[Solved] What is "register the database"?

[guyvallero]

When I create a new database, using the Database Wizard, the 2nd page asks me:

Do you want the wizard to register the database in OpenOffice.org?

As someone who just started learning how to use Base, how am I supposed to know which is the correct answer?

What is "register the database in OpenOffice.org"? Where does it get registered? In Windows XP's registry?

And what happens if I don't register it?

Thanks,
Guy

[Villeroy]

In Writer or Calc call the datasource window (F4). There you might see a registered database "Bibliography", exposing it's tables and queries to Writer or Calc respectively. Just drag&drop or edit directly in the right pane of the sub-window.
The same registered sources (Base documents) appear in Writer's mail merge tool, Calc's data pilot import and some other tools I don't remember yet. Unregistered database documents can be used as such with all their embedded forms and reports.

Internal setup data get never written into the Windows registry since OOo is platform independent. OOo's registry is plain XML in the installation directory ("system.dat") and each user's profile ("user.dat").

[DrewJensen]

OpenOffice.org maintains a dictionary of registered data sources per network installation and per user configuration.

The data is maintained in the OpenOffice.org configuration files. Not in the windows registry.

Wat it is for? Well, if you are in Writer or Calc and you want to import data to a document or produce a mail merge you will be presented with the list of registered data sources. For example, open a Calc file and hit the F4 key - this opens the data source browser window at the top of the window.

Further you can manage the registration data - which is simply a mapping of a data source name to an ODB file on disk - in the options widow. Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Base > Databases. This will allow you to register new ODB files directly, change which file a data source name points to or remove a registered data source name. NOTE - removing an entry in this dictionary does not delete the file it points to, only the entry in the registration dictionary.

When would I register vs not register? If you are working on a one time project - then I would not register the file. If you are sure you would never need to work with the data in other parts of the office, then perhaps not. If on the other hand you might see yourself doing a mail merge, or wanting to use some of the data in a spreadsheet - then you want to register it.

By default the registered name will be the name of the ODB file it points to. So if you create a new Base file named Inventory.odb the registered name would be Inventory. If you created a second Base file, in a separate directory, also named Inventory and selected register it would be named Inventory1.

Anyway - hope that helps clear it up for you.

Drew

[guyvallero]

Thank you very much. Your answers have been very helpful. I also found the following in http://sheepdogguides.com/fdb/fdb1tableone.htm:

First: It is NOT registering your database with anyone or anything outside of your computer. It is not giving the Open Office people access to your work.

What it IS doing is making an entry in the registry-like data structure which Open Office maintains. That data structure is GOOD in that different parts of Open Office (Writer, Spreadsheet, Base, etc) are more "aware" of things done by other parts of Open Office. It is BAD (?) in that it means you have to be a little careful about where you store things. You have to be careful and skillful, sometimes, if you want to rename or move them. Don't let me frighten you! A simple Writer document is a standalone entity, and you can move, rename, etc, its file as you see fit. Not so the files associated with Base work.

I wonder whether the fact that I registered quite a few databases (during learning) and renamed them has anything to do with the fact that when I press F4, I see no registered databases at all.

Thanks,
Guy

[DrewJensen]

hmm- that should not have done it.

Usually the problem is the other way around. You create a new database it is registered. Then you rename it, move it or delete it ( the odb file that is ) via the Operating System. Now the registration record points to a file that no longer exists. When you hit F4 it displays the registered names, but when you actually try to 'open' the data source it generates a 'file not found' error.

[Villeroy]

I wonder whether the fact that I registered quite a few databases (during learning) and renamed them has anything to do with the fact that when I press F4, I see no registered databases at all.

Shure. How should the application notice that you move away the odb-file. This is the registry branch in my file <ooo_profile>/user/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office/DataAccess.xcu. No magic at all.

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<oor:component-data xmlns:oor="http://openoffice.org/2001/registry" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" oor:name="DataAccess" oor:package="org.openoffice.Office">
 <node oor:name="RegisteredNames">
  <node oor:name="Bibliography">
   <prop oor:name="Location" oor:type="xs:string">
    <value>file:///home/andreas/.openoffice.org2/user/database/biblio.odb</value>
   </prop>
  </node>
  <node oor:name="buli" oor:op="replace">
   <prop oor:name="Location" oor:type="xs:string">
    <value>file:///home/andreas/Documents/buli.odb</value>
   </prop>
   <prop oor:name="Name" oor:type="xs:string">
    <value>buli</value>
   </prop>
  </node>
 </node>
</oor:component-data>