Understanding Databases

The application stores your asset data in an internal software structure called a database. A database holds data in a way that makes it extremely easy to search, sort, organize, and retrieve. Additionally, you can create many databases to further organize your data.

Each company you create is stored in a database. You can store one or more companies in one database, or you can create multiple databases for storing multiple companies.

To optimize application processing speed and convenience, determine which number of databases is best for you.

Storing all your companies in one database is convenient because you do all your work in one place, and you can run comprehensive reports that include all companies. However, distributing your companies among multiple databases optimizes application processing speed, particularly if you maintain more than about thirty thousand assets.

You can create more than one database in each directory (or file folder) on your computer. The database is a file with a BDB extension. You can give this file any name that conforms to Windows file naming standards. You can assign each database a unique name that you use to reference the database within the application. For example, you might create two databases named MACHINES and OFFICE.