Database Linking

This topic explains how to link a label to a database and how to display one or more fields from that database in a Text Object.

A database is a source of information on your computer or network. Text objects in your label can be linked to a database to display information from the database on the each element printed.

There are many types of databases. The Personal Databases included with this product creates databases in .DAT files. Standard Comma Delimited Text (.TXT or .CSV) can be considered databases. There are also Access, Excel, DBASE, Oracle, Sybase, Paradox and many other type databases.

Support for the Personal Databases, Access, Excel and comma delimited text files is built right in. Additionally you can link to any other database your computer is capable of connecting to through Microsoft's ADO or ODBC standards.

Databases contain records. Each record represents one item in the database. For example, for a database containing names and addresses, each record would contain all the information about a single contact.

Records contain fields. In the example above each record might contain a first name field, a last name field, an address field, etc.

When you link a text object in your label to a database, the text object displays one or more fields from a record. The text from the corresponding field in the first record is printed on the first element you print, the text from the second record is printed on the second element, the third on the third, and so on.