Simpol Limited

In many cases, a database is a complex set of related tables, each containing a specific set of information and also fields which link to other tables. In this example, we only really need one table for now, the "Address" table. To create this table, we need to start up SIMPOL Personal™. Once it is running, select File → New → Table…. That will display the data source dialog. Since no data sources are currently open, the combo box with the list of data sources will be disabled and the list of tables will be empty. In the New *.sbm File Name box enter the location of your project's bin directory, plus address.sbm and in the Table Name box enter Address.

The SIMPOL Personal™ New Database dialog.

Now click on the OK button to create the database container and to display the dialog window where we can define the table.

The SIMPOL Personal™ Database Table Definition dialog.

To add a field, just click on the Add Field button. The first field we will add is the AddressID field. Enter that text into the box and click on the OK button. The screen will look like the one below:

The updated SIMPOL Personal™ Database Table Definition dialog.

The default data type for a new field in an empty table is string (text). We will change this after we have added a number of other fields, since the fields inherit the data type and other characteristics from the currently selected field. For now add the next field, FirstNames, which will contain the first and any middle names or initials. Now move the scrollbar at the bottom to the right, to expose some more columns. The three columns named Shareable, Share Name, and Share Type are specific to using the multi-user database support, and can be ignored for now. The default assignments tend to be adequate. The Display Format column is used for more than one purpose. It is used as part of the multi-user database engine, but it is also used to supply the desired display format in the data-aware form environment. It is currently set to 4000 (which happens to be the maximum length of a text field that can be accessed via the PPCS protocol used for the current multi-user support. Change that to 30. This column will be the only one we need to change as we go through them later, but by changing this one now, we may have less to change later. See the image that follows.

The Display Format column in the Database Table Definition dialog.

Note

The SBME database format does not actually have any limitations on the size of a text column, or an integer, etc., but since the initial multi-user support was designed to be 100% compatible with Superbase's PPCS protocol, it has the exact same limitations as well. A later version of the protocol that is not intended to be Superbase compatible is planned, and will support all SIMPOL data types in their full capabilities. Also, the database engine only stores what is there, it uses variable length fields to only take up the space it must.

Now add the rest of the fields, if the currently selected field is the FirstNames field, then the length of 30 will also be inherited. When you get to the Address1 field, change the length to 50, and then make sure that is selected when adding the rest.

Now that that is finished, go through and change the field lengths to 25 for Postcode, Telephone, and Fax, 80 for Email, and 2 for CountryCode. Now set the Remarks field to 4000 R, which allows for new line characters within the field content. The Display Format column should look like this:

The Display Format column after updating the format entries.

Now scroll back to the left and select the cell for the AddressID Data Type column. Click again to drop down the selection box, as shown below, and pick integer. Then pick the cell in the next column, Index Type, and click again to drop down the selection box, and pick unique as the index type, then click on the next cell to see the results. It should look like the following:

The AddressID entry after changing the data type and adding an index.

Finally, change the display format from the huge list of 9s to something a little more friendly and clear, such as six 0's, either directly or via the Display Format button. Now click on the OK button to save the table definition off. The final result should now be shown in SIMPOL Personal™ in Record View, as shown here:

SIMPOL Personal™ after saving the table definition for the Address table.