This information was provided by Claris Corporation on 16 March 1998, and incorporated into Apple Computer's Tech Info Library.
Each "card" in a database file is a "record". In a name and address database, each "record" contains information about one person. In a database of audio CDs, each record contains information about one CD.
Field:
The information you store in a database record is organized in categories. Each category is called a "field." For example, in a name and address database, you would put a person's last name in a LAST NAME field, his or her telephone number in a PHONE field, and so on.
Entry:
The data you store in one field in a record. The name "W.T. Southern" could be an entry in the AUTHOR field; the characters "12" could be an entry in the PAGE field.
File:
All the records taken together comprise a "database file." You create the database file when you save your database to disk. Some database applications save two files - one file that stores the structure of the database and another file for the data. ClarisWorks stores one database file that contains both types of information.
ClarisWorks Field Types
Field Type:
The field type determines the kind of data you can store in a field and what you can do with that data. ClarisWorks lets you define six types of fields. Here is a brief profile of each:
Text field:
Accepts any characters you can type at the keyboard. You usually store words and phrases in text fields, but you can store codes, social security numbers (which contain numbers and hyphens), and any mix of characters in these fields. You can enter more data into a text field than can appear on screen; later, you can manage that problem by changing the layout.
Number field:
Accepts any valid number and lets you use those numbers in calculations and numerical sorts.
Date field:
Accepts any valid date entered as text (for example, May 1) or as complete or incomplete numbers (as in 5/1/92 or 5/1). ClarisWorks inserts the current year if you omit the year. ClarisWorks displays all dates in the format MM/DD/YY and can sort dates chronologically. The program warns you if you enter an invalid date such as "4/31/92" or "Ma 1."
Time field:
Accepts any valid time entered as numbers on a 24-hour clock (for example, 16:00 represents 4 P.M.). ClarisWorks can sort time entries chronologically. The program warns you if you make an invalid entry.
Calculation field:
Accepts formulas that manipulate data in other fields. The calculated result appears in each record. The results can be a number, a date, a time, or text. For example, you can create a Calculation field that automatically calculates a student's average from a set of test scores, the number of days between two dates, or the final price of an item for sale.
Summary field:
Accepts formulas that perform calculations on a set of records in your database. You can use a summary field to calculate the average score of a group of students or to determine the total sales by a group of salespeople.