Viewing Split HSQLDB in app other than Libre Base

cyclops053990 · February 27, 2024, 12:53am

I’m sure I’ve seen comments that a split DB from Base can be viewed and worked on with other programs. I just cannot find the info. Can you please advise me

robleyd · February 27, 2024, 1:01am

Just some examples

cyclops053990 · February 27, 2024, 1:26am

Thank You appreciate your help

Villeroy · February 27, 2024, 1:56am

You need the same data as in Base menu:Edit>Database>Properties…

Connection URL: jdbc:hsqldb:file:///path/to/database/DBName
Driver Class: org.hsqldb.jdbcDriver
User Name: SA is the “System Admin” used by embedded HSQL.
Password required: whether or not the user needs to give a password

cyclops053990 · February 27, 2024, 3:24am

Thank you.
I think I’m trying to run before I can walk. I am trying to learn SQL but the systems on offer are too complicated at the moment. I’ll stick to libre base until I get a better understanding and can really understand all the “Lingo” and syntax.
Thanks everyone for your help

Villeroy · February 27, 2024, 11:41am

It’s not that difficult once you got the idea that you are using two different programs, a frontend and a backend.

You have some database (files in a directory)
You have a driver for that database (a *.jar file). The driver is the software taking commands to read from and write to the database. The driver follows the JDBC standard for database drivers written in Java.
You have a JDBC capable frontend, such as LibreOffice Base, you want to connect with the database in order to read from and write to the database by means of queries, forms and reports.

Tell your frontend about the JDBC driver (hsqldb.jar, mysql.jar, h2sql.jar or whatever).
Tell your frontend about the “service” or “capability” you need: This is the HSQL driver class org.hsqldb.jdbcDriver. The driver provides some other capabilities we can ignore right now.
Tell your frontend if the database expects a user log-in. Databases can be set up with groups of users, where each group has different access privileges.
Tell your frontend about the location of your database. This is done by means of a URL (universal resource locator) such as jdbc:hsqldb:file:///path/to/database/DBName. From left to right: Use the jdbc protocol to contact the set-up hsqlddb driver and point that driver to the local database files at the given location using the set-up driver class and prompt me to log-in (or not) as configured.

All this information about the location, the driver and the operation mode is stored in your Base file or in the configuration of your alternative frontend.
Once the connection is established, the frontend will show you the catalog of that database, its tables, indices, relations. While working with the connected database, your frontend “translates” all your actions into commands executed by the database driver, and the driver returns the record sets (rows) to work with.