Introduction to LibreOffice Base

In an earlier stage of this Maharashtra HSC (MSBSHSE) Std XII Information Technology course you learned what a database is and why organisations store their data in an organised, structured form rather than in scattered files. In this chapter you will put those ideas into practice using a real, freely available database tool — LibreOffice Base.

LibreOffice Base is the database management component of the LibreOffice suite, which is free and open-source software. Being open-source means anyone may download, use, study and share it without paying a licence fee, which makes it especially suitable for schools and small businesses. Base lets you create a complete relational database — with tables, forms, queries and reports — through easy-to-use graphical screens, while still allowing you to write SQL commands directly when you need more control.

A single LibreOffice Base database is stored on disk as one file with the extension .odb (Open Document Base). This one file holds the whole database: the definitions of the tables, the data stored in them, and the forms, queries and reports you design. By default Base uses a built-in database engine (HSQLDB), so you can build a working relational database on an ordinary computer without installing any separate server software.

The four main kinds of object you build in a LibreOffice Base database are:

• Tables — where the actual data is stored, in rows and columns.
• Queries — questions asked of the data to retrieve exactly the records you want.
• Forms — friendly on-screen windows for entering and editing data one record at a time.
• Reports — neatly formatted, printable summaries of the data.

These four objects, and the concepts behind them, are what the rest of this chapter explains. Because Maharashtra's Std XII IT syllabus draws on the same standard, well-established relational-database principles used everywhere in computing, everything you learn with LibreOffice Base applies directly to any other database tool you may use later.