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Database Projects

Every database has at least one Database Project, which is initially named Default Project. But you can have as many as you want. Each Database Project has its own unique tables,Import stylesheets, and Publishing Stylesheets.  Some items, such as Categories, Character Styles and Paragraph Styles, can either be shared across all Database Projects or they can be unique to one Project. 
 

A Database Project setup page looks like this:

Database Project Name

Enter a descriptive name for the project.

Database Project Code

This is for your own reference.

Project Number

An auto-assigned sequential number. You cannot change this.

Category Entries Options 1, 2, 3, and 4

You can assign up to 4 custom values for your category entries. (Category Entries are the links between records in your database and the Categories that they have been placed in).

For example, maybe some of your products are only available seasonally. You need to be able to select which seasonal catalog(s) they will be included in. You could enter the season names into the Option fields, maybe like this:​

Category Entries Options

Now these four options will appear in the Categories area on your data entry forms:

Category Options

You can select any of those checkboxes.

(Note: You might need to change the size of the Categories area. This can be done in the Form Design Wizard.)

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You can just use these options as a reference. But they are much more useful than that. You can create Rules in your Publishing Stylesheets to tell CatBase what to do about these options when your catalogue is published. As an example, let's say that we are producing a special Summer catalog. We need to only include products for which the Summer category option has been selected.

  • In the Publishing Stylesheet, add an Element to one of the Paragraphs (logically, this would be Paragraph 1 but it doesn't have to be).

  • Select the Element Type Rule.

  • Click the Edit Rule button.

  • In the dropdown IF: menu, you'll now see your four options available:

  • Choose Category option: Summer.

  • Make sure that True is selected in the dropdown just below the IF area.

  • Select the Include this record radio button.

  • If you look at the Otherwise tab, you'll see that the Omit the rest of this record radio button is selected.

  • You could choose a different option here - you could perhaps choose the Publish Text option and publish some text such as "This product is available only during the summer".

  • Save the Rule and the Element.

Category Option Rule
Category Entries Image Option

Like the Category Options, you can also enter an image heading. This gives you the option to select a different image for each category that a record is published in. An additional column will be displayed in the Categories area on your data entry form for the table; right-click in that column to select an image to use.

Project Logo

You can choose a logo to be displayed on the main window. To choose a logo, right-click in the Project Logo area and choose Import ...

The logo will appear next to the Help icon:

Project Tables:

This area shows a list of the tables that have been set up for the Project. You don't add new tables here; to manage your tables, go to Admin->Database Setup.

Creating a new Database Project

Select the Projects main tab.

  1. Expand the Database Projects topic on the left of the window.

  2. Click New Database Project.

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Modifying a Database Project

You can change a database project's name and other options. To do this:

  1. Click on the Projects tab at the top of the main CatBase window.

  2. Expand the Database Projects topic on the left of the window.

  3. Select the Database Project you want to modify.

Duplicating a Database Project

Sometimes it's useful to duplicate an existing Database Project, and then modify the duplicate to suit your needs. You can choose which elements to duplicate, and whether to duplicate the data from the original project to the new one or not.

  1. Go to the Projects main tab, and expand the Database Projects topic on the left.

  2. Right-click/Ctrl-click on the Database Project you want to duplicate, and choose Duplicate from the popup menu. You'll see a dialog like this:

database project duplicate.png

  1. Un-select any things that you don't want to duplicate.

  2. If you unselect all the options, your new Project will just consist of the duplicated table structure.

  3. Click OK.

  4. CatBase creates the new Database Project, and names it <original project name> Copy.

  5. Now switch to the new Project (see Switching Projects, below) and make whatever changes you need to make to the new Project.

Switching Projects

Each user can only work on one Database Project at a time. In a multi-user installation, each user can work on any Project - so you could have six people working on six different projects all at the same time.

To switch Projects:

  • Choose Switch Project from the File menu.

  • Select the Project you want to use.

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