Hello, Posted the below yesterday, but no reply. I'd be very interested in getting confirmation re some of the specific questions as well as hearing thoughts about the general comments at the end. Please use the copy below to go through, as I've reworded quite a bit for clarity and removed certain sections which I now understand. Thanks, Swarup
------------------------------------------------------------- On Thu, 2007-09-06 at 16:19 +0200, Andreas Saeger wrote: > > 2. How to add a column? > > > This should work in the design view. I see. But in the design view, it looks like one can only add new columns at the table's end. Is it possible to insert one in the middle, in the design view itself? > All SQL commands for the underlying hsqldb are documented here: > http://hsqldb.org/web/hsqlDocsFrame.html Thank you, I went and to a look at this website. > Example: > ALTER TABLE "Table1" ADD COLUMN "New_Date" DATE BEFORE "Date" ok, that is good that it can be inserted in the middle via SQL. I guess that's the only way to get a column inserted in the middle of a table? > > 3. How to move a column from one location to another? > > > Simply don't. The order of columns is not relevant. For me, it is helpful to be able to do so. Because: 1. The columns in my Base table are not at all in the order they were in in my MS Access table. I had the columns arranged in an order that was convenient to me. Now it is not conveniently arranged. Is the best way to set this up, in the spreadsheet before I import it into Base? 2. My tables are often evolving entities, that get added to as they mature through time. Call it bad database planning, but that is often the way it works with my projects. In MS Access, this was not at all a problem. Right there in the GUI of the main table view one can insert columns anywhere in the table, delete columns, and in this view move columns if needed according to one's evolving convenience for easy data entry. > > 4. How to save the file? > > > > I've added a couple of rows to the table. Now I want to save my work and > > close the table. But the "save" option in the "File" drop-down menu is > > grayed out. And if I do ctrl-s, it just types an "s" wherever the cursor > > is. So I am afraid to close the table, for fear I'll lose what I added. > > > > When you add/remove/edit your data, you are simply using the database. > All changes are written as soon as leave the current record. Here "record" refers to a given row of the table, right? So that means that as soon as one finishes entering data in one row of the table and moves to another, the data entered in the prior row is, would it be alright to say, saved? For example, say for the sake of illustrating the point that one loses power in the middle of one's work, and the computer goes down. Will the data entered in all rows ("records") prior to the current one, be preserved? > Esc will > drop all edits on the current record (just like Access). > The odb database document needs to be saved only if you changed the > structure of the database. ok. My desire is just to clearly understand that the data I enter in the table is saved. When we say that the edits will be dropped on the record, is that here a synonym for saved? In the process of working on a table, in MS Access I was in the habit of periodically doing Ctrl-s to save my work as I go. Is there no need for this then, in Base? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Some general observations/questions: It seems like there is more conveniently available in the main GUI interface of an MS Access table, than in a Base table. In Base one has to go to the SQL screen (what do SQL and HSQL stand for?) for many simple daily operations which in MS Access are carried out right in the main GUI. I am really just a lay user, and so am not familiar with what may actually be a more powerful design in Base than in Access. But is the style of requiring various types of activities such as renaming columns or adding columns etc to be done in the SQL screen-- is it intentionally kept this way by the Base designers ie is it felt to be better this way? Or is it that, Base is at an earlier stage of development than Access and therefore has not yet incorporated these operations into its main table GUI? I am just curious about these things, because perhaps it is just out of my own ignorance that the Base design seems more inconvenient to the general inexperienced user, than the MS Access design. As I say, perhaps the Base design is in fact more powerful than the MS Access design. About these things I know very little. But in my impression the average, lay database user may not find the current version of Base to be so convenient because of having to engage in more technical sorts of activities like carrying out actions in the SQL screen. And I went to the HSQLD website, but somehow did not find the explanations there very accessible for a new user. There is no introduction for example, explaining what SQL is or why it is useful. And the various SQL commands somehow did not seem very clearly explained for a new user. The general function of the Base table seems to require a level of computer language which may be alot for the average user who wants to see everything clearly labeled in plain English in the main table GUI. I would very much like to hear the comments of a more experienced user about all these things. For it may well be that the set-up of Base is more powerful than Access and upon becoming more familiar with it I may find that it is indeed better. Thanks, Swarup --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
