A database is a collection of related information which is organised into a series of rows (called records) and columns (called fields) that are populated with data. A well constructed database should make it very easy to manage information quickly and effectively.

Data is the raw information that is entered and makes up the records in the tables while the resulting information is the processed data.

For example, the conversion of data to information takes place when a number of records are retrieved according to certain criteria and calculations are performed or the sequence of displaying them is changed to output in a certain way.

Databases comprise of many different components which are constructed from tables of information which contain numerous records. In turn each record contains many fields pertaining to that record.

For example, in a simple database for a small business, you would want to record information pertaining to various aspects of the business such as customer, supplier and product details. You could start by creating a table called Customers and entering information into it such as the Customer's Name, Address, Telephone No, Fax No etc. Each row of information (record) would be all the details belonging to that particular customer. The fields making up each record would be Customer's Name, Address , Telephone No, Fax No.

Each field can have a different data type specification, eg the Customer's Name field could be defined as a Text field type while the Telephone No could be defined as a numerical field.

Each field can also be assigned properties such as the maximum length of characters it must contain and whether it is compulsory to enter data into it before the capturer is allowed to continue.

A primary key is used to identify the records in the table and must be unique for each record. You can choose whether you want to make a specific field the primary key or whether you want a separate ID field created. You can also choose whether you want to autogenerate the number or type it in manually for each record.

An index allows quick access to a database as long as you query the data in the selection that was defined through the index. When you design a table you can define the indexes on the Indexes tab page. You can do this by Clicking Tools > Index Design and then click on New Index.

There are two types of databases – flat file and relational.

Flat file databases store all the information in one table. This type of database is easy to set up, but is not very flexible or efficient when it comes to storing and manipulating large amounts of data.

Relational databases store information in a number of separate tables and then relationships are created between the tables to combine the information. Relational databases are used for managing large amounts of information as they are faster and easier to maintain than the flat file database.

It is useful to be able to set rules when entering data to ensure the correct data is entered.

For example, you can specify the Postal Code field to be only four characters long. So if the data capturer typed in more than three, OOBase will not allow it. Another example is the Name field. You could set a rule ensuring that all data entered in this field is text and not in a numerical format. This helps ensure that the capturer doesn't insert data in the wrong field.

It is important to set rules in the Design View of the table to make sure that the important data is captured properly and the risk of errors is reduced. There may be many different people capturing the data into the database.