Structure of Vertex Databases

Users can define their own databases in Vertex. The database structure can be defined by naming the fields in the database and defining the indexing, type and length of the fields. Define the database structure by using the Define Structure function. The same function can be used to edit the fields in an existing database or to create a new database.

Special attention needs to be paid when editing the names of the fields in an existing database, as the change must be updated in all the files in which the old database name is used. Otherwise, there will be problems using the database.

Enter a name for the new database in capital letters in the format d_DATABASE_NAME. The maximum length of a name is 16 characters. You may use underscores (_) in the name. The prefix d_ may be left out. By default, databases will be saved in the Vertex ../shared/dbases folder.

Vertex will display a window in which you can define the names of the database fields.

For the fields in an existing database, there can be old names and new names. If you rename a field, enter the name in the New Field Name. The new name you entered will also be updated in the Old Field Name when you save the structure definition.

Add a row by pressing Shift+Insert.

You must not delete a row that contains a database field name from the database. If you delete the field from the database, the data saved in the field in question on each database row will be lost. Instead of deleting the field, you can set its length as zero (0).

When naming fields, please note that the allowed characters are the numbers (0-9), the letters (a-z, A-Z) and the underscore (_). If necessary, define the indexing of the field by selecting one of the options from the list. Define the type and length of the field.

We do not recommend increasing the length of fields in the Vertex archive database, as some of the fields have fixed values. One of these fields is the SUBDIR field. If you increase the value of the field length, problems may occur in the program.

When saving the structure, the program aks for the name of the default form file. If there is no form file with the name you entered, the program will automatically create a basic form file. If you leave the field empty, the program will pass the function.

The following files will be created when defining the database structure:

• d_DATABASE - Contents of the database (data)
• d_DATABASEc - Structure definition of the database
• d_DATABASEl - Lock file of the database

When copying a database, you need only copy the d_DATABASE and d_DATABASEc files; the lock file will be created again when needed.