Now you can access tables in the database via the Data Sources pane, which you can evoke by pressing F4 or choosing View -> Data Sources. Select the database, give it a name, and press OK.
To do this, choose Tools -> Options -> Base -> Databases and press the New button. To make use of this feature, you have to register the database as a data source, so it can be accessed from any application. Inserting records into a Writer document is straightforward, as has a dedicated Data to Text feature for that. Base also offers a few different options when it comes to getting data out of a database: you can insert a single or all records into a Writer document, or export the data into a Calc spreadsheet either manually or via an Basic macro. Once you have the data in the spreadsheet, you can import it into the database as described above. This opens the Text Import dialog, which gives you a few tools that can help you to import the data properly. If Calc has trouble populating the columns correctly, use the Edit -> Paste Special command and select the Unformatted text option. Calc is smart enough to figure out that the data in the clipboard is an HTML table and insert it into separate columns. Select and copy the data in the table, create a blank spreadsheet, and choose Edit -> Paste. Let’s say you want to create a database table containing a list of irregular English verbs and their forms using an existing HTML table. Using Calc as an intermediary tool, you can process data from an HTML table in a Web page, then import it into a Base database. Press Create to insert the data into the table. Press the Next button, and use the arrow buttons in the Assign columns screen to align fields in the source and destination. Select the Append data option and leave the Create primary key check box untouched. Keep in mind that the name you enter must match the name of the existing database otherwise Base will create a new table instead of using the existing one. Enter the name of the table you want to use in the Table name field.
Select and copy the data in the spreadsheet, right-click somewhere in the Tables pane, and choose Paste. Importing data into an existing table is equally straightforward. Finally, press the Done button to import the data into the table. Here you can also modify the column names and change the length of each field. The import wizard usually does a good job of guessing the type of data in the individual columns, but if you need to tweak the defaults, you can do so in the Type formatting screen. Use the available buttons to move the desired columns, and press Next when you are satisfied with the result. Here you can select the columns that you want to add to your table.
Press Next to go to the Apply Columns screen. To do this, tick the Create primary key check box and give the field a name if you don’t want to use the default ID name. Next, you need to create a primary key for the new table. Since you’re importing data into a new table, give the table a descriptive name, and choose the Definition and data option. This opens a wizard that guides you through the import process. Switch to the database, go to the Tables section, right-click somewhere in the Tables pane, and choose Paste. Copy all the data in the spreadsheet using the Ctrl-A and Ctrl-C keyboard shortcuts (or choose Edit -> Select All and Edit -> Copy). They will be used as database field names, thus making it easier to manage data during the import process. Before you begin, make sure that the first row in the spreadsheet contains column labels. Let’s start with the most simple scenario, where you have data in a Calc spreadsheet and you want to import it into a new table in a Base database. While you may be surprised to discover that lacks a dedicated import/export feature, it does allow you to get data into and out of a database in a variety of ways. The ability to import and export data is crucial to any database management system, and Base is no exception.
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