BDE Aliases

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 664.

The BDE uses an alias to access a particular database. This is one of those terms that might confuse you at first. The terms alias and database are often used interchangeably when talking about the BDE.

New Term: A BDE alias is a set of parameters that describes a database connection.

When it comes right down to it, there isn't much to an alias. In its simplest form, an alias tells the BDE which type of driver to use and the location of the database files on disk. This is the case with aliases you will set up for a local database. In other cases, such as aliases for client/server databases, the alias contains other information as well, such as the maximum size of BLOB data, the maximum number of rows, the open mode, or t he user's username. After you create an alias for your database, you can use that alias to select the database in your Delphi programs. Later today, in the section "Creating a BDE Alias," I'll tell you how to go about creating a BDE alias for your own databases.

FIGURE 1.2. Your application, the BDE, and the database.