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POWERBASE TUTORIAL 3
by Laurie Jane Kern
Building the Address Book
In tutorial 2 we discussed what fields we might need in our Address Book, and decided on the 18 which we are going to use. So now we are ready to get started and actually create our first database.
Launch PowerBase from the Extras bar and the program should have an application window that looks something like the screen shot shown below.
The small floating window you can see is called the Schema View, and is the main navigational tool for moving around your PowerBase databases. I would advise you to leave it open, at least to start with. Don't close it on exiting PowerBase, or when you want to move from one database to another. If by mistake you do close it, then you may find yourself unable to access any of your data! Should you accidentally close the Schema window go into Menu|File|Create new.... and select Schema View. This will restore it.
Now to create your first database. From the menu go to File|Create new|Database... where you will be prompted to fill in the name of your database. Fill in the screen as shown below.
Now you have an empty database called "Address Book", with nothing in it. The next move is to make your first Table. Go to to File|Create new|Table... where you will be prompted for the name of your table - nothing else. Enter the name as "Contacts". PowerBase will now prompt you for the fields you want in your first Table, as shown in this screen shot
Now what you are going to do is drag a field type from the left-hand side of the screen and drop it on the right hand side. You create your fields here and they are inserted into the completed Table. (This is not the only place where you can create fields, later in another lesson I shall show you how to add fields after the Table has been created.) The fields don't have to be created in any particular order, you can change the view layout; but the order that you choose here, is the order in which they will appear when you start using your new database. So, using the table below as a guide, drag a field from the left and drop it on the right side.
Field Name | Type | Size |
Title | Text | 10 |
First Name | Text | 25 |
Last Name | Text | 25 |
Address Line 1 | Text | 30 |
Address Line 2 | Text | 30 |
City | Text | 25 |
Region | Text | 25 |
Postal Code | Text | 25 |
Country | Text | 15 |
Telephone - home | Text | 15 |
Telephone - work | Text | 15 |
Mobile | Text | 25 |
Fax | Text | 25 |
Email1 | Text | 30 |
Email2 | Text | 30 |
URL | Text | 50 |
Contact Type | Text | 15 |
Notes | Memo | Not Applicable |
ID | AutoNumber | Not Applicable |
When you drag across the first field you should get a screen shot that looks like the one below. A word of warning here. Once you select a field type, (as Text, Memo, AutoNumber etc) the only way to change it is to delete the field and recreate it. So, if you make a mistake, and select the wrong field type, just drag it back to the left and drop it, it will be gone! I should also mention at this point that after you have created your Table, you do have some freedom to edit, and change your mind. You can change the text of any label on any field, and you can change the size of a text field (i.e. the number of letters stored). This size edit is only available in text fields.
When you are ready, click OK. Another dialog box will appear. There are several other options here but take the standard defaults. The other options do not concern us at the moment, though for the curious the user manual covers what these options offer.
OK Now you are on your own. Create the remaining fields in the same way as I have outlined above. When you have finished building your fields, you should have this screen shot.
Now, before we click the "Create" button in the upper left hand corner, try repositioning some of the fields by dragging and dropping them up and down the list, just to get the feel of it. This is the time to make your final choices as to the display order of your chosen fields. When you are ready, go ahead and click the Create button. You have created a database, and your first Table within it!
Now when you return to the Schema view of your Address Book database you will see the beginning of a tree view, with the Table "Contacts" which you have just created. Tap on the tiny + sign beside it, and beneath it you will find Fields, Groups and Views. If you tap on Views you will find the choice between List and Card view. Tap on Card View and you will see the fields you have just created displayed there. Now tap on Fields in the Schema window, and you will see all the fields which you have created displayed as shown below.
Double tap on any of the Fields, and a Properties box will appear. You will recognise the properties which you selected a few minutes ago. Now you can alter the properties of any of the text type Fields. Now you are ready to explore some more! I have added a small download here - a Sample Address Book (02), just as you have created, with some sample and imaginary entries in it. Download it if you like, and use it to play around with, and familiarise yourself with the navigation and editing possibilities of PowerBase before moving on to the next tutorial.
In the following tutorials we shall be looking in more detail at the different sections you have just encountered: Fields, Groups and Views. We will add entries to the Table, and I will also show you how to merge information into the Table. Remember this will be an evolving thing so you might not want to enter all your friends or business contacts into the database yet, as I also have some neat tricks to show you that will save you some time later on!
© LJKern and FoxPop 1999