Sometimes the field information to be stored with a document can come from an external source.  This could happen when an organisation maintains other databases, like customer management or billing systems.  This type of data can be accessed via a connection to these databases that is saved in Radix DM.  This connection is called a Remote Database.

Before we can demonstrate how to create a remote database, we need to find a source for our data.  Radix DM allows connections to two different types of external databases: Microsoft Access database files (.mdb files) and SQL Server databases.  For our example, we will be creating a remote database connection to a Microsoft Access database, Nwind.mdb.  This file is included with this tutorial document and should be installed at [XXX].  Verify that the file can be found at this location before continuing.

In the text box labelled Name enter "Northwind".  The second text box Connection String contains the information needed by Radix DM to make the connection to the data source.  If you don't know this value to manually enter, a step-by-step wizard is available which will construct this connection string based on a number of user selections.  To invoke this wizard, click Build which will cause the DataLink Properties window to appear.

The first tab ('Provider') lists the different methods for connecting to the data source.  For Access databases the provider you will need is "Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB Provider".  Select this option and then click Next >>.  The next tab 'Connection' has a text box labelled Select or enter a database name.  Click on the ellipsis button and browse to the location of the Access database ([XXX]) or enter it manually.  Once this is done, you can ensure that the connection works properly by clicking Test Connection.  A dialog box should appear confirming that the test connection succeeded.  Click OK to close the DataLink Properties window.  Now a Radix DM dialog will appear asking if you want to use this connection string.  Click OK to confirm the database connection. The connection string generated by the wizard will then appear in the text box Connection String.  You can test this connection string value at any time by clicking the Test button.  For now, just click Save.

Now that Jenny has created a remote database connection, she can create a field that will be used to store information about the suppliers.  Create a field as you would normally with the name "Supplier", but set the Field Type to 'Database'.  Click on the button labelled Field Information which will cause the Database Field Properties window to appear.  The first step is to select the remote database that will be used for this field by selecting the 'Northwind' connection from the Remote Database drop down box.  The Table Name text box appears beneath this field, click on the ellipsis button to bring up a dialog with a list of the tables that are accessible from this external data source.  Select the table row named "Suppliers" and then click OK, this will populate the Table Name text box with this value.

Jenny wants this field to be used to record the name of the supplier for invoice documents.  To do this, she will need to work with two pieces of data from the 'Supplier' table.  She obviously needs to know the Supplier's company name.  This type of information is referred to as a Description Column, since it provides the visibly useful data to users.  For example, if Jenny created another field called 'Products', the description column would contain the name of the product.  The easiest way to determine the best column from a table to use for the description column is to choose one that you think will provide the most useful information about the field for users wanting to save or search for the document based on this field value. 

The other piece of data Jenny needs from the 'Supplier' table is used to uniquely identify the specific supplier being referenced by the Supplier name.  This is generally some sort of code, hence the term for this sort of data, Code Column.  This code column is related to the description column so that having access to the value of the code allows us to reference the appropriate description.  For example, in the 'Supplier' table, the supplier with the company name "Bigfoot Breweries" has the 'SupplierID' value of 17.  The easiest way to determine the best column from a table to use for the code column is to choose one that you feel is the most obvious unique identifier.

To select the code column for Jenny's new field, click on the ellipsis button on the text box Code Column to bring up a list of all the columns from the 'Supplier' table.  Included in this list of columns is one named "SupplierID" which seems most likely to contain the data we need to identify all suppliers.  It is also confirmed as being a Primary Key, one of the most important indicators that this field is appropriate for use as a code column.  Select the row "SupplierID" then click OK.  The name of the column you have just selected will appear in the text box Header Title.  This text is what will be used by Radix DM in searches and when saving documents.  Jenny prefers the term "Supplier Code", so enter this value into the Header Title.  Select the description column for this field in the same way, by clicking on the ellipsis button on the text box Description Column.  In our example, Jenny feels that the name of the company would be most useful, so select the row "CompanyName", click OK and then change its header title to "Company Name".  Click Save to return to main field administration window, then click Save.