Create Database Tables

Related Topics:   Getting Started  |  Contents

The "Create Database Tables" form will be displayed automatically when maxdLoad connects to a database which hasn't already been populated with the required tables.

This form is used to specify the parameters for the database tables. Once the form is completed, the "Create" button will construct the tables on the database server.

The 'Name' and 'Location'

The 'Database Title' and 'Database Location' fields are used to describe the database to clients when they connect. You can use whatever values you want.

Identifer lengths

The 'Maximum Identifier Length' field specifies the maximum length that can be used for names of things in the database. Bigger values give you more flexibilty in naming, but will result in larger database files.

Once the database tables have been created, the maximum identifer length is fixed and cannot be altered later.

Note that this length restriction only applies to the names of things in the database. The data values (called attributes in maxdLoad parlance) are of unrestricted length.

It is important to consider carefully what value to use for this setting. Some things to think about are:

  • Short identifiers:

    If the maximum identifier length is set to a small value (e.g. 10 characters) then you might run into difficulties later when creating data because the names you want to use will be too long and will thus be disallowed.

  • Long identifiers:

    Picking a very large value (e.g. 200 characters) might result in people creating names that are unmanagable because of their length. For example lists which display lists of names will be so wide that they cannot be easily displayed on-screen.

    Very long names also take up more space in the database. If the maximum length is set to 1000 characters, then every item stored in the database will be allocated enough space to store 1000 characters, irrespective of whether it's name is actually that long. If space requirements are of importance then the maximum length should be set to something reasonably small, e.g. 32 characters.

Databaser server type

Select your particular database server from the 'RDBMS Server Type' menu. If your system is not listed try the 'Generic SQL92' option.

Other options

The default 'Options' are usually fine. If your database server has problems creating primary or foreign keys, they can be omitted. Creating indices will speed up data retreival at the expense of slowing down data insertion and also of requiring additional storage space.