Page 218 - IT_V1.0_Class10
P. 218
Unit-3 DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM USING LIBREOFFICE BASE
9 STARTING WITH LIBREOFFICE
BASE
LibreOffice Base is a database management software that allows you to create and manage databases. It
is a part of the LibreOffice suite and helps you store and organise information. You can design tables, run
query, create forms to enter data easily, and even generate reports to make sense of the information. With
its flexibility and open-source nature, LibreOffice Base is ideal for small businesses, educational projects, and
personal use, enabling users to efficiently organise and retrieve data for various applications.
DATA TYPE
Database stores different types of data; like characters, date, number, symbol, OLE (Object Linking
and Embedding) objects, etc. Therefore, a clear distinction has to be made for proper identification and
manipulation on data in the field.
In LibreOffice Base, a data type specifies the type of data that can be stored in a field within a database
table. It defines the nature of the data, such as text, numbers, dates, or binary data, and determines how the
data is stored, processed, and validated. Data types in LibreOffice Base are broadly classified into five main
categories, which are: Text, Numeric, Date and Time, Binary, and Boolean.
Text Data Type
The Text data type consists of a combination of letters, numbers, or special characters. Arithmetic calculations
cannot be performed on text data. Examples of text data include addresses, product codes, and descriptions.
The table below lists various data types that can store Text data.
Name Data type Description
Memo LONGVARCHAR The Memo data type allows for storing descriptive data exceeding 255
characters, with a capacity of up to 64,000 characters. It is used for extensive
text entries requiring a length specified by the user.
Text (fix) CHAR The Character data type stores data with a fixed length as specified by the
user. It is ideal for entries that require a set number of characters, such as
license numbers or PAN numbers.
Text VARCHAR The VARCHAR data type stores data up to a specified length. The number
of bytes allocated depends on the actual number of characters entered. For
example, if an address field is defined as VARCHAR(70) and the user enters
an address with 30 characters, only 30 bytes will be used in the database.
Text VARCHAR_ The VARCHAR_IGNORECASE data type stores data up to a specified length.
IGNORECASE In this data type, comparisons are not case-sensitive, but the text is stored
with the capitalisation as originally input.
216 Information Technology Play (Ver 1.0)-X

