Understanding Records

Databases store information in units called records. Each record might contain more than one item of information. For example, Dominique Abbott is an item of information in the EnterpriseOne system. When you access Dominique Abbott from the Address Book application, the record that appears might also include Dominique's phone number, address, and other pertinent information. The system might save all of this information as one record, or it might save some of this information as a primary record and other information as secondary records. These types of relationships exist throughout the system. Database tables store all system records. Each record must have at least one key that links the record to a database table. Keys are unique identifiers that distinguish one record from another. For example, Address Book uses Address Number as the key to distinguish each record. Therefore, each Address Number must be unique. When creating new records, you must enter information into a key field. If you do not enter information into a key field, the system displays an error message. Once you have entered information into a key field, you cannot edit that key field later. To change the key field information, you need to create a new record. The Media Objects feature allows you to add notes, graphics, and other objects to records.