R:BASE is a relational database product that lets you design sets of tables to store and retrieve your data easily. Each table contains information arranged in columns and rows about a single object or event, such as a customer list or a list of sales transactions. A column is a specific fact, such as a customer's name, about the object or event; a row is a cross-section of columns that is unique for a particular instance in the table.
An R:BASE database is a collection of tables. For each column in a table, you specify a data type that tells R:BASE what kind of data the column will hold - such as dates, currency, or text. You can also have columns that hold a value computed from other columns. For example, if you have sales stored in one column and a tax rate in another, a computed column can hold the tax on each sale (sales * tax rate).
The power of R:BASE lies in the control it gives you over the tables you create. You can manipulate the data from one or any combination of the tables in your database, and you can organize tables so that you rarely need to enter a particular piece of information more than once.
With R:BASE you can combine information from the tables in a database to provide answers for your questions and create another permanent table that stores the combined information. You can also create views, which are temporary tables that display all or part of the current contents of one or more tables. A view does not require you to store the data in more than one table -it always shows you the most up-to-date information, and it can combine data from several tables. A view is like a television screen that is split to show two camera angles at once.
