How to Create Data Categories and Data Fields

Click2Map's My Database component allows you to create and manage your own database: you can create all the categories you need and populate them with as many data fields as you need.

A data category can hold all the information related to a particular type of object. For example, the “Real Estate” category can be used to store information like the surface area, the number of bedrooms, the selling price, etc. for each home.

A data category can include as many data fields as you need. A data field simply corresponds to a particular type of information. For example, the “Surface area” data field can be used to store the surface area of each home.

Depending on the kind of information you want to store into them, multiple data field types are available:

• Text: Use this type of data field to store simple text.
• Multiline Text: Use this type of data field to store long texts, with rich formatting.
• Number: Use this type of data field to store numerical values.
• Yes/No: Use this type of Boolean data field to store yes/no types of data.
• Date: Use this type of data field to store dates.
• Html: Use this type of data field to store Html code.

Note: The name of data categories and data fields cannot include blank spaces or extended characters (accented characters or special characters).

A list of homes for sale in the San Diego area would look much more interesting if it was presented on an interactive map: we'll take advantage of Click2Map's powerful database system to organize all the home related data we have at our disposal. In addition to that, we want to add contact information for each home to make communication easier. To do this, we'll create two data categories:

• The first category will be called RealEstate and will be used to store all the information about each home: surface area, number of bedrooms, selling price, presence of a swimming pool and our general comments.
• The second category will be called Contact and will be used to store a contact name and their phone number.

1. Use the My Database > Properties command from Click2Map's main menu to open the My Database dialog box.
2. Click on the Add Data Category button to create a new data category.
3. Enter the following information:
   • Data Category / Name: “RealEstate”
   • Data Fields:
     • Name: “Sqft”
     • Type: Number
     • Add Data Field: Click on this button to validate your choices and create the data field.
   • Repeat the previous step to create the following data fields:
     • Name: “Rooms” - Type: Number
     • Name: “Price” - Type: Number
     • Name: “SwimmingPool” - Type: Yes/No
     • Name: “Comments” - Type: Multiline Text
4. Click on the Add Data Category button to create a second data category.
5. Enter the following information:
   • Data Category / Name: “Contact”
   • Data Fields:
     • Name: “Name” - Type: Text
     • Name: “Phone” - Type: Text
6. Click on the OK button to save the structure of your database.

To enter data into your database structure, use the My Database > Edit Values… command from Click2Map's main menu.