HostedDatabase.com - How to Create a New Database

When ready-made HostedDatabase.com business applications do not suit your purposes, a custom web database offers the flexibility to match your unique requirements. Before It is starting the Web Database Publishing Wizard by clicking the Create a new database Control Panel tool, it is important for you to plan out the design of your database. In order to completely plan out your custom database, we advise you to think about the following database design elements:

The following list itemizes that steps in the Web Database Publishing Wizard process. Note that some of the steps are optional, so you can simply click the Continue button to advance to the next step.

Step 1	Specify Number of Fields - Each database may have up to 149 data fields. This step of the wizard requires you to specify the number of fields in the database you plan to create. If you need to add a field later, you can use the Update database structure tool in the Control Panel.
Step 2	Specify Fields - Next, you need to define the properties for each field in the database. The following field properties must be specified: Field Name - The name of the field may contain up to 100 characters. Field names may NOT contain blank spaces or special characters. Only alpha-numeric characters are and the underscore character (_) are allowed for a field name. Datatype - The datatype of the fields may be one of the following: Text, Numeric with decimal (real numbers), Numeric without decimal (integer numbers), Money, Date, Hyperlink, and E-mail. It is very important to choose the appropriate datatype for each field. For example, although a telephone number, zip code, and social security number have only digits, you should use the Text datatype not numeric. Field Width - This property is used with the Text, Hyperlink, and E-mail datatypes only. The value determines how many characters may be entered into the field. The width values may range from 1 to 2000. If you do not know the maximum number of characters a field might contain, it is better to over estimate. Field Label - [Optional] This property allows you to specify a more meaningful caption to appear on data entry screens and search results pages. If you do not specify a label property for a field then the field name is used for all data entry and search results purposes.
Step 3	Create Database - The next step is to provide database-level properties. The following database properties must be specified: Database Name - The name of the database must be unique within the HostedDatabase.com system not your account. A database name may not contain any blank spaces. Usage - Classify the database as either "Business" or "Personal". Category - Choose a category for the new database from the pull-down list. Data Users Access: Public - If you would like your database to be listed on The Open Database Project, specify Yes. Data Users Access: Download - If you would like to allow users who search the database to download the search results, specify Yes. Data Users Access: Type of Access - You can specify the type of access to the database users may have: may enter new records, may search existing records, or both. Database Password - You may assign a password to the database that a user is required to enter for any database operation. Database Description - Enter a short description of the database that describes its purpose and use. You may also include your contact information and organization name.
Step 4	Specify Search Criteria and Sort Order - This step provides a way to specify properties relating to database searching. The following search properties must be specified: Specify Search Criteria - For each field in the database, specify if it will be used for searching. The default for searching is for the user to type in a value for a particular field. Optionally, you can specify whether a pull-down list of unique values for the field should be presented to the user. Not all fields should be selected for searching. Specify Sort Order - You may specify two levels of sort order for database search results. For instance, you might want to see all search results records sorted by a "Department" first, and then "Employee" second.
Step 5	Specify Redirect Pages - [Optional] This property allows you to enter web addresses (URLs) to which the users of your web database will be redirected to upon successful completion of a database operation (data entry or search). You can enter the After Data Entry redirect and/or the After Displaying Search Results redirect, depending on which you plan to use. Both properties are optional. The redirect URLs are usually pages you create on your website that you want your users to see after a database operation. For example, you might want to redirect to a "Thank you for your request" page after the user submits a data entry web form.
Step 6	Upload Graphics Image - [Optional] This property allows you to upload a graphic image file (such as a logo) and attach it to the database. The image is automatically displayed on all search results pages. The image is also displayed on data entry pages rendered by HostedDatabase.com. It is best to use an image file that is optimized for use on the web in terms of physical dimension and file size.

Now that you have created the empty web database, you can use the Update and maintain an existing database Control Panel tool to add new records manually, or you can upload a file containing data records using the Upload data to an existing database Control Panel tool, or you can attach the database to your website using one of the HTML generation database tools in the Control Panel.

Web databases have additional properties that are not included in the Web Database Publishing Wizard process. In order to specify these additional properties, please use the Update database properties tool in the Control Panel.