Chapter 7
Understanding IDEA Databases
Databases are an essential part of every business today. Even a business that lacks computers has a database of some sort. Think about it, a database is simply an organized method of storing related data. A Rolodex can be considered a kind of database. Consequently, all of the terrifying things you've heard about database programming being hard to understand are completely untrue—you've been working with databases from an early age and didn't even know it.
Databases on a computer aren't quite the same as the table you create on paper—they have very specific rules because computers require specific rules. See, the computer isn't nearly as smart as you are, so you need to structure things specifically. This chapter discusses how computer databases are structured at an overview level. You really won't need to know every detail of database design to create good macros in IDEAScript.
Once you understand databases in general, the chapter will review some specifics about IDEA databases. Again, you won't need to know every detail. Chapters 8 and 9 provide additional details about IDEA databases—this chapter is about the basics, so don't worry too much if you don't understand the details just yet.
The rest of the chapter shows you how to perform basic tasks using IDEA databases. This chapter works with the Sample-Customers database, but the principles apply to any IDEA database you create.
Considering the Parts of a Database
Computer databases have ...
