Databases can be created and shared using j2database. Begin by launching j2data from your launchpad, and opening Database:
Database will load with a blank database. There are premade examples, which can be found by clicking on the "examples" tab at the top of the page.
Creating a database
To create a database, begin by adding data into the first field. For this example, we will be creating a database based around logging animals in a zoo, so our first field will be "Animal breed" :
To add another field you can either hit enter when typing in the field name OR use the add field button. We have outlined the different parts of the database below:
When creating the database, you also have the option to change the data type. Data types include:
- text
- lists
- multi line text
- number
- boolean
- currency
- date
- picture/sound/video
- phone
As you can see, in our database we have included numbers and lists into our database fields.
Once you have finished editing your data fields, you will need to save your database. This can be done by clicking on the save button, and naming your database :
Adding data into your database
To add data into your database, click on the "form" tab. Here you can enter data into the relevant fields. The field type you defined will determine how you add the data (e.g text type fields require typing, lists will offer the drop down option menu to select from a list, etc.) :
Once the data has been added, this record can be saved by clicking on the save button at the bottom of the record.
This process can be repeated as many times as required until all your data is recorded.
Analysing your data
Your data can be analysed in a few different ways, using the form, table or chart tabs.
Form - This will show all the records as created previously. Great for analysing the data within the context it was recorded:
Table - The table view will show all records within a table format :
Chart - The chart tab allows you to create charts, offering a visual representation of the data :
Single field/key word searches
Single field/key word searches allow you to pin point data containing a specific word or subject. The single field search button is at the top of each tab and will streamline the data to show only relvant data :
For example within the forms tab we might like to only see the animals that eat fresh meat... for this we could search the key word "fresh meat". This has now streamlined the records from 9 to 3 records. (The same can be done within the table and chart) :
Complex/multi-field searches
We are also able to perfom more complex searches, involving multiple fields. E.g We might want to see animals that eat meat, under the age of 4. To do this we can perform a search involving two seperate filters.
To do this, click on the magnifying glass next to the key word search box, which will expand the search options :
Here we can begin to search for items within a value. We can also add additional searches by using the drop down options in the fourth box, to add an "and " or an "or" option :
As you can see, we now only have one record that shows the animals that eat meat and are equal to or less than 4 years old.
Creating a chart
We can use the data to create a chart. To do this, click on the chart tab, select a data type for the X axis, and if you wish you can also add additional data for the Y or group the data.
In the chart below, we have created a chart to show the number of each breed of animal there are in the zoo:
Creating different chart types - This can be done by clicking on the chart type buttons :
Changing the chart colour -
this can be done by clicking on the chart colour button :
Saving a chart as an image - We can save a chart as an image (to be used within other tools such as j2create) by clicking on the save as image button :
