lint > Reports > What feeds this control (back to the column)... -- put the caret on the selection first (see IDE Menu Reference).

drag-lint ask --question feeds-from --target <Form>.<Control> --db <project.sqlite> --sql-db <sql-index.sqlite>

From a terminal:

drag-lint ask feeds-from --target <Form>.<Control> --db <Delphi project index> --sql-db <SQL-script index>

Example target: frmCausFail.colREASON.

You select

One data-aware control on a form (a DB edit, a grid column, a lookup, ...), named <Form>.<Control>.

The chart shows

One row per hop, each graded and anchored to a file and line:

control -> datasource (DFM) -> dataset (DFM, or a code assignment -- every assignment site is scanned) -> view-model type -> table -> TABLE.COLUMN

Read it carefully

  • The table hop is [inferred]. It comes from table-name literals in the view-model's unit, tie-broken on the columns the controls are bound to. Every other hop is read from DFM or code.
  • A broken chain says so; it never guesses. It ends in "chain stops here: " instead of inventing a table.
  • Interface-typed view-models stop the chain, because the concrete type behind the interface is not known statically.
  • Dangling designer datasources. A datasource that points at a data module not in the project is shown [dangling]; if code re-points it at run time, that is shown as [re-pointed at routine:line].
  • Coverage is printed on the chart. Measured on ORM3 CLIENT on 2026-09-23: 267 of 808 field-bound controls reach exactly one table, and 426 sit under dangling designer datasources.
  • The schema is script-derived, as for consumers: the MS*.SQL migration scripts, newest script wins -- not the live database.

It stands on

DFM data bindings and component properties, dataset assignments in code, the view-model types from the Delphi index, table-name string literals, and the SQL-script index for the table and column hop.

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