Carefully planning the details of your database application will help ensure that your database has the best possible design. An application that has been properly designed is easier to build and maintain. This section contains guidelines for creating quality applications in C/SIDE using the well-known methodology of analysis, design, and implementation.

Steps in Designing a C/SIDE Database Application

Designing a C/SIDE database application usually includes the following steps.

Understanding the Problem

Be sure you understand the business problem you are trying to solve. You need to know who will be using the application and what they will be trying to accomplish.

Designing the Tables

Begin by designing a data model to determine how the data is stored and how it can be best utilized. The data model determines:

  • Which tables the database must contain.

  • What kind of data you want to store in the fields of each table.

  • How the data in the tables are related to each other.

  • Constraints that are necessary to ensure data integrity.

Designing the Application

When you have designed the database tables, you are ready to begin designing the application itself. Designing the application involves:

  • Designing forms (to enter and retrieve data) and reports (to view and present data).

  • Creating C/AL code to connect the application objects.

These steps depend on each other. When you move from one step to another you often have to rethink some of the decisions you made in the previous step.

See Also