Index

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An index provides a way to rapidly access the data in a table. In.de allows several types of indexes to be created implicitly, like the always-present primary key index, or relationship indexes, which are present if the Create index flag is set for the Foreign key object. Other indexes can be added by selecting Add index in the Table object's context menu.
The index is represented by the following icons:

Unique index

Non-unique index

Clustered index (one per table, not supported by all types of database servers)


Video course: Creating a table object

Properties

Name: represents the logical name of the index, as it will be identified within the Instant Developer project.

Description: contains a description of the index definition. The text entered will be used to compose the database documentation.

Unique key: allows an index to be created that prohibits duplicate keys from being entered, which can be useful to provide a uniqueness constraint for the content of some fields. For example, a unique index can be created for the User Name field of the Users table to prevent the same ID from being entered for more than one user.

Clustered: creates a clustered index, for the database types that support it. Only one index per table can have this flag enabled. Note that if no index is clustered, then the index related to the primary key will be automatically created as clustered, which is almost always a good idea.

Code: represents the physical name of the index within the database. If the Automatic check box is selected, Instant Developer will choose an appropriate physical name, and you will not have to worry about keeping it unique. This property cannot be changed for imported tables, because it is the actual name of the index in the database.

Automatic: specifies that the index code is automatically calculated and made unique based on its logical name.

Update database: physically updates the index in the database. This way, it is not necessary to compile the project to physically update it.

Add task: creates a new task object linked to the index. It serves as a reminder for future changes or to manage group work.

Find derived objects: searches for all objects in the project derived from the index, including at multiple levels.

Find where used (object): searches for all points in the project where this index is directly referenced in any way.

Find where used (content): searches for all points in the project where this index or one of the objects it contains is directly referenced in any way.

Definition of the index key

To define the index key, simply drag the table fields onto the index. You can then reorder the list of fields in the index key to get the order you want, which is important because some databases are only able to optimize queries run according to the initial part of the key.

Changed on: 15/12/2022 / From version: 8.5.3800