Tony Smith wrote:
Hi Ray / Frank
That's not strictly true, the linked table feature of MSA is one of it's
strong points, that has not been replicated in any version of OO.
The really good & useful thing about using linked tables in MSA is taht
you can have simultaneous access to database tables from a number of
data sources, and yet see them in your 'access file' as tables. You can
link tables for example, From an Oracle database, Mysql, and Access
database in the same Access file. You can then use the standard gui
tools, form/report/query builders against these linked tables as if they
are native tables in the access file that you are working on.
So far in OpenOffice, I have so far only been able to link, say to 1
MyQSL backend database, and use those tables in the gui toools, as in
MSA, however multiple data sources are not supported in the same manner
as in MSA.
The functionality for linked tables in MSA, is basically indespensible
for my use, and I suspect many others, and does severely restrict the
number of uses for OO Base, so much so, that, even though I use Linux as
my desktop environment, I still have to use vmware, with a windows
installation, just so that I can use MSA, and those linked tables,
allowing me to use, see and manipulate data from my various backends, in
a single relevant application.
This is a feature request I raised when the first betas of OO 2 were
made generally available.
Cheers
On Wed, 2006-11-01 at 11:13 +0100, Frank Schönheit - Sun Microsystems
Germany wrote:
Hi Ray,
This may be a naive question, but I just could not find the button in OO Base
2.0.4.
Please accept my apology in case that the solution turns out to be so obvious.
In MS Access, one can achieve the separation of actual data from codes of
queries, forms, etc., by using the feature of linked tables in MS Access.
MS Access 2003 example:
File - Get External Data - Link Tables
will see an arrow at left of the linked table icon
indicating that it is only a pointer to a table in another file
The data section of database includes table definition,
table relationship (foreign keys), constraints, triggers,
etc., and the actual data. Let us call it the server part.
The code section of database includes pointers to actual tables
(in a different *.mdb or *.odb), view definition, query definition,
forms, etc., and **no data**. Let us call it the client part.
Quite funny :) No, no offense intendend :)
Actually, up to OpenOffice.org 1.x, Base worked exactly this way: We had
only a data source definition, which comprised of forms, reports,
queries, and information how to access the data. The data itself layed
somewhere else on the hard disc, or on a database server.
With OOo 2.0, we moved to database files containing all client part,
plus (optionally) the actual data, i.e. the server part. That was a
significant change which was done since users, at least those coming
from MSA, repeatedly *requested* this kind of self-contained database.
No you come and ask for the opposite :)
Well, in fact the old way does still work. If you do not use the default
database format (embedded HSQLDB), then you'll have the perfect
separation of the client from the server part, as already outlined by
Anthony. Just put your data onto some database server, or use the dBase
format.
What you currently cannot do is mixing those two worlds. HSQLDB itselfs
supports linking external text files as tables, and can apply its full
power - primary keys, relationships, indexes, whatever - to those
"external text tables".
There's currently no user interface for this, but that's being
developed. This will be similar to the "Link Tables" feature you cited
from MSA.
Ciao
Frank
Hi Tony,
Perhaps the Federated storage engine in MySQL would be useful to you:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/federated-storage-engine.html
Cheers!
--
Darren Wurf
Glynn Tucker Consulting Engineers
Ph: 4772 4722
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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