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CATBASE TABLE STRUCTURE

If you're not familiar with the terminology used in this Tutorial - such as what tables, fields, records, and relations are - please read our Database 101 tutorial first.

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ORGANISING YOUR DATA INTO TABLES

You're in complete control when it comes to setting up your tables and fields, and the relationships between those tables.

Think about the data that you are going to publish, and how it is structured. You need to have a clear picture of how your data is organised into tables and fields, and how the tables relate to each other.

Let's look at some examples ...

You can set up any number of tables and add any number of fields to each table.

The data that is maintained in these tables will be used to create your publications. To add or modify your tables:

  • Select the Admin tab

  • Expand the Database Setup topic on the left

  • Select the Table and Field Setup sub-topic

 

RELATIONS

With each table relationship, one table is the “parent” and the other is the “child.” Table relationships can be many-to-many or many-to-one. 

 

MANY TO MANY RELATIONSHIP

Each "parent" record can have any number of "child" records related to it, and each "child" record can belong to multiple "parent" records. 

 

MANY TO ONE RELATIONSHIP

Each "parent" record can have any number of "child" records, but each "child" record can be related to only one "parent" record.

 

See our Relations Reference for more information about how to create and maintain related data.

Of course, you can also have tables that are not related!

If you're not sure how to organise your data into tables, please contact us with a description of your project. We'll be happy to help you figure out the best way to do it.

 

HOW TO PUBLISH RELATED DATA

In your Publishing Stylesheet, create a Paragraph for the related data.

In that Paragraph, add one Element.

For that element, select the Element Type: Relation, and choose the appropriate relationship. In the four-table example shown above, you would see two possible choices for the Suppliers table:

  • Suppliers->Contacts

  • Suppliers->Products

The Relation Element creates a window into the related table, allowing you to add data from that related table.

 

Learn more about the various Element Types.

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