Linked Tables

Linked Tables enables you to add tables/views from other databases to the project. Linked Tables can be used like regular tables in the project, for example, you can generate Add/Edit/Delete/Update scripts for the Linked Tables, you can use a Linked Table as lookup table, user table, master or detail table.

Note Using Linked Tables in Custom Views or Views is not supported.

Adding a Linked Table

To add new Linked Tables, simply right click the database pane or click [Edit] in the main menu, then select [Add Linked Table], the following form will show:

Click the [Add Database] button in the toolbar to add a database.

The Database Connection form is same as that in the Database tab, see Database Setup for detail.

Enter your database connection information and click the [Connect] button to load the database information. The list of tables/views of the selected database will be displayed.

Note The database combobox will show the database name, database variable name and the database type. The database variable name is to be used for retrieving the database information in server side code such as server events (see Server Events and Client Scripts). By default it is same as the database name if the database name contains alphanumeric characters and underscore only. Otherwise, the database variable name will be different, with non-alphanumeric characters replaced. Besides, the database name of a Linked Table can be same as the main database or database of other Linked Tables. If database names are the same, an index will be appended to the database variable name. If your project uses databases with the same name and you need to write server side code, make sure you check the variable name here.

Select the tables/views you need and click [OK]. The selected tables/views will be added to the project as a Linked Table and will appear under the [Linked Tables] node of the database pane. You can then manipulate the Linked Table as a regular table/view.

Deleting a Linked Table

To remove a Linked Table from the project, right click the Linked Table in the database pane, and click Delete Linked Table. Click "Yes" to confirm deletion.

Note that if the database related with the Linked Table being deleted no longer has any other Linked Tables associated, you may want to remove this database from the project as well.

To do that, right click the database pane or click [Edit] in the main menu, then select [Add Linked Table]

Select the database you want to remove from the dropdown selection, and click the [Remove Database] button. Click "OK" to confirm deletion.

Synchronizing with Database of Linked Tables

If you are adding Linked Tables and you have altered the database of the Linked Tables, you may want to synchronize the table list with the database so you can choose the new or renamed tables. Or if you have changed some connection information of the database such as the username or password, you may also want to update it.

To do that, right click the database pane or click [Edit] in the main menu, then select [Add Linked Table], select the database and click the [Synchronize Database] button.

The connection information will be displayed again.

Change the connection information if necessary and then press the [Synchronize] button.

Note If you create a Linked Table and then rename the table in your database, the Linked Table will fail, synchronizing with the database will NOT fix it since the renamed table cannot be determined. You need to delete the old Linked Table and create a new one.