A Quick Guide to Using HyperBase

HyperBase lets you build custom databases. With fully customizable fields, build your workflow without the hassle of programming. Our online forms streamline data collection, and with simple reporting and querying, the possibilities are endless.

Prerequisites

User must be a group owner or group administrator to create a datastore.

Getting Started

HyperBase lets you define your application to fit your process. The first step is to understand what to track. Are you going to track company assets? If so, what information is important to collect? Maybe you are tracking equipment that employees are using, i.e. desktops, laptops, flat screen monitors, mobile phones, etc. Then determine what it is about each these items is important, i.e. model, partnumber, vendor or assigned employee. This will help you to start categorizing the information.

Let's create an example where we will track customers who have various products installed. The data I want to collect is the customer name, address, city, state, product name and version. Now that I understand what data I want to track, I can determine how I want the users create and modify the data. I am going to create two tables; customers and products. This way we can manage the data separately but still reference all the information. The product table will contain product name and version. The company table will contain customer name, address, city, state, zip code, web address and reference te product table.

Now you can start to build your datastore. Once you know what you want, you can determine how to proceed creating the information or more likely import the information.

Step 1 - Create the DataStore

The DataStore is the repository where you will store your information. The DataStore will contain Tables, Forms and Views. A DataStore is associated with a Group in HyperOffice and you can have more than one DataStore per group. The membership of the group will determine who has access to the information within the DataStore. The following link will provide step-by-step instructions for Creating a Datastore.

Create a Datastore

Step 2 - Create the Table(s)

The table(s) is where the data will ultimately reside. The table can be created manually, through import or from a form. If there is no prior data and you want to create a small table, created a table manually is the most efficient. Access the following link for step-by-step instructions.

Create a Table from Scratch

If data exists in a spreadsheet or another data souce and can be exported to comma separated value file, (.csv), the data can be exported into a new table. It is important that the file have not empty colums between data columns. If each column has a header, the header can be used as a table field name. The following link will provide step-by-step instructions.

Create a Table from Import

If no data exists and you are looking to create form to collect data from internal or external sources, creating a form will allow you to build the information in a user friendly fashion and create the table in one step. Forms are very useful in adding understanding to data collection. Let's say you want to ask a question 'How did you hear about us?' on a form. In databases, field names are often short or truncated alphanumeric strings of the visual information. A form will allow us to 'label' a field. So the form could ask the question 'How did you hear about us? and the field could be 'hearaboutus'. As you can see labels are quite useful. To learn how to create table by a creating form go to the following link:

Create a Table from a Form

Step 3 - Creating Forms

Tables do not require forms to enter data. However, a form will view each row of data, making it easier to modify existing data or append new data. Forms can also be public or private. A public form can be used on a website to collect information from external inquiries or surveys. A private form is limited to the users within the HyperOffice group. A form can also define an 'action' when the form is submitted. As an example you can choose to send a notifcation to the submitter or display a web page. Forms can also provide multiple choice selections or references to data stored in other tables. The following links provide step-by-step instructions on creating forms:

Creating a Table Automatically from a Form

Creating a Form Manually

Creating a Defined Multiple Choice Field

Creating a Defined Multiple Choice Field from Another Table

Add or Edit Data in a Form

Step 3 - Create Views

A view is a sorted query accessible as a virtual table. Unlike ordinary tables in a relational database, a view is not part of the physical schema; it is a dynamic, virtual table collated from data in the database. It is not a report. Changing the data in a table alters the data shown in the view.

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