Database Elements

Database Basics


(place mouse over underlined elements for more information)

Databases are at the heart of all information technology. Databases are lists that hold every kind of data from shoes sizes to space shuttle launch statistics. Commonly they used for contact lists, sales inquiry lists or product lists. A sales catalog is a database.

A database can contain many tables. Info-Centers can contain multiple tables in a database and also contain multiple databases by use of the Folder option. Tables can be sorted and filtered so that you get get exactly the rows that you need quickly and in the appropriate order. This is critical when working with large lists.

Tables can also be imported from other sources. That is, tables can be exported from Excel™ or Outlook™ and then imported into an Info-Centers Database. Info-Centers has made this process extremely simple. Data that you already have in a private database, can be made instantly available to your secure group of users.

Info-Centers allows you to copy tables, copy selected records to another table, to duplicate records within a table, backup tables.

Database Field Types

field typedescription
TextSpecify field length, up to 256 characters. Can be text, numerics or punctuation.
Text with
drop down list
Specify field length, up to 256 characters. Place values separated by <Enter> button in the String Field For example a valid country list:
Britain
Canada
Germany
France
USA
Now, there are only five possible choices for the field.
NumericNumbers only. Specify field length and number of decimals.
MemoUp to 8,000 characters in length. Contains any text, numeric or punctuation data.
DateContains a date. Date is displayed in the format dd.mm.yyyy.
TimeContains the time.
emailContains an email address. System check for valid email address format. It cannot check for a valid email address.
URLThis is a valid web address. Usually starts with http://, https:// or ftp://
ImageContains a web displayable image such as .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .png
SwitchThis is either true or false (yes or no).
TimestampA time and date on which this record was stored.
StringThis is a special field that is used to format the record for display in the browser. This field contains names of other fields and '+' signs to concatenate the fields along with constants.

Example: (sample field names in red, constants and joiner (+) in black)
Full Name: +Salutation+ + FirstName+ +LastName

It is also possible to use HTML in the string field. You can use HTML to:
  • create an href
  • use special or colored fonts
  • create other font effects such as underline, bold or italics
  • include referenced images (shown here, but taken from elsewhere)
HTML is very powerful and can greatly enhance the display of the table.
UserIDA record containing a specific UserID and only be accessed and updated by that User.
DocumentA document that is associated with this record. Examples for document types are:
  • Word Documents or Word Perfect Documents,
  • .txt (text files),
  • Excel Spread Sheets,
  • Power Point Presentations,
  • .pdf (Portable Document Files),
  • .dwg (Drawings),
  • Source Code or Executable files.
Any file or document can be uploaded into a record in a table.
UserTypenot yet implemented

Automatic Fields


Several fields are generated automatically whenever a table is created.
LastUpdateByIntegerThe system id of the User who last updated this table.
RecordNoAutomatically Incrementing IntegerThe is the absolute record number. This unique identifier is updated each time a record is added to the table. If records are deleted, it is not decremented.
CreatedByIntegerThe system id of the User who created the record.
LastUpdateTimestampthe last fate and time this record was updated.
CreatedTimestampThe date and time that this record was created.