<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<helpdocument version="1.0">

<!--
 * This file is part of the LibreOffice project.
 *
 * This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
 * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
 * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
 *
 * This file incorporates work covered by the following license notice:
 *
 *   Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
 *   contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed
 *   with this work for additional information regarding copyright
 *   ownership. The ASF licenses this file to you under the Apache
 *   License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file
 *   except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
 *   the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 .
 -->


<meta>
      <topic id="textsharedguidedata_tabledefinexml" indexer="include" status="PUBLISH">
         <title id="tit">Table Design</title>
         <filename>/text/shared/guide/data_tabledefine.xhp</filename>
      </topic>
   </meta>
   <body>
<bookmark branch="index" id="bm_id3155448"><bookmark_value>tables in databases; creating in design view (manually)</bookmark_value>
      <bookmark_value>designing; database tables</bookmark_value>
      <bookmark_value>properties;fields in databases</bookmark_value>
      <bookmark_value>fields;database tables</bookmark_value>
      <bookmark_value>AutoValue (Base)</bookmark_value>
      <bookmark_value>primary keys;design view</bookmark_value>
</bookmark><comment>MW deleted "database tables;" and changed "tables in databases;"</comment><comment>UFI added AutoValue and Primary Key entry - i48831</comment><comment>MW changed Tables in databases, AutoValue and Primary Key entries</comment>
<paragraph id="par_id3155448" role="paragraph" localize="false"/>
      <h1 id="hd_id3149798"><variable id="data_tabledefine"><link href="text/shared/guide/data_tabledefine.xhp">Table Design</link></variable></h1>
      <paragraph id="par_id3155535" role="paragraph">This section contains information about how to create a new database table in the <link href="text/sdatabase/05010000.xhp">design view</link>.</paragraph>
      <paragraph id="par_id3154288" role="paragraph">Open the database file of the database where you want a new table. Click the <emph>Tables</emph> icon. Choose <emph>Create Table in Design View</emph> to create a new table.</paragraph>
      <paragraph id="par_id3146798" role="paragraph">In the Design view, you can now create the fields for your table.</paragraph>
      <list type="unordered">
         <listitem>
            <paragraph id="par_id3153349" role="listitem">Enter new fields in rows from top to bottom. Click the <emph>Field Name</emph> cell and enter a field name for each data field.</paragraph>
         </listitem>
         <listitem>
            <paragraph id="par_id1595507" role="listitem">Include a "primary key" data field. Base needs a primary key to be able to edit the table contents. A primary key has unique contents for each data record. For example, insert a numerical field, right-click the first column, and choose <emph>Primary Key</emph> from the context menu. Set <emph>AutoValue</emph> to "Yes", so Base can automatically increment the value for each new record.</paragraph>
         </listitem>
         <listitem>
            <paragraph id="par_id3150084" role="listitem">In the next cell to the right, define the <emph>Field Type</emph>. When you click in the cell, you can select a field type in the combo box.</paragraph>
         </listitem>
      </list>
      <note id="par_id3154760">Each field can only accept data corresponding to the specified field type. For example, it is not possible to enter text in a number field. Memo fields in dBASE III format are references to internally-managed text files which can hold up to 64 kB text.</note>
      <paragraph id="par_id3149456" role="paragraph">You can enter an optional <emph>Description</emph> for each field. The text of the description will appear as a tip on the column headings in the table view.</paragraph>
      <h2 id="hd_id3153379">Field Properties</h2>
      <paragraph id="par_id3148798" role="paragraph">Enter properties for each selected data field. Depending on the database type, some input facilities may not be available.</paragraph>
      <paragraph id="par_id3144762" role="paragraph">In the <emph>Default value</emph> box, enter the default contents for every new record. This contents can be edited later.</paragraph>
      <paragraph id="par_id3150869" role="paragraph">In the <emph>Entry required</emph> box, specify whether or not the field may remain empty.</paragraph>
      <paragraph id="par_id3154908" role="paragraph">For the <emph>Length</emph> box, a combo box may be shown that provides the available choices.</paragraph>

      <section id="relatedtopics">
         <embed href="text/shared/guide/database_main.xhp#database_main"/>
      </section>
   </body>
</helpdocument>
